Absolute Justice, Kindness and Kinship — Page 136
The Role of the Three Creative Principles in the Shaping of Religion 135 We discussed earlier the four basic principles of the law of Adam as , in which every person was guaranteed food, water, shelter and clothing—the basic necessities of life. Moving on to the time of Noah as , we find that in spite of worldly advancement and a highly developed civilisation, his people had become barren of all moral excellence. They rejected his teachings and transgressed all limits to the extent that it became God’s decree to punish all wrongdoers without exception. No exception was made and no plea accepted. Those who rejected Noah as were destroyed, one and all. Noah’s as plea on behalf of his son was in itself contrary to the principle of absolute justice. God would have nothing but justice, thus strengthening the foundation of ‘Adl, the only foundation on which further moral evolution could take place. By the time of Joseph as , the teachings of justice had become so concrete and so firmly entrenched in society, that even the most powerful of men dared not use his influence to contravene the dictates of justice. Hence, despite the fact that Joseph as held the high honour of being treasurer of the whole of Egypt—a position of great power—even he was not authorised to detain his own brother unlawfully. The Mosaic law further emphasises the role of justice to such a high degree, that I h s a n and forgiveness seem to retreat into insignificance. 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth' is how the Jews