Harvard University has not ranked ‘Quran’ as the best book for justice in the world
Social media is abuzz with a post (here and here) claiming that Harvard University (located in the United States) has ranked the Islamic religious book, the Quran, the best book for justice in the world. We will fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: Harvard University has ranked the Quran as the best book for justice in the world
Fact: Harvard University has not made any official statement, declaring the Quran the best book for justice in the world. Harvard has included a verse from the Quran(Surah An-Nisa 4:135) in a gallery of quotations about law and justice called ‘Words of Justice’ located at a venue inside Harvard Law School’s Wasserstein Hall. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
To check the veracity of the viral claim, we performed a keyword search on the internet and found no press releases from Harvard University or any news reports that Harvard University declared the Quran the best book for justice in the world.
However, during this search, we found (here, here, and here) that a quote from the Quran has been included by Harvard University in a gallery named ‘Words of Justice’ located in Harvard Law School. This is verse 4:135 from the Quran’s Surah An-Nisa, which reads, “O ye who believe!
Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses
To Allah, even as against Yourselves, or your parents,
Or your kin, and whether
It be (against) rich or poor:
For Allah can best protect both.”’
According to the Harvard Law Bulletin published on 1 July 2012, ‘Words of Justice’ is a gallery that contains 33 quotations about law and justice.‘The quotations span the period between 600 BCE and the present day,’ the bulletin said.
A glimpse of the quote from the Quran, written on the wall, can be seen in an Instagram post made by Harvard Law in July 2023. These 33 quotes were hand-stenciled on the walls outside ‘Milstein East in the Wasserstein Hall, Caspersen Student Center, Clinical Wing Building,’ located in the Harvard Law School.
To sum up, there is no evidence for the viral claim that Harvard University has declared ‘Quran’ as the best book for justice in the world.