The Gravity of One Murder, and the Death of Justice

In this talk,  Imam Omar Suleiman takes on the death of George Floyd from the aspect of Allah’s edict in Surah Al-Isra’ which can be broken down to :-. The sanctity of one human life;The complete authority of the family of the one killed unjustly;Those that are angered by the murder should not become unjust themselves in seeking justice; andThe role of the state/government/imam with the victim/ victim’s family/heirs. There is no justification for the unjust murders executed against its victims and the fact that there still has been no justice meted out only compounds the injustice that is prevalent in our society. Take the example of George Zimmerman who not only got away with the murder of Trayvon Martin but he has actually made hundreds of thousands of dollars after the killing. What is the message being given out to society, to potential murderers? Since nothing happened to Zimmerman, there is unsurprisingly no fear of accountability in all other cases of murder of persons of colour by persons in authority. What does the absence of justice do to the psyche of a person in a uniform and with a gun? Simple - that they can get away with murder, literally. Facing these tumultuous times, while seeking justice for the victims and their families, we need also be introspective as we call for the end of systemic injustice in our society. We must not be distracted by the attempts of those in authority to divert our attention from the act of the murderer to the character assassination of the victim.   Remember :- the victim’s character is not in question.  Rather, it is the snuffing out of the victim’s life that must remain the focus of all attention, even after years have gone by.