Al-Ghazali _{On Justice and Social Justice}

As is suggested by its title the main purpose of this study is a presentation,analysis and evaluation of al-Ghazâlî's ideas on justice and social justice.However, in the meantime we shall have an opportunity to shed some lighton an aspect of his intellectual legacy that has remained almost unnoticed:prioritization of what is social, or giving priority to what is social in humanbehaviour, and in its religious, legal and moral evaluation. This can verybriefly be summarised as considering transitive virtues more valuable orpraiseworthy than the intransitive ones, and considering transitive vicesmore vicious or blameworthy than the intransitive ones. We shall try also toput two of al-Ghazâlî's significant approaches to religion, law and ethics inthe perspective of social justice, or vice versa. One of these is his remarkablebut not duly and properly appreciated approach to fardh1 kifâya. The otheris his well-known approach to Maqâsid al-Sharî'a and Masâlih. What isimportant about them here is that they are going to be treated as referencesfor an idea of social responsibility or collective obligation/duty.