A Pause with a Verse: ﴿SAID THE MOST JUST OF THEM, "DID I NOT SAY TO YOU, 'WHY DO YOU NOT EXALT [ALLAH]?"]﴾
The "Middle" in the Quran: Justice and Steadfastness, not a Tamed Moderation
In Surat Al-Qalam, Allah tells us the story of the owners of the garden who wanted to monopolize Allah's provision and prevent the poor from it, so punishment came upon them, and one of them stood rebuking: ﴿SAID THE MOST JUST OF THEM, "DID I NOT SAY TO YOU, 'WHY DO YOU NOT EXALT [ALLAH]?"]﴾, not the most just in terms of place or age, but the most fair and the most rational, as Ibn Abbas and other commentators said. This is the same meaning that came in the verse: ﴿AND THUS WE HAVE MADE YOU A JUST COMMUNITY﴾, meaning a just and good community, that establishes the truth and weighs matters with the scale of Islam.
But what happened today? " الوسطية - " الوسطية" (centrism, moderation) has been distorted in the Muslims' concepts, and they have come to believe that the "middle" means laxity, concession, and reconciliation with falsehood!
The disbelieving West promoted the idea of "moderate Islam," that is, Islam that abandons jihad, coexists with capitalism, accepts democracy, and neutralizes religion from governance!
But the most just of people are those who speak the word of truth, and do not fear the blame of anyone for the sake of Allah, as did the most just of the owners of the garden when he reminded them of Allah, and as the just community does when it raises the banner of "لا إله إلا الله - "لا إله إلا الله" (There is no god but Allah) in the Rightly Guided Caliphate.
Imam Al-Shawkani explained this verse: From Abi Saeed, from the Prophet ﷺ, regarding His saying: ﴿AND THUS WE HAVE MADE YOU A JUST COMMUNITY﴾, he said: «JUST». From Abi Saeed, he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: «Noah, peace be upon him, will be called on the Day of Resurrection, and it will be said to him: Have you conveyed [the message]? He will say: Yes. Then his people will be called and it will be said to them: Did he convey to you? They will say: No warner came to us, or no one came to us. He said: It will be said to Noah: Who will testify for you? He will say: Muhammad and his nation». He said: That is His saying: ﴿AND THUS WE HAVE MADE YOU A JUST COMMUNITY﴾. He said: The "middle" is the just. He said: Then they will be called and they will testify for him that he conveyed [the message]. He said: Then I will testify against you». And from Jabir, from the Prophet ﷺ, he said: «I and my nation on the Day of Resurrection will be on a mound overlooking the creation. There is no one among the people but would wish that he was one of us, and there is no prophet whose people denied him but we will testify that he has conveyed the message of his Lord, the Mighty and Sublime». And Al-Bukhari, Muslim, and others narrated from Anas who said: They passed by a funeral and praised it well, so the Prophet ﷺ said: «It is confirmed, it is confirmed, it is confirmed», and they passed by a funeral and spoke ill of it, so the Prophet ﷺ said: «It is confirmed, it is confirmed, it is confirmed». So Umar asked him and he said: «Whoever you praised well, Paradise is confirmed for him, and whoever you spoke ill of, Hell is confirmed for him, you are the witnesses of Allah on earth, you are the witnesses of Allah on earth, you are the witnesses of Allah on earth». Al-Hakim Al-Tirmidhi added: Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited: ﴿AND THUS WE HAVE MADE YOU A JUST COMMUNITY﴾ the verse.
Al-Qurtubi explained this verse by saying: "That is, We have made you below the prophets and above the nations. And the 'middle' is justice, and the origin of this is that the best of things is its middle. Al-Tirmidhi narrated from Abi Saeed Al-Khudri, from the Prophet ﷺ, regarding the saying of Allah Almighty: ﴿AND THUS WE HAVE MADE YOU A JUST COMMUNITY﴾, he said: «JUST». He said: This is a good, authentic hadith. And in the Revelation: ﴿SAID THE MOST JUST OF THEM﴾, meaning the most fair and the best of them. And so-and-so is from the most just of his people, and he is the intermediary of his people, and the middle of his people, meaning from the best of them and the people of lineage among them.
So, O Muslim, if you want to be among the "most just of them", then be among those who carry the call, those who work to establish the rule of Islam, those who refuse to concede, those who call for the rule of Allah's law on earth.
Written for the Central Media Office radio of Hizb ut Tahrir
Muayad Al-Rajhi - Wilayah Yemen