<Special Feature “Socio-economic Impacts of Islam on Capitalism, Civil Society, and Modernity”>The Birth of Social Justice in Islam: How Modernity Has Redefined the Prophetic Message

Abstract

Many common people and scholars argue that social justice is the goal of Islam. This, then, makes the Prophet a social reformer. This article aims to highlight how this perception is a misconception shaped by modernity that has formed our vision of the past. The birth of the idea of social justice in nineteenth-century modern Europe has entailed, as a corollary, a new definition of the purpose of Islam. The article attempts to show how the notion of justice could have been positive in the classical era, and it could be named behavioral justice. This means that prescriptions may have been based on the personal view of adequate behavior.