What the Bahá'í Faith says about justice
The Bahá'í writings put justice at the top rather than partway down a list of virtues. Bahá'u'lláh calls it the best beloved of all things, and the teachings that follow are unusually concrete about money, work and prejudice. These are stated positions rather than conclusions anyone reached by argument, and the ten entries below are presented as such. Each links to its page and the writing the library cites.
Justice as the Foundation of Society
Justice is defined as giving each person their due on the basis of truth rather than self-interest, and it is named as the foundation of social progress. Bahá'u'lláh calls it the best beloved of all things in his sight.
Hidden Words
The Principle of Trustworthiness
Trustworthiness is treated as the base on which social and commercial life stands. It is the unheroic daily form of justice: doing what you said you would do.
Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh
Elimination of Prejudice
Racial, national, religious and class prejudice are named as things to be removed, not attitudes to be softened. The line given is that the earth is one country and mankind its citizens.
Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh
Equality of Women and Men
Women and men are held to be equal in the sight of God, and women's full participation in every sphere is described as necessary to peace rather than as a desirable extra.
Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh
The Abolition of Extremes of Wealth and Poverty
Both extreme poverty and extreme wealth are named as problems. The stated aim is arrangements under which poverty disappears, which puts the weight on structures rather than on almsgiving.
Foundations of World Unity
Profit-Sharing
Workers should share in the profits of what they help create. Labour is framed as a partner in the enterprise rather than a cost to it.
Foundations of World Unity
Workers' Rights
Fair wages, safe conditions and dignity at work, with exploitation treated as a breach of human oneness. The argument runs from the theology rather than from economics.
Foundations of World Unity
Prohibition of Slavery
Slavery in every form is prohibited, on the ground that all people were made from the same dust. The reason given is the same one used against prejudice.
Hidden Words
The Rights of Children
Children are described as holding rights to education, love and protection, with the obligations falling on parents. Education is singled out as first in importance.
Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Bahá
International Justice
An international court able to settle disputes between nations is held to be necessary if peace is to hold without war. It is a claim about institutions: justice needs somewhere to be administered.
Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh
Most traditions state a principle and leave the arrangements to the reader. This one names the arrangements — profit-sharing, a world court, a floor and a ceiling on wealth — which makes it easier to disagree with and easier to check. Whether any of it would work is not something the writings can settle.