How is injustice caused

Consequently, poverty and social inequality have become enormously complex. They are part of the challenge to urgently formulate a new project for society that will address the concept of improving the living conditions of the population, through deep social reforms.

This task is not exclusive to the State or to society and the market, but the whole of society, including the State, making its regulatory role more important and fundamental, because of the magnitude of poverty and social inequality of the country.

It is still extremely hard to measure poverty and living conditions of the Brazilian population, due both to the lack of up-dated information and to the difficulty of making it compatible.

The same data show that in metropolitan areas, the poor have lower income and also show greater inequities of income at the beginning of than at the beginning of the Plan in July According to Rocha "these results suggest that, from the standpoint of income, the segment of the poorer poor is being left out of the benefits of the stabilization plan" Table 1. Table 1: Poverty indexes in terms of insufficiency of income in 6 metropolitan regions.

In: Rocha, Sonia, op. At the same time, the same official document synthesizing the present government's strategy for social development2 is still working with data for , according to which This means to say the same size and the same unequal distribution of indigence in regional terms as the findings of the Brazilian Report for the Social Development Summit.

Table 2: Indexes of indigence relating to insufficiency of income. There is a lack of agile instruments and mechanisms to assess the impact of economic and social policies on the living conditions of the population.

But more serious still is the lack of persistence of economic policy guidelines in social policy regulations, associated with the national government's scant capacity for redistributive actions to address regional inequality.

Thus, the option is not unfounded - when dealing with Brazil, to give priority to the analysis of economic and social inequality, instead of emphasizing poverty indicators. This distribution shows considerable regional disparities. For example, in the Sudeste, 2. Furthermore, this imbalance is even more evident when it is seen from the gender standpoint. Taking Brazil as a whole, while 2. Table 3: Distribution of persons 10 years of age and over, according to sex and classes of monthly income minimum wages.

Source: PNAD The item «No earnings» includes persons who only receive benefits. Table 4: Gini index on the distribution of monthly income of people 10 years of age or over - with no earnings - according to sex - Table 5: Recent evolution of growth and inequality A economia brasileira em perspectiva - Rio de Janeiro, vol.

I, , pp. Furthermore, the same trend is observed as that for , concerning years of schooling. As to lower levels of years of schooling, women have an average 3 points lower than men. In the higher strata, this percentage is significantly higher in the case of women Table 6. Table 6: Years of chooling by sex - Brazil. Source: PNAD - The data concerning distribution by levels of income, insertion in the formal labor market and years of schooling by gender are not directly comparable.

However, the discrepancies shown here infer that the labor market promotes a discriminatory selectivity with regard to women that is not in line with the level of training of the labor force. According to IBGE, with regard to the rate of open unemployment an average 5. This trend is due to the economic crisis which mainly affects industry and some branches of tertiary activities.

However, there is no indication that this increase in agricultural employment reflects an expansion of this activity, despite increased demand for human resources. The agricultural issue in Brazil is relevant in terms of social inequality, concentration of income, the strength of the rural workers organization Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra and the violence which characterizes rural conflicts. The concentration of wealth by large land-holders is obvious in the fact that 0.

Of the remainder, 2. However, only Added to this is the fact that recently August August , the cultivated agricultural area has decreased in Brazil nearly thousand hectares. The drop in production mainly occurred in the production of staples, causing damage primarily to the low-income city dweller. Several studies on the subject report that the small and medium-sized rural producers have been the hardest hit by the agricultural policy that is being implemented and have reduced the areas of their plantations and consequently, their production.

Finally, it should be noted that although Brazil has risen from 64th place to 58th place in the HDI ranking in the UN Report on Human Development, it continues to head the list of countries with the worst distribution of income, and is recognized as a country having "inhuman growth", although it is classified 13th among the countries having the most potential to reduce poverty.

The current government's social development strategy proposes four subsets of actions: a maintaining the necessary and "not yet sufficient" conditions to promote improvement of the standard of living of Brazilians, i.

The body for articulating the government's social programs is the Social Policy Chamber of the Civil Department of the Office of the President of the Republic, which is responsible for guaranteeing financing flows and for the quality of management, and supporting and monitoring the set of actions.

Basic education is the priority, with a view to improving the quality and the value given to teaching, and geared to redistribution and equity. The Distance Education Program seeks to upgrade the training of public education teachers and to equip school units with TV, video, etc. Inequality makes people sadder. First stop for me as an economist is to look to the data.

This chart from the Spirit Level , for example, handily charts a correlation between murder rates and income inequality. But correlation does not equal causation and both inequality and violence beyond just homicide rates are complex issues, so let me break it down into a few different ideas, broadening the idea of violence to include crime and conflict:.

We know that inequality hurts us in many ways and affects the poorest people most. And we know that inequality is getting worse, propagated by structures that cannot help but increase it. It seems evident that the fight against poverty fair lives for all will not be won until the inequality crisis is tackled.

This is bad for peace, too. Like inequality, global violence is growing, reaching levels not seen since the Cold War. Inequality and violence are clearly linked. Whether through inciting violence between groups, within them or just through undermining social values, fighting inequality is also necessary to achieve peaceful and safe lives. I would love to hear from researchers that are exploring some of these ideas in more detail, for example - how does the relationship between inequality and violence manifest at household, community and national level in different contexts?

What can be done to tackle growing disparities and conflict between and within groups? How can entrenched and extreme power inequalities be broken down to create more inclusive societies in ways which are peaceful?

Surah ash-Shura, When We let the people taste mercy, they rejoice in it, but when some misfortune befalls them because of their own doings they at once become desperate. Surah Rum, As for man, whenever his Lord tests him by bestowing favour on him and blesses him, he says, 'My Lord is kind to me'. But when He tests him by stinting his means of living, he says my Lord has disgraced me.

Surah al-Fajr, — As a matter of fact we should try to find out the cause and reason of our misfortunes and afflictions within ourselves and in the latter part of the preceding verse as we read, "Since wealth does not necessarily guarantee everlasting happiness then why do you not honour the orphans, or urge one another to feed the destitute? This verse too tells us about our deeds being the cause of our misfortune and deprivation of Allah's Mercy. Eat of the lawful and good things which Allah has provided for you and give thanks for His favours if it is He Whom you worship Surah an-Nahl, In this verse Allah tells of a place where Allah's blessings and bounties were in abundance but its inhabitants became ungrateful to Allah and thus became guilty of infidelity.

And Allah plunged them into hunger, poverty and terrible fear. This verse also establishes that ungratefulness to Allah becomes the cause of afflictions. We have already mentioned before that the misdeed of the people is the cause of their troubles and afflictions and consequently Allah's wrath befalls them.

Here the following two questions arise. Why is it so? It is possible that a teacher may be having different standards of reprimanding his pupils. He may punish some at once as a result of his anger, but he may leave some alone for a certain period of time; and against some who are the worst he may take no action at all, and leave them to themselves until the end of the session for the purpose of awarding the marks.

This sort of categorization is based on wisdom endowed by Allah because all the guilty ones are not equally responsible nor the nature of their deeds and mentality is similar so that we may deal with them equally from the point of view of punishment. Sometimes the teacher reacts violently on the negligence of one of his best pupils because he did not expect such negligence from his best pupil while in the case of his unworthy pupils he does not crack down on them severely.

We read in the Holy Qur'an that Allah on certain occasions reprimanded his Prophets and Messengers for their actions though these were not under the commitment of sins because He would not have expected of so august a personage an unexpected action, but we read about the common people differently.

We destroyed the inhabitants of certain towns only when they transgressed and did not repent before our deadline. Surah al-Kahf, 18 It is explained that Allah does not hasten the punishment for those who commit the sins by putting them into misfortune but from the side of Allah there remains a deadline within which they can repent of their misdeeds.

They want you to bring upon them their punishment without delay. Allah never disregards His promise. One day for Allah is equal to a thousand years for you. To how many unjust towns have we given respite and then seized with torment. Surah al-Hajj, I granted temporary respite to the unbelievers so that they would repent, but they did not.

At last I seized them with a terrible retribution. Surah ar-Ra'd, The unbelievers must not think that our respite is for their good. We only give them time to let them indulge in their sins, and suffer an ignominious doom. For them there will be a humiliating torment.

Surah Ale Imran, 3 After the martyrdom of the Chief of the Martyrs, Imam Husayn, when the accursed Yazid thought himself victorious and successful, the revered sister of the Holy Imam, Lady Zaynab recited this very verse of the Holy Qur'an and pointed out to him that his seeming victory, freedom, comfort and power were only increasing the burden of his sins so that these should become the source of terrible torment for him as the Holy Qur'an says that Allah provides the people greater comfort so that they should become used to it and then He strikes them suddenly with a painful torment.

The Holy Qur'an says. When they neglected what we exhorted them, We opened to them the gates to all the worldly gains so much so that they became immensely rejoiced with that and then we caught them suddenly and they became utterly surprised and dejected. Surah al-An'am, — Such sort of people are like those who climb a tree higher and higher and think that they are getting more successful but when they fall down from it they realize that their going up was the beginning of their torment.

Thus Allah treats some people in the similar way save those who have the capability of reforming themselves.

Evil has spread over the land and the sea because of corruption and hence, Allah will cause some people to suffer so that perhaps they will return to Him. Surah ar-Rum, In answer to the question as to why people are in comfort despite their flouting the Divine commands and why some receive punishment on that account, the above-mentioned verses from the Holy Qur'an will suffice.

In this context we would take the opportunity of referring to some ahadith traditions which warn the people to fear Allah if despite their sins they have not been faced with Allah's wrath so that the matter may not go too far away and they may lose a golden chance of retrieving and the punishment is meted out to them in the Hereafter by their being thrown into the Fire of Hell.

It is like that sometime a patient reaches such a stage of his disease that the physician gives up his efforts by losing all hopes and he then issues no instructions to the patient and allows him to eat whatever he likes whether it is harmful to him or not.

Thus there are people who have committed many sins and to whom Allah says in the Holy Qur'an:. From the supplications of the Holy Imams we often read the following words. Do not leave me on my own". In short Allah's wrath befalls the transgressors whom worldly comfort and pleasure prevented from getting warned and the punishment of the Doomsday awaits them eagerly.

What is the analytical approach of the Holy Qur'an about the Justice of Allah? Explanation: Allah's putting people on trial has been mentioned about twenty times in the Holy Qur'an. Thus one of the methods of Allah putting man on trial and hardships have been described above are just the means of that trial.

Similarly, happiness and pleasure are also one of the means of trial. We shall test you through fear, hunger, loss of life, property and crops. Muhammad, give glad tidings to the people who have patience.

Surah al-Baqarah, — The First Question: Obviously our trial is not for the purpose of His knowing our state of mind, mentality and reactive tendency because Allah already knows all this.

He knows how we think and how we react but the purpose of the trial is to make us react by counteraction so that according to our deeds the question of recompense with reward or punishment is determined, because Allah never rewards or punishes a person on the basis of His Knowledge about his being good or bad, but He bases His decision on the deeds performed by that person. The Second question: We said earlier that pleasant and unpleasant happenings are the source of man's trial.

You believers will certainly be tested by the loss of your property and lives. Surah Ale Imran, The Third Question: A friend of ours says that the people who face ordeals and misfortune can be divided into the following four groups:. Those when confronted with unpleasant incidents start complaining and finds fault with Allah's Justice, His Grace, Wisdom and His method of working things in this Universe. The Holy Qur'an tells of such a group of people as follows: When misfortune befalls him, he is perturbed.

Surah al-Ma'arij, It means that when misfortune befalls such people they start grumbling and crying. Those who bear hardship with patience and forbearance and they only declare: We are the servants of Allah and to Him we shall return. Surah al-Baqarah, 2:l Those who exceed the second group in this respect as these people not only remain patient and steadfast but they also thank Allah about what befalls them. We recite in Ziyarat 'ashura as follows: "O Allah! I thank you in the same way as the companions of the Holy Imam Husayn had done".

Indeed, there are people whose main ambition is to bear hardships and martyrdom in the path of Allah and when they achieve their goal, they offer their sincere gratitude to Allah.

Those who are on a still higher plane than those of the third group and who not only do not complain or show patience and steadfastness but they also yearn for bearing hardships and misfortune. We read in the Holy Qur'an that when the companions of the Holy Prophet asked him to provide them with means and materials horses, swords etc. Those who come to you Muhammad asking to be taken to the battle, but you cannot find the necessary means for them, are exempt from the duty of fighting for the cause of Allah and they go away in tears grieving that they are not being able to keep the cause of Allah.

Surah al-Tawbah, People generally react to unexpected incidents very violently. If you hand over a peeled onion to a child, he shouts as soon as he puts it in his mouth and throws it away because he feels uneasiness in his eyes, but the father of the child goes out in the market and buys the onions for the kitchen use. The hardships in life are like that. One runs away from them while the other welcomes them. The Fourth Question: We have said that Allah is Just, and our misfortunes and sufferings are sometimes for our trial, so that our inner faculties become perfect.

Now let us find out what we should do in order to come out successful in our misfortunes. Here also we have to seek guidance from the Holy Qur'an. Since they consider the worldly affairs subservient to Divine control, and when they were in difficulties they say that they are for Allah, and they are only short-lived; they do not demand anything from Him; their coming in this world and all the bounties are from Him alone.

They are only His trustees. This world is not their permanent abode; it is a passage for the next world the Hereafter. On arrival of death they shall return to Him, and shall not be perished. They exist in this world but there will be no change in their existence after death; only a place of their abode will be changed.

This type of outlook on Universe prepares the man to face the hardships and difficulties in an appropriate manner. This outlook is reflected by the following Qur'anic verse:. Would we think that without experiencing all these things we would attain Paradise though like the people of the former nations, we have not yet experienced the ordeals like hunger, poverty, sickness, earthquakes, etc.! The Prophets as well as the believers only awaited Allah's Mercy to rescue them from all their troubles.

The Holy Qur'an assured them of Allah's help to come to them ultimately and says:. Do you think that you will find your way to Paradise without experiencing the kind of suffering others have experienced before you?

Distress and afflictions battered them until the Messenger and the believers sadly said, 'When will Allah send help? This verse of the Holy Qur'an points out to the fact that in the long period of history believers in Allah had to undergo great sufferings. Now that it is our turn to suffer as it is evident that the grinding wheel of time has to repeat its cycle anyway.

It is the normal way of history that it has to repeat the events. The Holy Qur'an at a number of places says to the Holy Prophet to look into the condition of such and such groups of people so that they may not get the impression that they are not the only persons to be afflicted by sufferings. Indeed, if man understands that the afflictions and suffer ings are the result of a process of a general rule, he will be in a better position to accept them and exercise patience.

You observe fast during the month of Ramazan without any difficulty because it is commonly done by everybody during that month. But if in other months you have to observe fast, you will find it difficult to do so. The Holy Qur'an which gives command for observing fasts says that other nations before you also observed fasts. The knowledge of the past events of history helps man to bear things with patience and similarly the knowledge of the future happenings, too helps to strengthen one's capacity of exercising patience.

Prophet Khizr said to Prophet Musa: How can you remain patient with that which you do not fully understand. Surah al-Kahf, Thus the thing that enhances man's power of exercising patience is the knowledge about the patient people and their method of exercising patience. Knowledge about the patience and steadfastness of the previous people is an effective means to face misfortunes and afflictions.

The Holy Qur'an has mentioned number of such things and has cited the examples of patience of the people of former nations. The Prophets of Allah used to say to their adversaries as follows:. When the magicians, who were called by Fir'aun to humiliate Prophet Musa, realized his righteousness they embraced his faith and despite Fir'aun's threats and intimidations replied as follows:. We cannot choose you in the face of the clear testimony we have received, and over Him who created us.

So do what you are determined to do. All that you would do will only be confined to our short-lived life on earth. Surah Ta Ha, 20 Hence, they meant to tell Fir'aun to do whatever he wanted. They would endure all the misfortunes that he inflicted upon them as they had discovered the right course leading to Paradise and were determined not to give up their stand.

Be not afraid; I am verily with you all the time, and I hear and see. Surah Ta Ha, Surah Hud, As soon as Prophet Nuh started building the Ark, the crowd of the infidels which passed by him made a fun of him and passed sarcastic remarks by saying that the Prophet had turned a carpenter but Prophet Nuh paid no heed to their taunts which became the means of his steadfastness, and reminded him that he was present before Allah and that Allah was supervising his work.

Such firm determination and spirit of steadfastness instils a new life in man. The Holy Qur'an gives frequent examples in this regard. The following verses of the Holy Qur'an asks us to take the support of prayers and patience:. Believers, help yourselves through patience and prayers. Allah is with those who have patience. Besides, the traditions too indicate that in the face of difficulties Imam Ali used to get himself busy in prayers.

Prayers bring the small one nearer to the great one and makes the. The following verse says that remembrance of Allah creates serenity of the heart:. The gist of this discussion is that Allah is Just and whatever hardships befall us are from Allah; and they are for the purpose of putting us on trial and as already mentioned before, the people who face hardships are divided into four different categories. The course of action which leads us to success has also been stated. As for example we know that death is the ultimate end of man's life and yet we object to Allah as to why such and such man died?

Sometimes we assume that this world is an everlasting abode and yet we complain as to why people die of floods, earthquakes, diseases etc.? Then we assume that this world is the place of comfort and we complain as to why we are afflicted with hardships and difficulties. We are like a man who enters a lecture hall and starts questioning as to why tea and snacks are not available because of one particular thinking, which is a wrong one, it was thought that the hall was meant for a reception function.

If we tell him that the hall was meant for delivering lectures he will withdraw his objections and will feel sorry for that. Therefore, we should consider this world as it is. We should know the purpose of our existence and in that case all our objections will be nullified. We must be certain of the fact that this world is not a place of our permanent abode but it is a passage of our life.

If we adhere to this conviction then all our objections such as with regard to the dying of people on account of disease, floods, and earthquake etc. It is a different matter by what means we happen to depart from here, either through disease, floods or earthquakes etc. Example: A customer entered a glassware shop where the glasses were arranged in an upside-down position. He looked at them minutely and said the mouth of the glass was closed.

He picked up a glass in that condition and remarked that it had not even its bottom. The shopkeeper laughed at this and took the glass from his hand and put it into upright position and said, "Sir, the glass has its bottom as well as the mouth". In the same way our objections are due to our wrong thinking and defective approach of things.

So to say we see all things with coloured glasses. If we put on red glasses on our eyes we will take turnips as beets. In short, all our objections originate from wrong thinking and incorrect interpretations. First we think that the world is a place of comfort and then we start making objections when we are faced with disappointments. As a matter of fact this world is a place of development and progress.

This is a place where we sow the seeds. Obviously such a process involves hard work, hardships and difficulties. If we accept some principles we shall realize that our basic differences play an important role in our life.

First of all8 man's life is a social life, that is, we are not like self-growing grass which perishes all by itself. We are not born all by ourselves and do not perish all by ourselves without having any relation with somebody else.