Islam and Human Rights — Page 38
Isl am and Hum an R ights 38 that is a Sign for a people who take heed. “He it is Who has subjected to you the sea, that you may take therefrom flesh to eat, and the ornaments that you wear. And thou seest the ships ploughing it, that you may journey thereby, and that you may seek of His bounty, and that you may be grateful” (16:11-15). References to God’s Signs emphasize the need for study and research so that the proper use of each thing may be discovered by acquiring knowledge of its properties and the laws governing them. These gifts and bounties are for the benefit of man - kind as such; that is to say, of the whole of mankind without discrimination. They are not intended for, or con fined to, any particular section. Thus, equipped with his own inherent faculties and capacities appropriate to, and adequate for, the purpose of achieving his object in life; with Divine guidance available at all stages, adequate to his needs; and with the whole of the universe subjected to his service, man has, through Divine beneficence, been placed in the most favourable position for the complete fulfilment of his lif e and for the achievement of its goal and purpose. We can now appreciate the position allotted to man in the Divine scheme of the universe, according to the Quran. Man in this context signifies mankind, all men