Tradition

عَدْلُ ساعَة خَيْرٌ مِنْ عِبادَةِ سَنَة!

The Prophet (S) is narrated to have said: “One hour of (the implementation of) justice is better than a year of worship.”1

Brief Commentary

Worship is the connection between the Creator and the created and understanding this relationship holds many inner lessons for us and it brings about the growth and progression of the human intellect and spirit. In spite of such importance that worship holds, the tradition above surprisingly says that one hour where justice is implemented is superior to one year of extra worship.

The question comes up as to how such a thing is possible? In other traditions, we also see mentioned how one hour of contemplation and thought are superior to one whole night (or according to other traditions, one whole year’s worship). What such traditions are showing us is how important justice (as well as thinking and contemplation) are in God’s eyes. What is interesting to note is that both contemplation and justice have common roots, since where there is no justice, there can also be no thought or contemplation.

• 1. Nahj al-Fasahah, p. 410.