Islam and the Aim of Life

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

Examples of Equality in Islam

First Example

Abu Tharr  somehow got angry with the freed slave of Abu Bakr, Bilaal of Abyssinia  both. Both of them were Companions of the Prophet . The altercation became prolonged and Abu Tharr  in his fury called Bilaal  a "son of a black skinned mother". Bilaal complained to the Prophet who addressed Abu Tharr  saying: "Did you call him a name reviling his mother? It appears that you still retain vestiges of Jaahiliyyah (the period of ignorance before Islam.)" 
Abu Tharr  failed to understand the word Jaahiliyyah and took it to signify some sort of sexual immorality, and meekly questioned in surprise, "At this ripe age, O Prophet of Allaah?" The Prophet said in reply: "Yes, you are his brother." Abu Tharr  became ashamed and repentant, and - out of extreme repentance and humility - requested Bilaal  to tread on his face with his feet.

Second Example

When a woman of the Bani Makhzoom tribe called Faatimah was found guilty of theft, she was brought to the Prophet  to be judged according to Sharee'ah Law. The Quraysh tribe tried to intercede not to punish the woman and after deliberation, sent Usaamah bin Zayd  for intercession since he was very much a favourite of the Prophet . When he talked to the Prophet  the Prophet  became very angry and said to Usaamah : "Do you (attempt to) intercede in the matters of the limits prescribed by God?" Then he gathered the people and said to them: "The people before you who met their doom, discriminated between the elite and the common-folk in the dispensation of justice for crimes like theft. The high-placed were spared while the weaker elements of society were readily punished. By Allaah! Had Faatimah the daughter of Muhammad committed this theft, then I would have amputated her hand for it also!"
Third Example

Qays bin Mutatiyah, a hypocrite, came to a gathering where Salmaan al-Faarisi (the Persian), Suhayb Ar-Roomi (the Roman), and Bilaal Al-Habashi (the Abyssinian) were present. He remarked tauntingly: "'Aws and Khazraj have rendered some service to this person (the Prophet ) but I fail to understand what these people (Bilaal, Suhayb and Salmaan) have done (to deserve this honour)." Mu'aath bin Jabal was in that gathering, and he caught hold of him by his neck, dragged him to the Prophet  and told him what the hypocrite had uttered. The Prophet  became angry and went to the mosque and gave a sermon, stating in it: "O people! Always remember that your Lord and Cherisher is one and your supreme ancestor is one, and your faith is also one and the same."
Fourth Example
'Adiyy bin Haatim  went to Madeenah before embracing Islam and found the Companions sitting around the Prophet . 'Adiyy was inspired with awe when he witnessed their reverence for him. Meanwhile, a humble woman came to the Prophet  and asked to see him in private. The Prophet  got up and at some distance from the gathering talked to her, and returned when he finished. 'Adiyy was very much touched by this inconceivable concept of philanthropy and, eventually, embraced Islam.

Fifth Example

When the Prophet  conquered Makkah, those who had driven him out and fought with him were brought before him vanquished. Even then, he called them to the same thing, to Islam. Standing at the gate of the Ka'bah he said: "O people of Quraysh! Allaah has, this day, put an end to your pride of the Jaahiliyyah (ignorance) and also the pride of your ancestry. Keep in mind! All men are from Aadam, and Aadam was fashioned out of clay." On this occasion he recited the verse which means: "O Mankind! Indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allaah is the most righteous of you..." [Quran: 49:13]

Sixth Example'Umar  was a glorious caliph. He was sympathetic to the weak, firm in his stand by the truth. He used to go without food to feed others, and kept himself deprived to give to others. He used to go from door to door asking people about their conditions of living, etc.

Seventh Example
When a caravan came to Madeenah, 'Umar and 'Abdur-Rahmaan bin 'Awf  stood guard for the caravan. During that night, 'Umar heard a baby's cry. He approached the mother and said to her: "Fear Allaah and look after your child carefully."

Then he went back to his own position. Once again he heard the baby crying, and went over to the mother yet again and gave her the same advice. Later, during the last part of the night the child cried once more. 'Umar  came to the mother and said: "Woe to you! You appear not to be a good mother. How is it that your child can not sleep peacefully during the night?"

The woman, little suspecting that she was speaking to the Ameer of the believers, said in reply: "May Allaah bless you, you have pestered me several times during the night. I want to wean it forcefully (before time,) but the child is intractable." 'Umar asked her: "Why wean it forcefully?" She said in reply: "Because 'Umar grants allowance only for such children that have been weaned."

'Umar  asked her: "How old is your child?" She told him it was only a few months old. 'Umar  asked the woman not to be hasty in weaning her child. Then he led the dawn prayer in such a state that his weeping made his recital of the Quran inaudible and unintelligible. At the end of the prayer he said: "'Umar is ruined! He has killed the children of the believers!" Thereupon, he ordered the crier to proclaim in the town of Madeenah that the mothers should not wean their children only for the sake of the allowance for their children. From now on, every child, suckling or weaned, was to receive a stipend.

Eighth Example
One of the unique incidents relating to sympathy and equality in the history of mankind is that 'Umar  came by one night. It was usual for him to go out during the nights to see with his own eyes the conditions under which the people were living. One night, he heard somebody crying in a nearby tent, at whose door was standing a man. 'Umar  greeted him and asked him who he was.

He said in reply that he was a Bedouin who had come to Madeenah to ask the Ameer of the believers for help. Then 'Umar  asked him about the crying and wailing inside the tent. The Bedouin tried to evade this question, saying that since it did not concern him he should not interest himself in it and go his way.

However, on the insistence of 'Umar  he told him that his wife was in labour and had no one to help her with the delivery. 'Umar  returned to his home and asked his wife, Umm-Kulthoom bint 'Ali  whether she was interested in the reward from Allaah which He might have brought her way. He asked her to take with her the requisites of a newborn and the delivered mother and also some provisions for food.

He took all those things from her and started, Umm-Kulthoom following him. When they came to the Bedouin's tent, 'Umar sent his wife inside. He himself sat with the husband and, lighting a fire, started cooking food with the provisions he had brought with him. The Bedouin was still unaware that he was sitting beside a great man of the world.

Then the child was delivered and Umm-Kulthoom  called him from inside the tent, addressing him as Ameer Al-Mu'mineen, and asked him to congratulate his friend on the birth of his child. The Bedouin on hearing her words became conscious of the fact that he had been with the head of the Islamic state all this time and had been rude to him, and was awe-struck and began receding from 'Umar .

But 'Umar  reassured him and asked him to keep sitting where he was, unceremoniously. He asked Umm-Kulthoom to offer the mother the food that he had cooked while he offered some to her husband saying, "Partake of it, you have been kept up the whole night and have been inconvenienced."

Here we must also mention that 'Umar  is not an isolated example presented as a perfect and affectionate person by the Islamic civilisation. The lives of Abu Bakr, 'Uthmaan and 'Ali  all, were also moulded in the mould of perfect humanity, brimming over with mercy and affection.

Similar were the lives of 'Umar bin 'Abdul Azeez, Salaahuddeen Ayyoobi, and many other big personages, legists and lead