Make God Almighty your Ultimate Goal:
People who are rather
short-sighted and lack discernment define different reasons for their lives and
are limited to worldly objectives and ambitions. But the purpose decided for
man by God Almighty is according to His own holy words:
“And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.” (51:
57)
The real aim of God is
to make the man understand the main purpose of his existence on earth, that is
to say, to be completely devoted to Him. It is obvious that man cannot set a
goal to his own life because he neither comes into this world on his own nor does
he leave this world on his own, according to his will. He is a creature and the
One who has created him and invested in him better faculties which are superior
to animals has also identified a goal for his life. We understand it or not, the
fact remain that the purpose of the creation of man is undoubtedly worship and
understanding of God and a complete devotion to Him. Elsewhere in the Holy Quran,
God Almighty has said:
“Surely the true religion in the sight
of Allah is Islam...” (3:
20)
“So direct your face toward the religion, inclining to truth (as
one devoted to God). It is the nature made by Allah, the nature according to
which He has created men. There can be no change in Allah’s creation. This is
the true religion. But most people do not know.” (30:
31).
The religion that gives
us a real appreciation of God and prescribes His true worship is Islam. Islam
is inherent in human nature and man was created in accord with ISLAM
- submission to the One God - and such is the eternal and true faith. This is
to say that God wanted man to be fully devoted to His worship, that he loves
and obeys Him with all his faculties. So He (Allah) has blessed man with all
appropriate faculties to achieve ISLAM (to
submit to Him, that being the real target for the creation of mankind).
Despite the fact that
man is taken up by the various projects of his life, he can find true happiness
only in God Almighty (Allah). After having accumulated enormous wealth, after
having held high office, after having become a great trader, and ruled over a
vast kingdom, and after having been recognized as a great philosopher, at the
end he leaves all these commitments with great regret. His heart constantly
reproaches himself for his total concern for worldly affairs and his conscience
never accepts his illicit activities full of trickery and artifice.
An intelligent person
can better understand that problem. We cannot assign a higher purpose to
something beyond its/ his capacity, beyond which it/ he can no longer function.
For example, the highest work of a bull is the ploughing of fields or
irrigation or transportation. Its faculties are not adapted to anything else.
Thus the aim of the life of a bull comes down to these three functions. It has
no ability to do anything else.
But by examining the faculties of man and
trying to find their limits, we find him in search of God the Exalted. He
wishes to become so devote to God that he devotes everything he owns/possesses
to God. He shares with other animals his natural survival instinct. However, in
the field of manufacturing certain animals surpass him. Indeed the bees extract
the essence of different varieties of flowers to produce a honey so excellent
that it surpasses the understanding of man up till now. It is therefore obvious
that the summits of human faculties are to meet God the Exalted. So the real
purpose of his life is that the window of his heart should open to God.