Absolute Justice, Kindness and Kinship — Page 65
— Part I 64 with the right options, he will perpetually tread the path of constant refinement. However, if at any time he begins to abuse his freedom of choice he is bound to slide down the path of retrogression, the lowest stage of which is Asfala S a fil i n ; and it becomes quite unlikely for him to evince concern for his fellow human beings. He could become so callous and selfish in his behaviour as to degrade himself to an order lower than the order of beasts. All the same, man has the exceptional ability to rise to the level of such refinement as is unseen in the rest of the animal kingdom. Man can achieve the highest form of nobility by performing righteous deeds while firmly adhering to the course of justice and fair play and can reach even the highest level of I t a ’i Dhil-Qurb a when he sacrifices his personal gain or comfort for the sake of others who are not actually his kith and kin. We have demonstrated many exceptions to this. A slightly different exception is found in the case of some depraved humans who kill innocent children just for the sake of consumption of their flesh without any compulsion. Again, child abuse also belongs to the same category. Here the warning of the Holy Quran regarding the potential danger that man may return to the lowest rung is demonstrated. Even as a group, man is known to indulge in heinous crimes of torture of his fellow human beings merely because of religious and political differences.