People
answer these questions in different ways. Some people believe the
purpose of life is getting wealthy. However, what will be the purpose of
their life after collecting millions of dollars? If the purpose of life
is to become wealthy, there will be no purpose after becoming wealthy.In
fact, here lies the problem of some people in the last stages of their
lives. After they have collected the money which they dreamt of, their
life loses its purpose and they live in tension, restlessness and suffer
from the panic of nothingness.
Can attaining wealth be an aim?We
often hear of wealthy people committing suicide; sometimes, it is not
the wealthy person himself but members of his family – his wife or
children. The question is: Can aiming for wealth bring happiness to the
individual? In most cases, the answer is 'No'. Is the purpose of
collecting wealth a long-standing purpose?
As we know, a
five-year-old child does not look for wealth: he prefers a toy to a
million dollars. An 18-year-old adolescent does not dream of wealth
because he is busy with things that are more important. A 90-year-old
does not care for money; he is more worried about his health. This
proves that wealth cannot be a long-standing purpose in all the stages
of an individual's life.
Wealth can do a little to bring
happiness to a disbeliever, because he is not sure about his end or his
fate. A disbeliever does not know the purpose of life, and if he has a
purpose, this purpose is doomed to be temporary or self-destructive.
What
is the use of wealth to a disbeliever if he feels scared of the end and
skeptical of everything? A disbeliever may gain a lot of money, but
surely loses himself.Worshipping Allaah as an aim: On
the other hand, faith in Allaah gives the believer the purpose of life
he needs. In Islam, the purpose of life is to worship Allaah. The term
"worship" covers all acts of obedience to Allaah. The Islamic purpose of
life can withstand the test of time. The true Muslim sticks to this
purpose through all the stages of his life, whether he is a child,
adolescent, adult or an old man.
Worshipping Allaah makes life
purposeful and meaningful, especially within the framework of Islam.
According to Islam, this worldly life is just a short stage of our
lives. After this, there is the other life -- the Hereafter. The
position of the person in the Hereafter depends on his deeds in this
first life. At the end of the death, stage comes the Day of Judgment. On
this day, Allaah will reward or punish people according to their deeds.The first life as an examination:Hence,
Islam looks at the first life as an examination or a test of man. The
Day of Judgment is similar to the day of announcing the results of the
examinees. The second life (the Hereafter) is the time when each
examinee enjoys or suffers from the outcome of his behavior during the
test period.
In Islam, the line of life is clear, simple and
logical: the first life, death then the Day of Judgment, and then the
second life. With this clear line of life, a Muslim has a clear purpose
in life.
A Muslim knows that he has been created by Allaah. He
also knows that he is going to spend some years in this first life,
during which he has to obey Allaah, because Allaah will question him and
hold him responsible for his public and private deeds, because Allaah
knows all deeds of all people. A Muslim knows that his deeds in this
life will determine his second life. He knows that his life is a very
short one -- a hundred years, more or less, whereas the second life is
eternal.The eternity of the second life:This
concept of eternal nature of the second life has a tremendous effect on
the Muslim during his first life, because the Muslim believes that his
first life determines the shape of his second life. In addition, this
will be decided through the Judgment of Allaah, the Just and Almighty.
With
this belief in the Hereafter and the Day of Judgment, a Muslim's life
becomes as purposeful and meaningful as possible. A Muslim's
long-standing purpose is to go to Paradise by pleasing his Creator.
In
other words, a Muslim's continuous purpose is to obey Allaah, to submit
to Him, to carry out His orders, and to keep in continuous touch with
Him through prayer (five times a day), through fasting (one month a
year), through charity (either obligatory or voluntary as often as
possible), and through pilgrimage (once in one's life if he is able).The need for a permanent purpose:People
have different purposes at different stages in their lives such as
collecting money and property, indulging in sex, eating and dancing.
However, all these purposes are temporary, they come and go. Money comes
and goes. Health comes and goes. Sexual activities cannot continue
forever. All these lusts for money, food and sex cannot answer the
individual's question to himself: what next?Then what?However,
Islam saves those who follow it sincerely from the troubling question:
what is the aim of life? Islam makes it clear to the Muslim, from the
very beginning, that the permanent purpose of life is to worship Allaah.
We should know that the only way for our salvation in this life and in
the Hereafter is t
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