Social Justice in Islam and in the Political Philosophy of John Rawls

Abstract

The idea of developing a just and well-ordered society has been central both to western po-litical theory and to Islamic thought. John Rawls is a contemporary philosopher who has revi-ved Anglo-American political thought and offered one of the most comprehensive theories ofsociety. The Rawlsian ideas of justice, public reason, and political liberalism have instigatedmany interesting discussions, some aspects of which I will try to highlight here. While thebasic doctrines of Islam always remain sacred, it is also important to acknowledge the heavyinfluence of the modernity in the present-day Islamic ideologies. The principles of distributivejustice in Islamic tradition have been debated and theorized extensively since the classicaltimes. In the article, I will talk about these arguments and address the topics where these twodistinct models interact.