Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Purpose of Life


People everywhere are asking the questions; "What is the purpose of life?" and "Why are we here?"

Some will answer that we are on this earth just to live a happy life. Some have other answers.

Islam is a perfect religion and it provide a clear and concise answers for all questions.

Regarding what is the purpose of life in Islam,

Allah states in the Quran that He created man to be His Khalefah, His trustee on earth (Quran 2:30). Mankind’s basic trust, our responsibility, is to believe in and worship Allah:

 
 And I did not create the Jinn and mankind except to worship Me (Quran, 51:56-58)

The statement is very simple, but yet how many of us worship Allah ? Therefore, Allah has sent Messengers to human from time to time to deliver the message of Allah. The essence of Allah’s message through all of the prophets which include (Adam, Abraham, Noah, David, Moses, Jesus and also the final messenger Muhammad, May Allah have peace on all of them) was:  O mankind, worship Allah, you have no deity other than Him. (Quran, 7:59,65,73,85; Also 11:50,61,84; and 23:23,32).  

But the question now is : How do we worship Allah if we Don’t know Him ?

Allah have give a very clear answer on this which is from the Surah Al Ikhlas (Sincerity) :

Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him. (112:1-4)

Also, Allah has to tell us how He wants to be worshipped, which He does in the Quran. He also tells us in the Quran that all Prophets came with the same identical message to their people - that is to believe in Allah and to worship Him. He also tells us in the Quran that all the people of other religions have deviated from the original teachings of their prophets. This is due to two reasons. The first is that earlier scriptures were not preserved simply because of the absence or scarcity of writing paper and so the teachings were transmitted orally and with time became distorted. The second reason is because the clergy of various religions introduced doctrines that were never there 

Because of the changes that crept into earlier religions, Allah tells us that He sent the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as the final messenger and guidance to mankind with a scripture that He promised would be preserved forever. Allah provides a test to prove that the Quran is from Him. Allah says:

 Then do they not reflect upon the Quran? (i.e. its meanings and its objective) If it had been from [any] other than Allah, they would have found within it much contradiction. (Quran, 4:82)

The Quran is available for scrutiny and investigation by any person to try to find even one error or contradiction in it. In fact this test must be applied to any other scripture that claims it is the word of God.

1 comments:

bilmer said...

Every creation has a purpose. You don't just create something for nothing, I mean without any purpose.

Let me give few examples:

You (creator) create a car (creation).
Purpose: To drive you around.

You (creator) create a cup (creation).
Purpose: To help you drinking.

You (creator) create a house (creation).
Purpose: To shelter you from rain and sun.

and so on.

Similarly,
God (creator) creates human (creation).
Purpose: To worship him. Remember: He didn't create you for nothing.

What happens if your creation does not serve its purpose?

Well, for a car you just send it to a junkyard.
For a cup you just throw it into a trash bin.
For short, something (a creation) that does not serve its purpose for what it was created for, we just throw it away.

But God is merciful. When you don't worship Him for what you are created for, He won't just throw you out or dump you into a hell fire. Or cut you arm as a punishment. He let you go until when the time comes that is on the Judgement Day. Those who don't serve his purpose for what he was created for will be thrown into the Hell Fire. Just like you throw you broken cup into a trash bin.

Ok, let's say you as human does your part as a creation by worshiping him. What happens then? Will you just go to Heaven?

Well, to enter Heaven, as a Muslim you will be tested. When you pass these tests only then you will enter Heaven. If you fail some of these test you will go to Hell Fire for a period of time (depend on your sin). Just like you go against the law like stealing, the authority will send you to a prison for few years. Only after that you are release as a free man.

Why are we tested?
Same question: Why we are tested in order to go to a university?

For a Malaysian, you have to go thru these tests: UPSR, SPM and STPM. Even in the university you have to go thru maybe 6 tests for 6 semesters just to get you BA or BSc.

Well that's not an easy feat! You have to be discipline, work hard in order to pass all these tests.

Similarly, when you become a Muslim especially a new convert you have to remember that Allah will test you.

Maybe he test you with these:
May be you will be rejected by your family and your friends. You lost your job because of your conversion. Your wife ask for a divorce etc.

If your iman (fate in Allah) is weak you won't be able to take that.

Remember who you want to please? Your friends (Allah's creations) or Allah, the creator.

Just food for thought.