The Rights of the Accused in Islam

Abstract

Introduction
As a faith and a way of life, Islam includes among its most important
objectives the realization of justice and the eradication of injustice. Justice
is an Islamic ideal under all circumstances and at all times. It is not to be
affected by one's preferences or dislikes or by the existence (or absence)
of ties of blood. Rather, it is a goal to be achieved and an ideal to be
sought: "Surely, Allah commands justice and the doing of good" (Qur'an
16:90); "And I was commanded to deal justly between you" (42:15); and
"Allow not your mcor for a people to cause you to deal unjustly. Be
just, for that is closer to heeding" (5:8). There are also many hadiths in
the Sunnah that command justice and prohibit wrong. Moreover, the
achievement of justice is one of the objectives towatds which human
natm inclines, while its opposite-injustice-is something that humans
naturally abhor.
Allah has ordained measures by which justice may be known and by
which it may be distinguished from its opposite. He has clarified the
means by which all people might achieve this objective, facilitated the
ways by which it may be accomplished, and made those ways (the most
important of which is the institution of judgment (qada), manifest to them ...