Cosmic Justice

Broadly speaking, the concept of cosmic justice rests of the presumption that the universe is governed by a set of laws that are just. Justice implies that the laws of the universe must comply to moral standards. Even the laws made by men theoretically comply to the highest standards but men cannot be perfect. Basically all religions agree with the fact that believers should adhere to the law of their society. There can be no organized group without laws. The consequences of anarchy are destruction and chaos. It is a common believe in various religions that God almighty sent prophets to people to teach them his law. . And it is also commonly agreed that the law of God is the foundation of the law in our societies, or at least, that some of the laws in human societies are based on it. But above all, is ts agreed that there is a cosmic law that can be observed in the universe. It is similar to the mere scientific law of cause and effects but it goes beyond it and transcends all human imagination. Once talking about this law, Ghandi said that it is observable that ” there is an unalterable law governing everything and every being that exists or lives… “ There is a cosmic justice that always prevail as in the midst of death, life persists, in the midst of untruth, truth persists and in the midst of darkness, life persists. For many religious people this law is refer to as God . We are going to have some insights into the law in various world religions.

In Judaism, Christianity, Islam and African traditional religions , God is considered Omnipotent and just . hence he is the law-giver and is the one who rewards good and punish evil . But divine justice cannot be apprehended directly with the senses but must be approached with the heart, . There is a famous anecdote from imam Al Ghazali’s “counsel to kings “ on how the divine law works:

Moses, God bless him, addressed a prayer to God on High: “O Lord God, he prayed, show me your justic!e”. “O Moses! he said, Can you not be patient?” ‘Lord’ he replied, ‘with Your help I can.’ He commanded : ‘ go to such and such spring and sit there hidden’. Moses went and did so. A rider came up to the well , drank water, performed the ablutions, took a purse from his griddle, left it there and went. Then a boy came and took the purse and went. Then a blind man came and performed the ablutions and stood in prayer. Suddenly the rider came back :’I left a purse here, he said to the blind man, and you have come but nobody else has been here during this last hour. Give back the purse!, I am blind, I am blind answered the man; I have not seen any purse. The rider grew angry and drew his sword and killed the blind man; then he search for the purse and did not find it and went. Moses said, ‘O Lord, I know what the facts are.’ Then Gabriel came down and said:’God the Strong and Glorious has commanded me to tell you this. ‘ I know things which you do not know. As regards the Boy who took the purse, that purse was his own property. The Gold in it belonged to his father, who was a laborer in the service of this rider. All that he ad accumulated through his labor for the rider was in that purse, and this boy has now recovered his family’s rightful substance. As regard the blind old man before he went blind he had killed the rider’s father , and now the rider has taken vengeance oh him. Behold, O Moses! Such is Our justice.

The story shows that everything that happens can be understood as a plan of God almighty as the real emotive off some actions are hidden in the unseen. A mere adherence to the principles of morals as taught by the divine law are therefore the real shield against evil as reasoning the cause and effects is not enough to grasp the real meaning of our actions in depth. The law of God is the moral law and is operates in strengthening life, truth and light. And above all it is just.

There is a similar story in surat Al kahf , the 18^th chapter of the the glorious quran where Moses meets the wise Dhul Qarnain..When disaster falls on us we do not know from where it comes but it is obvious that God rewards victims of oppression as all our action and that except God almighty covers us with his grace, we reap what we have sown. To elucidate this the Quran says: “Whatever affliction may visit you is for what your own hands have earned “ Qur’an 42.30. Even-though the mercy of God prevails over his wrath , it is recommended after repenting and giving up negative actions to never return to them. African traditional religions recognize that what happen to us might be the consequence of our past misdeeds.

Thus, a famous Yoruba sayings states that “Ashes fly back in the face of him who throws them.” Yoruba Proverb (Nigeria)

Christianity and Judaism both highlights the fact that our actions are taken into account in the operation of the divine law. The Christian Bible in full of passages where it is clearly uttered that we bear consequences of our actions. “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Galatians 6.7.

It is obvious that the ways cosmic justice operates might not be apprehended directly with the senses or grasp with the intellect but the scriptures express it clearly: “Then I saw the wicked buried; they used to go in and out of the holy place, and were praised in the city where they had done such things. Because sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the sons of men is fully set to do evil. Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him.”Ecclesiastes 8.10-12. Fortunately God’s mercy prevails over his wrath