Right, Justice and Society

Justice has been one of the loftiest aspirations of humanity and it is one of the key
words and central concepts studied in social and economic sciences. Although much
discussion has been going on about it from the time immemorial, its expanse and
depth are continuously increasing with the result that no consensus or agreement
exists about its operational and conceptual aspects. There is no clear perspective as
to the concept of justice due to multiplicity of views and opinions concerning it.
One of the debatable discussions about justice is whether justice has something to do
with processes. Does it relate to the rules and regulations between economic agents,
income and ownership of the outcome of the efforts by the individuals? Or does it
have to do with the final result, i.e. the situation brought about as a result of the
implementation of the processes?
Both views have proponents among Western intellectuals and economists. However,
when it comes to the foundations of 'right' and 'justice', it seems that Islam's
perspective surpasses the foregoing two answers.
This article seeks to study and determine such aspects from the concept of justice and
it has first embarked on providing the definitions of justice and then presenting an
account of the chronological development of the aforementioned views. Thereupon,
with the concept of 'right' in view, it has followed the discussion on the impact of
genuine concept of 'right' on justice and social justice in the above-mentioned stages.