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Islam, Democracy and Human Rights in Contemporary Indonesia33ding to the teaching of Islam, should be built upon justice. Thisprinciple underscoring justice has strong accounts in al-Qur%u2019anand al-Hadits. Quotation from Surah An-Nisa (verse 135):%u201cBelievers, conduct yourselves with justice and bear truewitness before Allah, even though it be against yourselves, yourparents, or your kinsfolk. Whether the man concerned is richor poor, know that Allah is nearer to him than you are. Do notbe led by passion, lest you should serve from the truth. If youdistort your testimony of decline to give it, know that Allah iscognizant of all your actions.%u201dLegal experts on Islam confirmed to assert that justice isthe soul or basic principle of shariah. No human being is incompliance with any norms if the laws do the injustice. Justiceshould normatively and imperatively serve as solid basis forgoverning our actions and attitudes to conduct human relations.On one occasion a person posed a question to ProphetMohammad what is justice all about. Rasulallah replied justiceis when you give someone what his rights are and take it fromsomeone what are not. A standpoint on justice should serve asbasis to build dynamic but convivial human relations. Justiceshould start from our frame of thinking when we assessourselves or towards others. Abhorrence or aversion, accordingto citation in al-Qur%u2019an, should not govern us to do injustice.Allow me to take this opportunity to quote some parts ofthe last sermon delivered by Prophet Muhammad in the ninthday of Dhul Hijjah in the 13th Hijrah year (9 March 632 AD) inthe valley of Arafah plain. This historic sermon, known in thehistory of Islam as the Farewell Hajj Address (Khutbah HajjatulWada%u2019), was delivered a few months prior to the demise ofProphet Muhammad:
