Malfuzat – Volume X — Page 549
18 May 1908 549 appointed another world. This is why in the Holy Quran God is also described as 1 ِكِلٰم ِمْوَي ِنْيِّدلا ِكِلٰم ِمْوَي ِنْيِّدلا. It may be that man has a pleasant living, but it is possible that birds and beasts have an even more pleasant living than him. This world is a world of trials, and the Hereafter is designed to provide answers. There are hardships that have been placed in this world, but God has promised hap- piness in the next world. If someone still has objections as to why this was done and why this was not done, the answer is that God does have sovereignty and ownership after all. He did as He desired. No one has the latitude and right to criticize His actions. The second point that is worthy of attention is that since human sufferings are greater than the suffering of animals, human reward will also be greater than that of animals. Human sufferings are of two kinds. One is the suffering due to a sha- riah [religious law] and the other is the suffering due to fate and destiny. In suffering due to fate and destiny, man and ani- mal are co-sharers and almost comparable. If animals die at the hands of humans, then humans die at the hands of animals as well. Similarly, in other sufferings they also share a kind of commonality. However, in the hardships of shariah, there is nothing com- mon between animals and humans. Dictates of the shariah are like a knife that slides over the throat of man, but animals are not held accountable for it. The constraints of the shariah are like a death that man has to bring upon himself. By considering all these matters together, it would be clear that human suffer- ings are far greater than the sufferings of animals. The third thing worth remembering is that human senses are very sharp. Man has a much greater ability to feel. Animals or plants, on the other hand, have much less feelings. This is 1. Master of the Day of Judgement ( S u rah al-F a ti h ah, 1:4). [Publisher]