Let’s Teach Our Children the Value for Life -By Edwin Alivionote

The life of a human being is the most precious of all God’s creatures. The glory of God is radiated in the life of humans, this is why man is in charge of all God’s creation. The value of life is an economic value used to quantify the benefit of avoiding a fatality. It is also referred to as the cost of life, value of preventing a fatality (VPF) and implied cost of averting a fatality (ICAF). In social and political sciences, it is the marginal cost of death prevention in a certain class of circumstances.

Life is a gift from God. Adam became a living being by the breath of God (Gen. 2:7), and if God were to withdraw his breath from humans, they would perish (Job 34:14–15). Since life belongs to God, humans do not have absolute autonomy over their own lives but are stewards of the life given to them by God. The lives of all humans, both their own and others’, are to be cherished and guarded.

The value of human life is intrinsic, for it derives from God, who made human beings in his own image. Consequently, the person who takes the life of another will be held accountable and punishable by God through his human representatives. The sixth commandment, “You shall not kill” is a commandment extracted from the biblical 10 commandments which has provided the Christians with the dictate of God concerning the life of another human.

The main issue concerning abortion revolves around when life and personhood begin. Various views have been proposed: (1) at conception; (2) at implantation; and (3) at birth. There is now widespread consensus within the medical field that human life begins at conception, when the egg and the sperm fuse together to form a human embryo. On top of established medical conviction, however, the Bible teaches that a fetus within a womb is a living human being bearing the image of God. In Psalm 139:13, David speaks of how God formed his “inward parts” while he was in his mother’s womb. This text clearly teaches that God forms a new person before birth, not during or after birth. Moreover, Islam, Jews and Christians explicitly condemned the practice of abortion.

By: Mawlānā Muhammad Saleem Dhorat: In light of Islām’s teachings of mercy and tolerance, it is impossible that oppression or the taking of innocent life is permitted in any circumstance. The life of every human, Muslim and non-Muslim, is equally precious and sacred. The value of life is captured in the following verse of the Glorious Qur’ān:

…whoever kills a person not in retaliation for a person killed, nor (as a punishment) for spreading disorder on the earth, is as if he has killed the whole of humankind, and whoever saves the life of a person is as if he has saved the life of the whole of humankind… (5:32)

As Muslims, we value human life irrespective of geography, race and gender. We do not distinguish between the poor and the wealthy, women from men, the less able from the able bodied, as a life is a life, hence sacred and precious. Therefore, a loss of life in any corner of the world is a cause of grief and sorrow for every true Muslim

Whatever the religious background or cultural affiliation we are all common in our biology as human beings. Parents have the responsibility to sow the right perception of human value in their children. The respect for humanity has not glowed over these years as we witnessed major atrocities meted on fellow human beings. We are responsible for preserving the sanity of the human life as many try to make a jungle out of our daily living. When we value life we tend to enjoy our human relationships with utmost respect which makes life mutual and warm.

Compiled by Edwin Alivionote