Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
Allah Almighty is completely free from injustice. He says in the Qudsi Hadith:
“O My servants, I have forbidden injustice for Myself and have made it forbidden among you, so do not wrong one another.”
Injustice would include depriving a servant of a right that is due to him, punishing him without guilt, or causing his good deeds to be lost. Allah Almighty is completely free from all such injustice.
As for people differing in wealth, beauty, health, and knowledge, this is not injustice. All these things belong to Allah and are from His bounty. He gives to whom He wills with wisdom and withholds from whom He wills with wisdom.
It is important to distinguish between justice and bounty:
Allah does not wrong anyone, but He favors some of His servants over others in worldly matters as a test and trial.
Allah says:
﴿And Allah selects for His mercy whom He wills.﴾
And He says:
﴿Had Allah given abundant provision to all His servants, they would have certainly transgressed throughout the land. But He sends down whatever He wills in due measure.﴾
Wealth may be a blessing for one person and a trial for another. Poverty may bring a servant closer to his Lord, whereas if that person were given wealth, he might become arrogant and corrupt.
Allah Almighty says:
﴿As for man, when his Lord tests him by honoring him and granting him blessings, he says, “My Lord has honored me.” But when He tests him by restricting his provision, he says, “My Lord has humiliated me.” No!﴾
This means that receiving worldly blessings is not always evidence of honor, nor is being deprived of them evidence of humiliation. Both can be tests.
A person may look at someone else and see wealth, beauty, and knowledge, but he does not see all the trials, worries, and problems in that person’s life.
People see only one part of the lives of others. They do not see the complete picture or know everything that is hidden from them.
Therefore, a person should not judge Allah’s justice merely by comparing what he possesses with what others possess.
The greatest blessings are not wealth or beauty. Among the greatest blessings are faith, guidance, and tranquility of the heart.
A person may possess much of the wealth and enjoyment of this world while being deprived of tranquility and guidance, whereas another may have little wealth but be rich in faith, contentment, and closeness to Allah.
A person who has been wronged may pray against the one who wronged him in proportion to the injustice suffered, without exceeding the limits.
However, forgiveness and patience are better if they do not encourage the wrongdoer to continue or increase his wrongdoing.
If supplication brings relief to the oppressed person or helps ward off the injustice, there is no harm in saying, for example:
“O Allah, protect me from his harm, keep his injustice away from me, and restore my right from him through Your justice.”
Whoever remains patient and seeks reward from Allah, Allah will compensate him with something better in this world or the Hereafter.