Approaching the West — Page 124
A pproaching the West—124 wrongful imprisonment, kidnapping, rape, theft, physical and emotional abuse, economical exploitation, slavery, wrongful occupation of other’s property and land, war and holocaust. The list of these sinful acts and social and international crimes is very long indeed. We may also add to the list the environmental destruction and pollution caused by us humans. These and similar other inflictions caused by some are due to the abuse of what we call the freedom of man’s will. And, we certainly cannot say that freedom of will is an evil in itself. Without free will, man would lose the very essence of his existence. Therefore, causing suffering, pain and death to others through the misuse and abuse of one’s free will, humans remain responsible to God, and not God to humans. To eliminate suffering caused by humans, God has commanded us not to inflict any harm on others, and those who do so, must face the consequences. Therefore, to establish, a JUST society is one of the most important obligations taught by Isl ā m. Those who may escape the corporal punishment in this world, for them God’s punishment shall be waiting in the life to come. Thirdly, there are acts of “self-inflicted suffering”: These could be accidental or intentional. The Holy Qur’ ā n prohibits inflicting self-injuries, specifically committing of suicide. The sufferings that we may inflict upon ourselves are mostly caused by our mental condition that we have the choice to control with or without the help of others. These miseries are usually caused by our anger, jealousy, depression, or getting into addiction, such as, drug-abuse, alcoholism, and gambling. For all these kind of self-inflicted sufferings, man