adi (JAs) (alâmet-i adi) ʿAdl (justice) is of two kinds: the outward justice between you and people; and the inward justice between you and Allah. The path of justice is the path of uprightness (istikāmet). The path of virtue (faḍīla) is the path of seeking what is more (the greater good). What is required of (ordinary) people is to act with justice; this is the path of uprightness. The path of virtue is not required of them. Sabr (patient endurance), warāʿ (scrupulousness), and justice are together, and both are obligatory. Zuhd (asceticism) and riḍā (contentment with God's decree) are also together with justice, but these are not obligatory. Fairness (insāf) is with justice, while ihsan (spiritual excellence) is with virtue.
The one whom justice prevents from virtue is excused. But the one whom virtue prevents from justice is deluded and follows the caprice of his nafs (the lower self). For a person, knowledge of justice is necessary. Knowledge of virtue is only necessary if one seeks it voluntarily. Likewise, knowledge of an act that is not obligatory for the servant to perform is not obligatory for him.
A servant becomes a person of justice only through three qualities: knowledge sufficient to know what is for and against him, action (ʿamal), and sabr (patient endurance). (Ādāb, 73)
The sign of justice is not to give two different judgments. If you do so, you will have given one judgment for yourself and another for someone else. The judgment should be a single judgment for both yourself and others; it should be given with greater fairness towards others than towards yourself (that is, you should think for others what you think for yourself, and even act more fairly towards others). (Ādāb, 146)
Justice is to put everything in its proper place. (Hujwīrī, 469)
The four foundations of character are: wisdom (ḥikma), courage (shajāʿa), chastity (ʿiffa), and justice. By wisdom, we mean a faculty of the nafs (the lower self) that distinguishes right from wrong in all voluntary acts. By justice, we mean a faculty of the nafs that governs the forces of anger (ghaḍab) and shahwa (desire), directing them towards the path required by wisdom (ḥikma). It activates or restrains them according to the requirements of wisdom. By courage, we mean that the force of anger is subject to reason in its activation or restraint. By chastity, we mean that the force of desire is disciplined in accordance with reason and sharia (the sacred law). (Iḥyāʾ, II, 67)
The four (foundations) of character are: wisdom, courage, chastity, and justice. Wisdom is a faculty of the nafs that distinguishes right from wrong in all voluntary acts. Justice...