We, humans, are the most important living creatures on earth. Given this, we should reflect upon and observe it so that we may realize and fulfill the purpose of living.
Our duty in this life is to hunt for insight and divine joys in our hearts and in our minds, for only this way of life can move us beyond the frustrating endeavors of a materialistic and painful life. What makes this painful life worth living is the joy we feel while moving along the path and receiving the gifts we are given by our Creator. Those who walk this path as commanded by our Creator, are constantly delighted with various insights; they run enthusiastically toward their final goal, whereas those who choose different path are confused.
The Qur’anic Verses answer important questions that many are asking about the “Purpose of Life’, questions like: What is the meaning of life? What is life about? Is a philosophical and spiritual conception of the significance of living? What and why should I do in this life? Why are we here? What is the purpose of existence? Some people even are asking, does life exist at all, or do we just dream?
There have been many proposed answers to these questions from many different cultural and ideological backgrounds. The search for life's meaning has produced much philosophical and theological speculation and doubts throughout history. However, only the Islamic view has brought real and meaningful answers. It is the same view that was brought by all Prophets of Allah throughout history but unfortunately forgotten in almost all religions other than Islam.
The meaning of life as we perceive it is derived from our philosophical and religious contemplation of social ties, consciousness, and happiness. Scientific contributions focus primarily on describing related empirical facts about the universe and exploring the parameters concerning the universe. Science also studies and can provide recommendations for the pursuit of well-being and some related conceptions of morality. However, Science can never produce exact answers to many questions related to what the meaning of my life is.
In Islam, our ultimate life objective is to worship the creator Allah by abiding by the Divine guidelines revealed in the Last Revelation “The Holy Qur'an”, and the true Teachings of the Prophets sent by Allah. Islamic true teaching is far from doubts and assumptions but deals with the ideal way of life that is designed and commanded by the Almighty the Creator.
In the Islamic view, earthly life is merely a test, determining one's afterlife, either in Jannah (Paradise) or in Jahannam (Hell). That is to say, every person must live following the teachings of our creator, which gives us happiness and peace that are necessary for the sustainable development of the earth.
The Holy Qur’an provided us with clear instructions about our duties of sustainable development of the earth.
For example: “Then Allah made you successors of the earth with clear orders of your duties so He may observe how you will do; are you amongst the followers of Allah’s commandments”. The Holy Qur’an 10: 14)
And again: “And to Thamud people, Allah sent their brother Saleh, he said O’ my people worship Allah, you have no deity other than Allah; Allah has created you from the earth and settled you in it and gave you the responsibility of developing it sustainably, so ask forgiveness of Him and then repent to Him; Indeed, my Lord Allah is near and responsive” (The Holy Qur’an 11: 61)
For Allah's satisfaction, via the Qur'an, all Muslims must believe in Allah, His Revelations, His angels, His messengers, and in the "Day of Judgment". The Qur'an describes the purpose of creation as follows: "Blessed be He “Allah” in whose hand is dominion and the owner of all Kingdoms, he is powerful over all things and capable of doing anything, He who created death and life that he might examine and test you as to which of you is best is best in deeds, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving" (Qur'an 67:1–2). Allah also said in the Qur’an: "And I Allah created the jinn (demon) and mankind that they should be obedient to Me and Worship Me alone” (Qur'an 51:56); obedience testifies to the oneness of Allah in his Lordship of the Universe, glorifies His name and His attributes.
The Islamic view of the meaning of life stems from the Qur’an that an individual is to know who His Creator is and to know the nature of the Creator, and the purpose of all of Creation is to reveal that nature, and to Prove its value as the ultimate power and treasure of the Creator, and that is Allah no other god beside Him.
Allah said in the Quran: “Verily, In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day, these are indeed signs for humankind who has given heart and mind for thinking and understanding, who remember Allah standing, who remember Allah sitting, and who remember Allah lying down on his sides, and who contemplates the creation of the heavens and the earth, and who concludes by saying: “Our Lord Allah! You have not created all this without purpose, glory to You, Our Lord Allah! Grant us salvation from the torment of the Fire” (Quran 3: 190-191).
In the above verses, Allah has mentioned very clearly to us, by first drawing our attention to the creation of our being; He draws our attention to the different postures of the human body and the different attitudes of people; He draws our attention to the creation of heavens and earth; He draws our attention to the alternation of the night and the day. He draws our attention to the firmament the stars and the constellations; and then He says to us that He has not created all of this for any foolish purpose or without reason! Because when you see the design of it, you know that the design of it is very powerful and very precise. Something very powerful and very precise that is beyond our calculation and imagination, it cannot be foolish, and it cannot be just thrown together without precision.
For instance, if you took just ten pieces of paper and numbered them one to ten. And you put them inside a container, and you shook the container. And then, closing your eyes, reached inside that bag and I told you, “Pull out paper number one. And then pull-out paper number two. And then pull-out paper number three, in order.” What’s the chance of you pulling out those papers in order? Do you know what the chances are? Twenty-six million to one! You have to repeat twenty-six million times in order just to have a chance of having them in order So, what are the chances of the Heavens and the Earth being thrown in a big bang, and being orchestrated like they are? What’s the chance of that? Therefore, the creation can never be by chance, must be from the All-Knower the Wiser, and that is Allah.
When you see a house, a road, a bridge, a building, or an automobile, you automatically consider someone or a group of people who constructed it. When you see an airplane, a rocket, a satellite, or a large ship, you also think about how incredible a thing it is. When you consider other complicated and exciting structures that exist surrounding you or anywhere in the world, you must be thoroughly impressed with the engineering dynamics that are involved.
Yet, these are just things that are manufactured by human beings. What about the human body with its massive and intricate control system? Think about it! Think about the brain, how it thinks, how it functions, how it analyzes, stores information, retrieves information and distinguishes and categorizes information in the millionth of a second! The brain does all of it constantly. Think about a brain for a moment. This is the brain that made the automobile, the rocket ship, the boats, and so and so. Think about the brain and who made that. Think about the heart, how it pumps continuously for seventy years or more, taking and discharging blood throughout the body and maintaining that steady precision throughout the life of that person. Think about it!
Think about the kidneys – what kind of function do they carry? The purifying instrument of the body, performs hundreds of chemical analyses simultaneously and, controls the levels of toxicity in the blood. It does this automatically. Think about your eyes – the human camera that adjusts focus, interprets, evaluates, and applies color automatically. The natural reception and adjustment to light and distance – all automatically. Think about it – who created that? Who has mastered that? Who plans that? And who regulates that? Are we capable of controlling these? No, of course not.
What about the universe? Think about this. The Earth is one planet in our solar system. And our solar system is one of the systems in the Milky Way. The Milky Way is one of the constellations in that galaxy. And there are billions of galaxies like the Milky Way. Think about that. And they are all in order. They are all very precise in their movement. They are not colliding with each other; they are not conflicting with each other. They are swimming along in an orbit that has been set for them. Did human beings set that into motion? And are human beings maintaining that precision? No, of course, we’re not.
Think about the oceans, the fish, the insects, the birds, the plants, and bacteria, the chemical elements that have not been discovered and cannot be detected even with the most sophisticated instruments. Yet, each one of them has a law which they follow. Did all this synchronization, balance, harmony, variation, design, maintenance, operation, and infinite numeration’ did happen by chance? And, do these things function perpetually and perfectly also by chance? And do they keep on reproducing themselves and maintaining themselves also by chance? No, of course not.
To think so, that all these things are operating by themselves, would be illogical, nonsense, and foolish. At the very least it would indicate that however it came to be, it is totally outside the realm of human capabilities. We would all agree to that.
Therefore, the being that is deserving of praise and gratitude is the almighty power of the Creator, and that is Allah. He created all of this, and He is responsible for maintaining all of this. Therefore, Allah is the only one that deserves praise and gratitude.
If I gave each one of you a hundred dollars, for no reason, just for reading this, you would at least say: “Thank you”. However, what about your brain, your thinking, your eyes, your ears, your heart, your stomach, your liver, your legs, your arms, your mouth, your life, your breath, your parents, or you’re your children? What about that? Who gave you that? Is He not worthy of praise and thanks? Is He not worthy of your worship and your recognition? Do we have any right to reject His orders and commandments that He commanded us to do things or not to do; surely not. That indeed is the purpose and the goal of this life; is to Worship your Creator the real and true God “Allah. He is the one that should be remembered all the time and in occasion; He is the one that should be praised and glorified all the time, whenever you are free from your life duties, you should remember Him, mention Him, Praise Him, Glorify Him and mention His attribute names.
There are hundreds of verses in the Holy Quran about the remembrance of Allah and the importance of that in our lives. For example, Allah said: “Remember your Lord Allah within yourself in humility and without screams and drums and raising voice and noises, and with fear of your Lord Allah being apparent in speech, remember Allah, thank Him and Glorify Him in the morning and the evening; and do not be among the heedless”.
Allah also said: “Those who believe and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah; for without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find peace, satisfaction, happiness, and successes”.
This is what Allah Almighty said. So our purpose in this life is to recognize The Creator, and to be grateful to The Creator, To worship The Creator, To surrender ourselves to The Creator, and to obey the laws and commandments that He has determined for us. In a nutshell, it means Worship. This is our purpose in this life. And whatever we do in our life must have an intention of that worship: – the eating, the drinking, the dressing, the working, the enjoyment between life and death, all of this is just consequential. We have been created for worship: that’s the purpose of our life. I believe that even someone scientific or analytical would agree with that purpose. They might have some other ulterior purpose within themselves, but that’s something they have to deal with between themselves and Almighty God, the Creator.
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