Everyone has a Purpose in Life
The Better Life, April 2013 Issue (Vol. 1, No. 1, p. 1)
The aim of life is to find that purpose for which we make ourselves either capable or incapable. The Quran in 16:75 mentions two kinds of persons:
- A slave, whose person and possessions are owned by another and who is therefore incapable of achieving anything.
- Another person who is given resources and utilizes it with the best of ability, with or without supervision.
The question is posed — are the two alike? i.e., which one am I?
Our excellence in the sight of Allah lies in our ability to manage the resources Allah has given to us.
In this context we look at the Prophet Muhammad’s life:
He had little resources — no education, no finances, no political support nor military power. His sole resource was his relationship with God. He developed it, he strengthened it, he used it to transform himself, his home, his family and his nation. He even conveyed it to other persons to carry throughout the world in each age and time.
Muhammad showed us how to use our meagre resources with the help of Allah to make our world a better world.
To change the world Allah gives us in 16:76 the examples of two other persons.
One is dumb by making himself or herself incapable of speaking out. Such person is more of a nuisance to society as there is no focus on self-improvement.
The other person uses freedom to bring about fair play but is himself or herself sticking to the right path — siraatal mustaqeem.
The question is again posed — are the two alike? i.e., which one am I?
Freedom of speech is no good without the will to act.
“If you have the will to act, you have achieved half your success; if you don’t, you have achieved half your failure.”
Action without good thinking is fatal. Good thoughts without action is futile.
We are unaware of our future but we have the ability to control it. Islam is a Divine system to control our future.
Islam requires us to develop three things in our personality:
- The ability to be decisive — to make correct decisions
- To possess reliability:
- Reliance on Allah
- Reliance on family, friends & the community
- Reliance on oneself
- The attitude of hard work — Work does not kill rather our survival depends on it.
We must learn to cope with disappointment for life has no problems only challenges.
We must put our trust in Allah who is within us. Belief brings relief.
Allah is recognized firstly through our own nature, then secondly through His scriptures.
Some human beings tend to stifle their nature and deny the existence of a Supreme Being.
It is surprising that we know and can harness the power that lies in or comes from material things such as money and metal, but we are unable to recognize and harness the power that comes from God.
We spend so much time, money and other resources to prepare for a length of life in this world of about seven or eight decades.
What about the life ahead which is eternal?
How much more should we focus on doing those things which will guarantee us happiness in the life beyond.
The Quran in 30:15 states:
“For those who believed and did good, they will be made happy in a garden.”
Behaviour requires of us two types of actions:
- Actions which do no harm to others.
- Actions which do good to others.