"O yo who believe! Be steadfast maintainers of justice, witnesses for God, though it be against yourselves, or your parents and kinfolk, and whether it be someone rich or poor, for God is nearer unto both. So follow not your caprice, that you may act justly. If you distort or turn away, truly God is Aware of whatever you do."
Quran 4:135
And here's another passage from the same surah (like I said, it's an important one), al-Nisa, "Women," which is the fourth surah. Justice is essential to Islam and it is expected/required of Muslims. Nasr tells us, "Establishing and upholding justice in society is a key concern of the Quran. God establishes justice by setting the Balance within creation itself (15:19; 55:7; 57:25), by commanding justice among human beings through revelation (7:29; 16:90; 42:17; 57:25), and by weighing deeds in a set balance on the Day of Judgment (21:47).
So, you have to act justly, no matter how rich and powerful or poor and powerless the other person is, and that justice should begin with yourself (we all too often leave ourselves out of this equation). I had a big blowup with the previous Imam and several members of our community felt that I had tweeted (for a while I was in charge of the mosque's twitter feed) on some inappropriate topics. I had retweeted a couple tweets dealing with the rights and conditions of LGBT Muslims within our broader ummah. Several members asked/told me to take down the tweets and I refused, and, not surprisingly, my infamous temper made an appearance (which I do feel bad about, and for which I apologized). However, I did not apologize for the tweets and I did not take them down. If we are about justice then we are about justice for every member of our community.
Quran 4:135
And here's another passage from the same surah (like I said, it's an important one), al-Nisa, "Women," which is the fourth surah. Justice is essential to Islam and it is expected/required of Muslims. Nasr tells us, "Establishing and upholding justice in society is a key concern of the Quran. God establishes justice by setting the Balance within creation itself (15:19; 55:7; 57:25), by commanding justice among human beings through revelation (7:29; 16:90; 42:17; 57:25), and by weighing deeds in a set balance on the Day of Judgment (21:47).
So, you have to act justly, no matter how rich and powerful or poor and powerless the other person is, and that justice should begin with yourself (we all too often leave ourselves out of this equation). I had a big blowup with the previous Imam and several members of our community felt that I had tweeted (for a while I was in charge of the mosque's twitter feed) on some inappropriate topics. I had retweeted a couple tweets dealing with the rights and conditions of LGBT Muslims within our broader ummah. Several members asked/told me to take down the tweets and I refused, and, not surprisingly, my infamous temper made an appearance (which I do feel bad about, and for which I apologized). However, I did not apologize for the tweets and I did not take them down. If we are about justice then we are about justice for every member of our community.
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