Of Divine Mercy & Divine Justice

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

In a city, a murder took place.  Two men were apprehended as suspects; one of the men was innocent while the other was guilty.  When the trial took place and the court finished its deliberations, the guilty man was acquitted while the innocent one was declared guilty and sentenced to hang.  A wali was watching all this and wondered about the fate of the two men.  He whispered in his heart to his Lord, “O Zhahir and Bathin of the universe, I know that Your Ways are mysterious and man can never comprehend them.  But still, it puzzles me greatly why an innocent man was allowed to hang while the guilty one was let go.”  As the wali was thus talking to his Lord, he fell asleep and had a dream during which Allah (s.w.t.) Revealed to him the answer to his question: 

“I Behave with men according to what they hope from Me.  The man who was acquitted of murder even though he was guilty of it used to pray in jail, ‘O Rahman!  Have Mercy on me.’  So, I had Mercy on him and Let him go free, for I am Free to do with My creatures what I Will. 

As for the innocent man who was hanged, he used to pray, ‘O ‘Adl!  Do Justice.’  Now, long before he was apprehended for murder, he was sitting on the bank of the river with a twig in his hand.  An ant climbed up the twig while he was watching.  He dipped the twig in the water flowing beside him, and the ant drowned and died.  Since he wanted Justice from Me, I Let him hang in exchange for the life of one of My creatures that he took without any reason.” 

So, while we should do struggle for justice in the world, never seek justice for ourselves from Allah (s.w.t.).  For, before Allah (s.w.t.), we are all guilty and it is only in His Mercy that we can find safety.


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