This is the best article which I have read exploring the topic

of the real purpose of human creation. Reading this article

provides you with better comprehension of the question for
what mission of life we are born ---- ARIEF

Purpose of Life
Faiezs Life Mission and Values1
Life Purpose and Its Philosophy
Faiez believes that the purpose of life is common and same for each and every one of us,
given to us by our Creator, Almighty, i.e. To enhance the quality of life of our fellow beings 2. It
is this purpose with which our own salvation 3 and having4 is attached. When one enhances
the quality of life of others, in return Almighty enhances ones own quality of life. It is this
purpose of life that keeps organizations, societies and nations going, as clearly stated in Quran:
By the declining day. Lo! Man is in state of loss. Save those who believe and do good works,
and exorth one another to truth, exorth one another to endurance5. (Al-Quran 103:1-3)
Life Mission and Values Statement
My life mission is to make a tremendous 6 difference in the lives of people, organizations and
societies, by learning, practicing and teaching the truths of life and assisting them managing the
transformation towards a new beginning.
Faiezs 5 most important values are:
1. Making the Difference
2. Learning
1 The things we think is important in life, life is meaningless without those
2 A living thing, especially a person
3 The state of being saved from evil
4 Joy
5 The ability to continue doing something that is physically painful and mentally
difficult for a long time (i.e., to never give up)
6 Excellent
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3. Living with Laws of Nature

4. Autonomy
5. Integrity7

Purpose of life
In the last 12 years of my professional life, I had this opportunity to interact with thousands of
people and provided consultation to huge number as well. These people were not satisfied with
their lives for some reason or the other. Of many reason, to me the most common one amongst 8
all was that they were living a purposeless life. It included people from all race, gender and age
group. All kind of people was included among them as men, women, old people, young etc.
Many people did not even know that life has a purpose and those who know stood confused and
unenlightened9 to the thousands of doubts and questions about life itself. Despite of giving
several lectures on this issue, it seemed there is still room to address this big issue and that has
led me to of come up with this article.
Unfortunately, the dilemma of our youth 10 is running after11 a crowd12 with closed eyes, without
knowing where this crowd is leading them and do they have same destination. They spend their
whole life following this crowd and when finally tired of running and following in the last phase
of their lives, when they get time to sit and think, all they are left with disappointment. Where

7 The quality of being honest and of always having high moral principles
8 Among
9 Similar in meaning to those is still confused and unenlightened
10 The period of time when someone is young, especially the period when someone
is a teenager
11 To follow or to chase
12 Surrounding people
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have I come? I never wanted to be here. And for rest of their lives they curse 13 this crowd for
there they have ended.
Simply look around you, can you find a single thing which has no purpose for its existence. Be it
sky or stars, sun or moon, trees or earth, hence nothing on earth or any living creature is not
without a purpose. In short the creation of this universe has a specific reason for existence. For
one instance take a look inside you. Not a single organ of your body is there without a
reason/purpose. Whether is it eyes, nose, ears, hands, feet, liver, heart, lungs or intestine? Every
single organ has a purpose to it. It has a unique function to perform. Doesnt our consciousness
accept simple philosophy of life that if every particle in the body has a purpose to it, would the
collection of all organs, as a whole body not has a purpose? If you think logically when every
single part of your body has a function to perform there must be a purpose of man himself as
well.
Allah says in the Ayat No 115 of Surah-Al-Muminun:
Did you think that We had created you in play (without any purpose), and that you would not be
brought back to Us? (Al-Muminun: 115)
Allah says in the 36 Ayat of Surah Al-Qiyamah:
Does man think that he will be left neglected? (Al-Qiyamah: 36)
Thanks God these revelations of Quran have clearly proven that along with every single thing in
universe, man has purpose in his life as well. Now the question arises what is the purpose of life.
Before I continue, let me share my research with you. In 1998, we asked 300 high school kids,
what is the purpose of your life? Half stood purposeless, to the question. Do life has a purpose?
And rest replied in following manner.
The young boys replied:

To be successful and reach the top position.

To do PhD, CA etc.

Earn money

The young girls replied:

To get married to appropriate person

To raise kids

13 Memaki or menyalahkan (INDONESIA)

3

Happy marital life

Listen to these answers carefully and think about it. You will get to know why there is
restlessness14 and chaos15 in our society. The basic reason behind it is that people do not know
what is their purpose of life? After listening to the response of kids, it becomes quite obvious that
along with them, their teachers and parents are themselves not aware of their purpose of life for
living. After all that is what they have learnt from their environment.
Since his birth, a child sees his father talking only of money and nothing else. He presumes as if
this is the only purpose of life. When he sees his father telling lies for 10 rupees, to strew for
promotion and allowance increment and sees his mother fighting with him for money. He
develops beliefs that life without money is nothing. It is the ultimate thing. Same goes for girls,
who learn same beliefs from her mother.

Study or else you would not get a proposal16

Learn to do house chores, otherwise would not get a proposal

Learn English, you will get good proposal

Become doctor, MBA, you will get proposal

Walk straight, otherwise nobody will propose

Take care of your hair and self for getting good proposal

As she grows up with it, in her subconscious the only purpose of life is to get married. I have
already mentioned that nothing is created purposeless. Now I ask you if you do anything
without a purpose.
Reason for bathing, reason for eating, reason for sleeping, studying, going to school and
colleges, going to office, in short every act has a purpose behind it. Not only this but even when
you are not sleeping only lying down, even it has a purpose, may be relaxing, to get some sleep
or passing time.
So everything has a purpose and every act has a purpose as well. But what is the purpose? Is it
right or wrong? Good or bad? This will help not only in knowing peoples attitude towards it
but also helps in predicting results.
14 Kegellisahan atau keresahan (INDONESIA)
15 Kekacau-balauan (INDONESIA)
16 The act of asking someone to marry you (i.e., lamaran/pinangan in INDONESIA)
4

For instance two students go to school or college. One goes with an aim to get a job after he
finishes college, whereas other one goes with the aim of getting knowledge and to develop his
insight about life. Do you think the attitude and performance of both students will be same? No,
not at all. There will be great deal of difference in their attitude and performance.
A student who goes to university the sole purpose of attaining a degree is certainly more
interested in that authenticated piece of paper rather than gaining knowledge. He will go to any
extent from cheating to bribery to depending on 20 questions of guess papers to plagiarism.
Because his sole purpose is to get the degree. He will go to any extent and adopt any unethical
means to achieve it, as the priorities his purpose is to get degree not knowledge.
Where as there is a kid who goes to college to gain knowledge. He will read more books, will
work harder, question his teachers, will do his homework more efficiently and will condemn
cheating. In case the teacher is absent, he will avail the time by studying in the library rather than
getting excited and wasting time elsewhere. He would not demand for guess papers from his
teachers and obviously the end result will be better performance by him in exams.
Now ponder if our new generation whose lives goals are making more money and are concerned
only about promotion. And the girls who think getting married and bringing up children are the
ultimate purpose of existence. Just imagine how their approach towards life is and their
contribution towards society and they as individuals will be like? Whenever they will get
opportunity, they will avail it at no matter what cost. And unfortunately thats all we see, when
this kind of students work in schools, collages and offices then they have only one purpose in
mind and that is only collecting money whether it is by ethical means or unethical.
Same goes to girls, who are clad in immoral dresses and heavy jewelry and gaudy makeup. Now
you can well imagine what I mean.
I am certainly not saying that earning money or getting married is a bad thing. I am just
enlightening you with the difference between two that is one is a purpose while another one is a
mean to an end. And we seem to have mixed the both. Consider the example to understand the
difference between the two.
Suppose you leave early in the morning to reach Islamabad. You stay at a gas station for gas, eat
at some hotel and rest for some time. Note that the purpose here is reaching Islamabad not
eating, resting and filling at gas stations. These are merely means to reach your destination that is
Islamabad. If these things, which are means, become your purpose, imagine where will you end
up? If means like taking tea, eating and resting become your purpose while traveling to
Islamabad than you may never reach there.
Same goes to getting married, upbringing of children, college studies, earning money, doing job
and promotions. But again these may be your means to reach your destination, but they are not
destination itself. If one considers these as final destination, one will end up restless and
disappointed. In short life ends up in chaos. Before I proceed with the real meaning and purpose
of life, I would like to mention one thing.

If you look at todays man, what we see is that he eats, drinks, socialize, sleeps, bathes, fulfills
his physicals needs and earn for living. Now for a second look at the animals life. They do every
that thing which I mentioned a man does but the difference is, we go to offices to earn for a
living and animals leave for jungles for survival.
Now the question arises if a man has to do every that act which animals did, what was the need
to create human beings? If you think, for centurys different creatures in form of birds, animals
land and sea were living in this planet already. Why Allah needed the creation of man, if he had
to live and act exactly in the same manner in which his other creatures were behaving, may be
worst than animals? Allah says in the Ayats (28-35 )of Surah-Al-Hijr:
And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels: I am going to create a man (Adam) from
dried (sounding) clay of altered mud. So, when I have fashioned him completely and breathed
into him (Adam) the soul which I created for him, then fall (you) down prostrating yourselves
unto him. So the angels prostrated themselves, all of them together. Except Iblis (Satan)- he
refused to be among the prostrators. (Allah) said: O Iblis (Satan)! What is your reason for not
being among the prostrators?(Satan) said: I am not the one to prostrate myself to a human
being, whom You created from dried (sounding) clay of altered mud.(Allah) said: Then, get
out from here, for verily, you are Rajim. And verily, the curse shall be upon you till the Day of
Recompense. (Al-Hijr: 28-35)
Now the thing to ponder is what quality in a man made him mighty of all creations before
whom His angel bowed down to? And expelled the one from paradise who did not bow in front
of man and cursed till the dooms day.Those were the angels, who have been prostrating before
Him for billions of centuries, bowed in front of man upon Allahs order. Its just like having a
servant, who spent his life serving you dedicatedly and you hire a new servant and makes
previous one his subordinate. Now there must be some good reason behind this decision. In order
to understand it, consider the following verses from Quran, which will help in this regard. This is
the translation of the Ayat of Surah Al- Anam (165):
And it is He Who has made you generations coming after generations, replacing each other on
the earth. And He has raised you in ranks, some above others that He may try in that which He
has bestowed on you. Surely, your Lord is Swift in retribution, and certainly He is Oft-Forgiving,
Most Merciful. (Al-Anam: 165)
It is said in the Surah Sad, Ayat No. (26)
O Dawud (David)! Verily, We have placed you as a successor on the earth; so judge you
between men in truth (and justice) and follow not your desire- for it will mislead you from the
path of Allah. Verily, those who wander astray from the path of Allah (shall) have a severe
torment, because they forgot the Day of Reckoning. (Sad: 26)
It is clear from the verses; Allah is referring man as Caliph. Caliph means deputy. Now who is
deputy? Understand it with this example. If you work in some office or organization, there must
be somebody, whom you appoint as a deputy or head over others.

It has usually come to the notice that the deputy in an organization is more close and reliable one
for chief executive of the company. He is dearer than rest to his boss. Just imagine how close
Allahs deputy will be with him, to whom he calls his dearest creature. He has awarded only man
with this position, making him elite from rest. Therefore he is dearest and the mighty of all
creations, the most eminent of all his creations.
Just imagine if you are appointed a deputy of some organization to your big boss? How would
you feel? Naturally very good. Now if you think deeper, a person who is the happiest one around
just to be deputy to his boss of a small organization. How would a man feel if he knows he has
been appointed as Allahs deputy, the ultimate of all bosses? You, I and every other person living
on this planet are His deputy. His happiness should be beyond limits. Looking at today mans
poor conditions, it seems he does not even know who he is? If only he knows what a piece of
miracle he is. The Almighty always knew hes creating man who will do bloodshed and riots on
earth but still He comments on this to His angels I know what you know not of. It is the
translation of Surah Al- Baqarah, Ayat No 30:
And when your Lord said to the angels: Verily, I am going to place generations after
generations on earth. They said: Will You place therein those who will make mischief therein
and shed blood, while we glorify You with praises and thanks and sanctify You. He said: I
know that which you do not know. (Al-Baqarah: 30)
In this verse He clearly says, that He knows man will bring destruction and violence and despite
knowing all, He made him eminent17 of all creations and answer to His angels question:
I know what you know not of.
Why man was appointed as a deputy? Before I can proceed on with it, I will like to justify
another theory. Because of its unawareness people are confused about purpose of their lives.
It is said in the Quranic Surah No 51 Adh-Dhariyat, Ayat no 56:
And I (Allah) created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (Alone).
Usually the gist of this verse is taken more as mans only purpose for existence to worship Allah.
And worship usually means saying your players, praising Him, fasting etc.
Due to this misconception, a lot of people are not aware of purpose of life. They cannot correlate
religion and world, in which they are living. On one hand to praise Allah, they do all obligations
from saying prayers to, fasting to pilgrimage 18 and at the same time do every legal, illegal or
unethical act to be the part of this social world. And while coping with this dilemma, they end
their lives. Such people have two decisions of their lives, with which they cannot cope. They
cannot connect the two that is religion or faith and world.
17 Unggul (INDONESIA)
18 Naik haji (INDONESIA)
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The world is full of pious people who offer their prayers, fast, please Him and at the same time
lie for worldly survival. This is a paradox, where one commits frauds, deception and takes
Allahs name at the same time as well. They believe religion is worship and cannot implement
Islam as a religion in their daily lives. Such personalities are called split personalities whose
devotion to Allah is limited only to prayers and Quran and not by implementing in daily social
life.
Imagine the Arabic word, comes from Abad meaning slave Meaning, the translation of the
verse that we thought is worship, actually does not mean prayers but submission 19 to Allah Just
think that if worshiping Allah was the only purpose of our existence then do not you really think
angels, birds, all creatures including stones, trees etc were doing more efficiently and who
needed man for it by the way. It is said in the Quranic Surah Al-Anbiya, Ayats No 19 and 20:
To Him belongs whosoever is in the heavens and on earth. And those who are near Him (i.e.
the angels) are not too proud to worship Him, nor are they weary (of His worship). They (i.e. the
angels) glorify His Praises night and day, (and) they never slacken (to do so). (Al-Anbiya:
19:20)
And it is said in Surah An- Nahl Ayat No 49:
And to Allah prostrate all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth, of the moving
(living) creatures and the angels, and they are not proud.(An-Nahl: 49)
Did you ever know, Allah has not given the ability to say No to none of His creations, who are
worshipping Him like any thing except for man and jinn. From the day first to the day of
resurrection His creation is devoted to praise Him day and night, because they are created for this
purpose. They are not designed to say No in front of Him. For centuries animals and birds wake
up at dawn and praise Him and leave for home before dusk falls in.
They are not designed to say O Allah! Cant wakes up for Fajr prayer, as last night there was a
very good movie going on or cannot return back before sunset as nightlife has just started! But
man has been given the ability to say No. As it is said in the Quran, Surah Ash Shams Ayat No
(7-10)
By Nafs (Adam or a person or a soul), and Him Who perfected him in proportion; Then He
showed him what is wrong for him and what is right for him. Indeed he succeeds who purifies his
own self. And indeed he fails who corrupts his own self. (Ash-Shams: 7-10)
Hence it has been proven that man has been given good and evil abilities both. Now it is up to
his choice. Have you ever thought what if we never had the option of bad deeds? There was only
one road that is towards good acts. If he stays away from evil in this regard, its not a big deal to
abstain here.
19 The state of accepting that someone has power over you, and you must obey
him (i.e., patuh/tunduk in INDONESIA)
8

Suppose if a person never gets the opportunity to steal or hes afraid of consequences and he
abstains from20 it. It is seriously no big deal here, if you abstain in such circumstance. In other
case for instance if anybody never gets the availability of liquor 21 and he abstained, he did not do
a big thing/deal. Yes if a person has an opportunity to get liquor, stealing or fraud 22 and he does
not have fear to get caught, then it should be well acknowledged. Here he is making conscious
choice despite the availabilities. Such a man worth bowing to, the same man His angels bowed
to.
All animals and birds have no choices given. They are not designed to say no. All they know is
praising Allah from dawn till dusk. However if a man makes a choice leaving his worldly desires
to stand up for prayers, than he deserves to be eminent of all creations.
So it is quite clear from above analysis that it is the conscience 23 of a man, which makes him
different from others, and that he is not made solely to worship Him. Now the question
arises what is the quality that makes him eminent of all creation? And what is that superior
purpose for which he was made elite to others.
Before answering this question, let me make something clear, that God forbid I am not
asking you not to say prayers and other obligatory worships but rather I am trying to
convey is that they are means24 to achieve your purpose of living.
With reference to Sheikh Saadi, purpose of life is devotion to Allah.
Arrival to life is devotion.
Life is shame is without devotion.
Iqbal narrated:
Essence of my life.
Your religions prosperity.
For it, I am Muslim.
For it, I am religious.
Ayat no 177 of Surah Baqarah proves this, Allah says:
20 Menjauh atau menahan diri dari (INDONESIA)
21 A strong alcoholic drink, such as whiskey.
22 Penipuan (INDONESIA)
23 Suara hati atau hati nurani (INDONESIA)
24 Methods or things that you use as a way of achieving something
9

It is not Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, and every act of obedience to Allah) that you turn your
faces towards east and (or) west (in prayers); but Al-Birr is (the quality of) the one who believes
in Allah, the Last Day, the Angels, the Book, the Prophets and gives his wealth, in spite of love
for it, to the kinsfolk, to the orphans, and to Al-Masakin (the poor), and to the wayfarer, and to
those who ask, and to set slaves free, performs As-Salat (Iqamat as-Salat), and gives the Zakat,
and who fulfil their covenant when they make it, and who are patient in extreme poverty and
ailment (disease) and at the time of fighting (during the battles). Such are the people of the truth
and they are Al-Muttaqun. (Al-Baqarah: 177)
Now you can well imagine your faith is something more than saying prayers.
To understand the meaning of life in comprehensive manner, let consider the meaning of
devotion to Allah:
Now the question from you people is, if you have a deputy working under you, what
expectations do you have from him? The usual answer expected is that, they want them to
help them out with work constraint. It same like having your wife as deputy, whom you
expect to be there for you always through thick and thin and same goes for having your
eldest son around while you go out for long tours. In any case one expects full devotion
from ones deputy no matter what. And just imagine what Allah will be expecting from His
deputies. Simply relate it to previous examples. Obviously He wants us to fulfill His
commandments. Now what is that thing for which He made you His deputy? The answer is
in Quran:
It is said in Surah Al-Aser:
By Al-Asr (the time). Verily, man is in loss, Except those who believe (in Islamic monotheism)
and do righteous good deeds, and recommend one another to the truth, and recommend one
another to patience. (Surah Al- Asr: 1-3)
If you look at this verse of Quran, having faith is just the beginning and not the end. Its the same
as if you are deputy to your boss, and it is obligatory for you to have faith in his superiority and
later on proceed with the work you are assigned to. Now what man has been assigned to do is
good deeds, with patience and truth. What are good deeds here? In order to proceed with this
notion, let me clarify here that deputy has no authority himself. The authority is subdivided and
transferred to him by his superior, which he can enjoy after it is assigned to him and later
accomplish it. For example when, in absence of president of any state, acting president takes his
place for decision-making. Vice president or acting president is responsible for dare taking of
state. Remember that he does not have the authority himself. He is just a member of parliament
like other, though he acts as the head in his absence and its taken back when president returns.
Same goes to us, we can take away this authority from our deputies when want to. Remember
here that its mans caliphate (Khilafat) not his sovereignty. If for instance you become president
instead of acting like one and start amending or bringing new rules and regulations, instead of
implementing existing one. Who is ever going to appreciate this act? No one, so how can you
imagine Allah would appreciate it. That is the simple difference between caliphate (Khilafat) and
sovereignty. Caliph is not supposed to alter the commandments rather its completion and
implementation. Altering these commandments is only Allahs ingenuity not Caliphs.
10

Now what do you call good deeds? Quran mentions several good deeds for instance helping each
other, abstaining from evil, helping out each other, respecting parents, elders and relatives, to be
just with people, living with harmony and loving Allahs people, knowledge seeking, taking good
care of animals etc. In simple words we can say man was created to take care of each
other.
Allah is responsible for running the universe, because He takes care what He has created and we
as deputies are responsible for custodianship of all creatures, Note that again here it is
custodianship not sovereignty25. That certainly doesnt mean one should dedicate oneself only to
social work and not earn for living. Please do note that, but the question here is for whom? And
fortunately the question is answered in this verse of Surah Al Imran, Ayat 92, Allah says:
By no means shall you attain Al-Birr (piety, righteousness-here it means Allahs reward, i.e.
Paradise), unless you spend (in Allahs Cause) of that which you love; and whatever of good you
spend, Allah knows it well.(Al:Imran: 92)
Now ponder, how can you spend on something, which you never had. It is a rawait in Tibrani
that our Holy Prophet (PBUH) said:
God loves those believers who labor to earn a living through lawful means.(Tibrani)
It is not ambiguous here to say that earning is not discouraged but it is important to accomplish
aspirations of your life.
A deputy is not appointed because its the boss helplessness rather he is appointed to test
his integrity over others and above all he will get his reward in the end. The purpose of
appointing a deputy is to provide him with his bread and better. It is for his benefit not for
the boss. If its not him, a superior can always find many options, which can work for him
according to his wishes. Allah says in Ayat 1 and 2 of Surah Al-Mulk:
Blessed is He in Whose Hand is the dominion; and He is Able to do all things. Who has created
death and life that He may test you which of you is best in deed. And He is the All-Mighty, the
Oft-Forgiving. (Al-Mulk: 1-2)
Consider if this system has never existed, man would have not been a social animal. He would
live for himself just the way animals do, who live and die for themselves only. Allah has created
us and He knows the real you. He knows man would never do anything without reward, as he is
greedy by nature. Be a fair analyst your self. Why will somebody give you something, which you
need badly without any reward or greed to get something back in return? Just imagine:

Would you like to pay a doctor, who cannot cure the diseases?
Would you give fees to some professor, who cannot prepare you well for your exams?
Would you like to give commission to a person who cannot fix your car or who cannot
provide you with appropriate dress?

25 Penyerahan kedaulatan atau kekuasaan, wewenang (INDONESIA)

11

The thing I am trying to convey is that without the existence of system, a man would have been
living like an animal. But Allah knew how to run this universe. For this purpose He gave man
specific qualities, so that the system works in coherent manner. Allah says in the 165 Ayat of
Surah Al-Anam:
And it is He Who has made you generations coming after generations, replacing each other on
the earth. And He has raised you in ranks, some above others that He may try you in that which
He has bestowed on you. Surely, your Lord is Swift in retribution, and certainly He is OftForgiving, Most Merciful. (Al-Anam: 165)
Hence it is quite clear that knowing a mans psychology Allah has created a system in while
human beings help out, and are dependant on his fellowmen and in return He gets what He
wishes for himself. The secret Allah has hidden is as simple as anything .If you want to get
more, give as much as you can. A man would not get anything unless his products or
services are benefiting others. It is said in a Hadith in Tirmidhiy, Holy Prophet (PBUH)
said:
God helps a man as long as he helps his brother (Tirmidhiy)
Unfortunately this simple thing seems to be complicated for people to understand. In order to
understand this philosophy let me narrate a true story to you:
It is a story of two doctors. Both started this career in the same year they graduated as MBBS
doctors. They did jobs and practiced privately in the evening. The purpose of one is to serve
humanity and other one does it for money. Both have same educational credibility and have done
FRCS.
After 15 years one charges Rs. 400 as inspection fees, and free for those who cannot afford.
Possesses one canal bungalow and lives with his small family. He owns a 5 years old corolla car
and his kids are well behaved and mannered. In short he is at peace with himself and life.
On the other hand, the second one charges Rs. 800 as inspection fees, owns a four kanal
bungalow, never paid any need in serving poor. Visits America every year with his family, does
not miss any luxury in his house. His first marriage ended in divorce and has 3 kids from second
one, who are the most ill mannered kids around.
He quarrels with his wife in routine life and the wife is prone to illness. His parents remain ill as
well, a huge amount is spent on them and according to him, and there is restlessness and
unhappiness in his life despite the money and luxuries. He himself is a heart patient. After all
why? The answer is given in Surah Al-Imran Ayat No 92:
By no means shall you attain Al-Birr (piety, righteousness-here it means Allahs reward, i.e.
Paradise), unless you spend (in Allahs Cause) of that which you love; and whatever of good you
spend, Allah knows it well. (Al-Imran: 92)
Allah says in Surah Shura, Ayat No 30:
12

And whatever of misfortune befalls you, it is because of what your hands have earned. And He
pardon much.(Al-Shura: 30)

It is a said in Tirmidhiy that

Holy Prophet (PBUH) said:
Nothing keeps away the decree (of God) except prayer, and nothing increases the life (of man)
except goodness; and man is only denied the provisions (of life) because of sins upon which he
falls.(Tirmidhiy, Mishkat)
It is the translation of Ayat 147 of Surah An- Nisa:
Why should Allah punish you if you have thanked (Him) and have believed in Him. And Allah is
Ever All-Appreciative (of good), All-Knowing.(An-Nisa: 147)
You see my dear; both are earning, one for him and other for the humanity. The differences in
their lives drastically differ from each other.
What I want to clarify here is that earning money itself is not purpose of existence nor it is good
or bad act. The thing is what is the purpose of such earning and its usage? It makes it good or
bad. If the purpose of earning money is to compliment, or aspirations and purpose life, that is,
helping your fellowmen than such earning is a good action.
Now be a judge yourself. My dears will you help a deputy who starts his work by leaving your
work or who spends money on himself (which you have given him for the help of people) rather
than spending on people. Then the question here is why Allah has appointed someone who
deserts Him and start doing his own work rather than working for Him. If the excess richness,
building and knowledge are not using as a purpose of life, then do not take only as a blessing of
Allah, but it is test for you from Allah. The more he gives you the more he expects from you.
Same as when you hire deputy on high pay, you expect high performance as well.
The biggest misconception, which is needed to be clear, is that people think that as their work is
going well so they would be right. I have told you before a Hadith of Quran while answering this
question and that is it is testing from Allah. Besides, it will be clear with one more Hadith that it
is the mans work to decide. Allah will help you no matter what path you choose, either it is good
or bad. It is another thing that he will face the wrath of Allah later. As it has been cleared with the
story of doctor. A riwait in Mishkat that Holy Prophet (PBUH) said:
Whoso is good, good actions are easy for him, and whoso is bad, evil actions are easy for
him
So, the thing is do not assume if the income is increasing or the business is flourishing then Allah
is with that person and whatever he is doing would be quite right. It is what Allah is helping him.

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To explain the purpose or gist of life in very short words, nothing is better than Surat-Aser.Allah
says:
Wal-Asr severe upon times, In Nal Insaana, no wonder man is on the losing end, Illal lazeen a
Aamanoo except the faithfuls, Wa-amilu Saulihaat and performed good deeds, Wa-ta Was au bil
Haq and preached the righteous path, Wa-ta Wa Sau Bis Sabr and told them to stay calm and
patient.
So people, our Creator has assigned this job and this is the purpose of our life. Now it is up to us
to decide our profession to accomplish our aim. Do we want to become doctor or engineer?
Teacher or mechanic? Nurse or tailor? Professional manager or Imam of a Masjid? Whatever you
think will be a source to achieve your goal, go for that one.
All of us have the same purpose of life and that is to improve living of others and at the same
time favoring truth, so people should not destroy their life by their own hands. Because in it, lies
our own happiness. Interestingly we cannot make a difference in other peoples lives unless we
gain knowledge. Imagine a doctor or engineer or mechanic who is making difference in lives of
thousands of people do you think they could have done without gaining knowledge in their
specific field.
Keep doctors or engineers aside, consider gardener or mechanic or driver, they are doing their
jobs only after gaining expertise in their field. A Riwaiat in Mushkat that Holy Prophet (PBUH)
said:
Superiority of knowledge is better than superiority in worship(Mishkat)
An illiterate person who could not improve his life, how come its possible that he can improve
others lives. And actually gaining this knowledge is a challenge, which is a scared job as well. A
lot of people argue that if Allah has given a purpose in life, why has he not given sources to
compliment it? And this knowledge, which becomes the base of pious deeds, is the challenge for
all. Most people argue on this question that if God has given the purpose then why He did not
give the resources? A person who is rich has the sources to gain knowledge, how can a poor
manage it? The answer to it is also found in my article Knowledge is free not education. Let
me clarify one thing here not every person has the sources but they do have something. To
understand this give the answer of a question.
Do you ask your deputy to accomplish certain task without providing him with resources? No
not at all. Before assigning the task it is noticed that whether the concerned person is able to
accomplish that or not. After this he is provided necessary resources, such as car, office, servent,
budget him.
Same as God has given the potential of doing that work to man before giving him the
responsibilities. The prove of this is found in the Ayats of Surah-Al-Hijr (28-29), Listen:
And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels: I am going to create a man (Adam) from
dried (sounding) clay of altered mud. So, when I have fashioned him completely and breathed
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into him (Adam) the soul which I created for him, then fall (you) down prostrating yourselves
unto him.(Al-Hijr: 28-29)
In these verses Allah says I granted life to body. The thing to learn here is, if body gets the
qualities from his parent merely via droplet of blood. Would you not posses the traits of Allah
who has given you his soul.
Now imagine do not you have Allahs qualities because he granted you with life, soul and body.
Thats why I have said, you have potential and now its your job to develop it. Thats why every
man has the potential to explore Allahs capabilities and qualities. Now do you know how much
He loves you, for more than a mother loves her child?
A person who has explored qualities of Allah in him, he gets dear to Him than others. Same goes
with the children as when a son/daughter has qualities of his/her parents in them to proudly carry
on.
Same goes to deputyboss relationship. A deputy who dominates such qualities in him which as
the reflection of his boss is dearer to him than other employees. It is for you and Allah.
It is also very necessary to perform the life purpose in better way that you keep on highlighting
the God given abilities and capabilities as it is in Hadith, that Holy Prophet (PBUH) said:
Inculcate in you the habits of God.
If Allah has not wanted it, then He has not mentioned again and again in Quran along with his
qualities. I am forgiving; you should be forgiving as well. I am merciful, be merciful as well. I
am on going end, you should be too. So in short this was the aim of life, which Allah has given
us, for which we enjoy calling ourselves deputies and eminent of all creations.
Now a person who stays devoted/busy the whole day to fulfill the purpose of life, wakes up
in the morning for the same purpose, gets ready not for himself but considering it a service
to God, eats with the intention to gain the objective of life and that by not doing so, he may
fall ill and then goes to office for the fulfillment of the same objective. He sleeps and rests to
fulfill this job in the best way. Then each and every action of this persons life becomes
worship, because anything he performs is not for himself but to show devotion to Allah.
Now consider, if you deputy does not perform the job for which you have hired him, instead he
serves you the whole day and continue praising you, press your legs will you be satisfied with
him? No. No one can stay happy with such a person especially when you are paying him from
your pocket. Now think that if we set aside the job for which Allah has appointed us and stay
prostrating before. Him. Will Allah be pleased with us? Never yes, if along with this job, we
continue saying prayers and appreciations of Him and prostrating before Him, it will add to the
elegance.
At this point, let me clarify that no one from amongst us can ever stay happy without fulfilling
the duty assigned to him by his Creator. Happiness, peace and satisfaction come in life along
with the fulfillment of this aim. As long as we are fulfilling the purpose of our creation, our
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Creator might have the need of our existence. Regarding this point I have a bitter fact to share
with you that I have observed. Many people get infected to fatal diseases. One basic reason to
this is turning away from this aim of life. The truth is that why should our Creator keep us alive,
if our early death would cause a difference to someones life, some children are not able to gain
education, some houses are left without food, some girls are not married, few people are not
treated for their illness. In that case Allah might need us, but if no difference is caused to anyone
by our death, then why keep us alive.
Another reality that passed my observation is that those women who consider the upbringing of
their children the sole purpose of their life, when their children become independent after
completing their education, their health gets affected very badly. The point to ponder is that why
is it so? Actually, the truth behind this is that you kept thinking for years that the proper
upbringing of your children is the sole purpose of your life. Your minds also accept this fact that
until you are fulfilling that purpose, till then everything is fine. But the moment the training of
your children is complete; the purpose of your life is also over. Now the question arises that
when the objective is fulfilled, whats left over with life? This kills the need for living while
those people who keep striving for their aim till their old age, and keep trying to gain the
objective of life, one way or the other, even after retirement, it is seen that they live longer. Do
ponder over this point too. One last clarification, which is very vital in this regard and people
frequently remain worried about it, Ill use a question to mention it.
The question is that, do you think that your deputy would be able to fulfill his responsibilities
effectively if he remains worried about his life or food? Never. Therefore, apart from assigning
the job to your deputy, you also guarantee him security and salary.
Allah was aware of this, hence at numerous places in the Holy Quran, He has guaranteed both
these things to His deputy, so that he can fulfill the purpose assigned to him by his Creator
without any fear or worried. As Allah says in various places in Quran: It is said in Surah -AlJathiyah Ayat 26:
Say (to them): Allah gives you life, then causes you to die, But most of mankind know not.
(Al-Jathiyah: 26)
In Surah Al-Ankabut Ayat 60:
And so many a moving (living) creature carries not its own provision! Allah provides for it and
for you- (Al-Ankabut: 60)
It is said in Surah Al- Mulk Ayat 21:
Who is he that can provide for you if He should withhold His provision? (Al-Mulk: 21)
So my dear, forget worrying about your life and food and learn to live. Unfortunately,
todays human being is not carrying out the job that is assigned to him, instead of worrying
about those things (life and food), which are not his responsibilities at all. In fact these are
Allahs responsibilities. Why are you worried about something that is not your
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responsibility? You should think about those responsibilities that are assigned you. Because
you will be questioned about that what is your responsibility. You should prove yourself as
Allahs deputy. You do your work, and being the Master, let Allah do His.

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