Al-Risala (English), Nov-Dec 2000

and injustice. This is due to the nature of man being different from that of the rest of the universe. Man in this world is in a state of trial. Trial requires, of necessity, freedom of action. It is this freedom which enables him to perpetrate oppression and tyranny in this world. Tyranny in the human world is the price of human freedom. Yet, without freedom, how can those precious human souls who opt not to be unjust and oppressive—despite the opportunities that present themselves—be differentiated from the willing perpetrators of injustice and oppression? Without freedom, how can those who choose not to indulge in insolent behaviour although quite free to do so, be held above those who do not hesitate to stoop to insolence? Besides man, nothing in the universe is going to be sent to heaven or hell. If man’s fate is different, it is because, having been given the exceptional capacity to distinguish between right and wrong, between truth and untruth, he is a responsible creature. This moral endowment is, in essence, the key to man’s lot in the Hereafter. In the final judgement, those who have put their freedom to the right and proper use will be rewarded. Those who have not will be punished. □ In Giving We Receive A ccording to Time Magazine of October 17, 1986, her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II had long voiced a desire to visit the People’s Republic of China. But as long as Britain ruled a piece of Chinese territory, the crown colony of Hong Kong, such a journey