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Page:Al-Ghazzali - Some Religious and Moral Teachings of Al-Ghazzali (1921).djvu/70

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FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY
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it properly with a grateful heart, he will wait on the king and live happily, but if he misuses the gift or takes no heed of it, he will prove an ungrateful wretch.

It is thus that the boundless mercy of the omnipotent and omniscient God bestowed on us the gift of life, providing us with bodily organs, mental and moral faculties, so that we uplift ourselves by utilizing them properly, and be worthy of being admitted into his holy presence. If we misuse them or pay no regard to them, surely we shall be (Kafirs) (literally "ungrateful") for his blessings bestowed on us for our good, and thus be doomed.

"Verily," says the Quran, "we created man in the best make. Then we render him the lowest of the low. Except those who believe and do good, so they shall have a reward never to be cut off".[1]. [2]


  1. Quran XCV 4–6. Whether man is by nature good or bad is a question which has vexed great thinkers from ancient times. Various answers have been suggested, which are summed up in three distinct theories:

    1. Evil is innate. Education simply muzzles the brute in man. Civilisation is mere veneering process. This cynical view