Is al-‘Adl (Justice) one of the names of Allaah?

 

Is al-‘Adl (Justice) one of the names of Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted?.

Praise be to Allaah.

Al-‘Adl (justice) is not
narrated as one of the names of Allaah in the Qur’aan or in any saheeh
hadeeth. It was narrated in a famous hadeeth listing the names of Allaah,
which was narrated by al-Tirmidhi and others. The scholars discussed this
hadeeth and regarded it as weak, and said that this list cannot be
attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).
Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqallaani (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in
Fath al-Baari (11/217): Ibn al-‘Arabi said: It may be that these names
are added to complete the list mentioned in the hadeeth attributed to the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and it may be that
it is a composition of some reporters, which seems more likely to me. 

Al-San’aani said in
Subul al-Salaam (4/108): The scholars are agreed that the list of names
of Allaah mentioned in the hadeeth was drawn up by some of the reporters. 

But the word al-‘adl
(justice) is mentioned in the Qur’aan as a description of the words of
Allaah, such as in the verse (interpretation of the meaning): “And the
Word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and in justice” [al-An’aam
6:115]. 

Therefore the scholars
differed as to whether al-‘Adl is one of the names of Allaah, may He be
exalted, and a number of them did count it as one of His names, as Shaykh
‘Abd al-Rahmaan al-Sa’di did at the end of his Tafseer where he said,
when listing the names of Allaah and discussing their meanings: al-Hakam
al-‘Adl Who judges between His slaves in this world and in the Hereafter by
His justice and fairness. End quote. 

Al-Bayhaqi said in
al-Asma’ wa’l-Sifaat (1/198): … al-‘Adl, which appears in the report of
al-Asaami mentioned above. End quote. 

This was the view of a
number of scholars, including al-Khattaabi, Ibn Mandah and others. 

Another group were of the
view that it is not one of the names of Allaah, for the reason we have
mentioned, which is that it is not listed as a name of Allaah in any saheeh
text. Among these scholars is Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy
on him), when he listed ninety-nine names of Allaah from the Qur’aan and
Sunnah in his book al-Qawaa’id al-Muthla, but he did not mention the
name al-‘Adl among them. The same was done by al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar
al-‘Asqallaani and others. 

But it is proven that
Allaah has the attribute of being just, and He is just in all that He does,
as it is narrated in al-Bukhaari (3150) and Muslim (1062) from ‘Abd-Allaah
ibn Mas’ood about the man who objected to the Prophet’s division of the
booty, and he (the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him)) said: “Who will be just if Allaah and His Messenger are not
just?” 

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah
have mercy on him) said: 

Justice is one of His
attributes, so He is just in what He says and what He does and what He
rules. 

A similar report was
narrated from Mu’aadh (may Allaah be pleased with him), that he did not sit
in any gathering of dhikr but he would say: “Allaah is Just and Fair, and
those who have doubt are doomed.” Narrated by Abu Dawood (4611). It is
mawqoof and was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani. 

It says in ‘Awn al-Ma’bood:
i.e., just judge. 

And Allaah knows best.