Finding Purpose in Life

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Finding our purpose in this world can be a very difficult process.

Navigating through life without Allah can get challenging, confusing, overwhelming, and the list goes on. But that is why Allah SWT clearly and directly tells us in the Quran (51:56),

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ ٥٦

"I did not create jinn and mankind except but to worship me"

How beautiful. Ultimately our confusion, chaos and uncertainty should end there, knowing that Allah SWT has not created us for any other purpose in this world but to worship Him.

Knowing that our goal in this world is not and should not be, but to please Allah and to attain such closeness to Him, that we ultimately become the Awliyā-Allah (The friends of Allah SWT).

Reminding the heart and soul of this ayah, and ultimately practising upon it, causes life to fall at our feet. It allows for everything else to fall into place, with our end result in this world and the hereafter being peace, happiness and paradise.

Let's take a moment to actually understand what the ayah would mean in practise.

To practise upon this ayah would mean:

• 5 Daily Salaah

• Dhikr (Remembrance) of Allah SWT

• Tafakkur (Pondering) on Allah, His creation, His magnificence

• Charity

• Quran Recitation

• Helping another person

• Doing all that Allah has commanded and abstaining from all that's prohibited

• The list goes on...

What this is trying to say, is anything that reminds us of Allah SWT and brings us closer to Him, is our form of worship.

So say we do these above things? What does that mean for us?

Ultimately, the end result of doing all the above and dedicating our life to Allah SWT's worship, with sincerity and correct intentions, as well as through the infinite mercy of Allah, means good rewards, a good ending and eternal Paradise.

However, as believers, we get so much more than that, because Allah SWT is Al Wadud (The most loving), Al Bāsit (The extender), Ar Razzāq (The provider). Allah SWT does not only give a believer who obeys Him paradise through His infinite mercy, but He also extends to him:

1. Peace

2. Tranquility

3. Contentment

4. Istiqāmah (Steadfastness)

5. Happiness

6. Blessings

7. Abundant provisions

the list goes on...

As Muslims, dedicating a life to Allah SWT is the best thing we could ever do for ourselves, for this world, for the grave, and ultimately for our life to come. Without Allah in this life, without His obedience and His worship, we will struggle to pass this test. We will struggle to face life's challenges. We will struggle to have a content life.

Contentment does not mean having a happy, joyous and easy life. A content life means despite life's challenges, despite the difficulties and hardships placed in front of us mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually, we still have peace within us, we endure sabr (patience), and take life gracefully. That is contentment, which cannot be achieved without Allah SWT.

أَلَا بِذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ ٱلْقُلُوبُ ٢٨

"Surely in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest" (13:28)

And so what I am trying to get to by all the above, is that when we do not have Allah SWT as the centre point in our lives, making Him our only goal and objective, we start to lose ourselves and our meaning in this life. We start to feel lost, overwhelmed, confused. We start to seek happiness in other places, often outside of Islamic teachings. We start relying on other things, other people and other goals to keep us going through life. It is at such a point where we then lose ourselves, people and things let us down, we let people down, and ultimately we lose Allah SWT and our faith.

And so our hand hold and support in this world should be none but Allah SWT. Our purpose in life should be none other than to worship our creator and become close to Him. Our purpose in life should be to strive in becoming the best version of ourselves, so that we can attain the blessings and peace of Allah SWT.

When we dedicate our lives and our souls to Allah SWT, we begin to see the world through a very different sense. We hold this world with very different meaning and significance. We begin to take life's challenges on the chin and turn to Allah as our strength. When we go through something in life, we know that Allah SWT is doing this for the better, and He would always do what is best. Our life dynamics change. Our mindset changes. Ultimately we begin to hold this world in our hands and not our heart. And it is only when we can do that, is when we can truly say we are Allah's.

When we start to distance ourselves from Allah, is when we start to lose our meaning and purpose in life. We start to lose the true meaning of contentment and happiness, thus opening up avenues in our hearts for depression, anxiety, confusion and doubt.

Undoubtedly however, it is important we always remind ourselves of what Allah SWT has said in the Quran (2:286),

لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا ۚ

"Allah SWT does not burden a soul with more than it's capacity"