The Prophet Muhammad A simple Guide to his Life
The Prophetic Mission
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of justice, so that people may act with justice. We
have sent down iron, with its mighty strength and
diverse uses for mankind, so that God may know
those who help Him and His messengers without
having seen Him. God is powerful and Mighty”
(57:25)
Suppose someone were to pick out the words
‘scales of justice’ (or ‘balance’ as it would be
expressed in Arabic) and link it with ‘iron’ to
support his argument that the Islamic mission was
to establish justice by using the power of iron (i.e.
weaponry), he would not be right in his contention.
This argument is not valid from the academic point
of view, for the word ‘balance’ in the first part of the
verse is used to enjoin people to mould their lives to
the standard of justice, to be just in their dealings,
and to adopt the ways of justice in their own lives; it
is not asking them to impose their concept of justice
on others.
Thus if someone, by citing this verse, put forward
an argument for coercing others, his argument
would be academically untenable, because it would
be totally illogical.
