befitting anyone besides Him. Justice entails that all His actions are right and sound, and in keeping with wisdom.
This, then, is the oneness and justice taught by the Messengers: affirming the realities of the names and attributes in a manner befitting the Lord, glorified is He; commanding the worship of Allah alone, without partner; and affirming divine decree and the wisdom and praiseworthy purposes of His actions and commands. It is not the oneness proclaimed by the Jahmiyyah, Muʿtazilah, and Qadariyyah, which consists in denying the attributes and the realities of the most beautiful names; nor is it their justice, which consists in rejecting divine decree or denying the wisdom, purposes, and praiseworthy outcomes for which the Lord acts and commands.
His upholding justice in His testimony includes several matters.
First: He upholds justice in this testimony, which is, without qualification, the most just testimony. Denying and rejecting it is, without qualification, the gravest injustice. Nothing is more just than the oneness taught by the Messengers, and nothing is more unjust than associating partners with Allah. He, glorified is He, thus upholds justice in this testimony, in both word and deed: He has borne witness to it and declared it, made it known to His servants, and explained its truth and validity to them. He has obliged them to fulfil what it entails, judged accordingly, made it the basis of reward and punishment, and made His commands and prohibitions part of its rights and obligations.
The entire religion is therefore among its due rights. All reward is for fulfilling it, and all punishment is for abandoning it. This is the justice that the Lord, Most High, upholds in this testimony.
All His commands serve to perfect it, and He has commanded that its due rights be fulfilled. All His prohibitions safeguard it against whatever would undermine or contradict it.
All His reward is for fulfilling it, and His punishment is for abandoning it and its due rights.
His creation of the heavens, the earth, and all that lies between them was founded upon it and undertaken for its sake.
It is the truth upon which all created things were brought into being. Its opposite is the falsehood and futility from which Allah has declared Himself free, and upon which He has declared that He did not create the heavens and the earth.