11th Word,  Uncategorized

9 Purposes of life

We discuss 5 out of the 9 purposes why we came to this world.

1 Thanking God

When we see, say an ice cream, we feel the desire to eat. When we see a beautiful clothing, we desire to buy it. Why did God give us these and other desires?

Unlike angels, we humans have many needs and desires. In fact, we can’t even survive without food to satisfy our hunger, clothes to shield us from the cold, medicine to cure us from diseases, and so on. These needs and desires allow us to understand the names of God. We understand the name ar-Razzaq (The Provider) when He gives us food and clothing. We understand the name as-Shafee (The Healer) when He cures our illness.

Since angels do not get sick or hungry like us, they do not understand such names of God the way that we do.

Animals have needs and desires too, but they lack the intelligence that we humans have.

So what does God want from us? He wants us to be grateful to Him and thank Him for all the favors that He’s given us.

Indeed, God clearly says in the Qur’an


فَٱذْكُرُونِىٓ أَذْكُرْكُمْ وَٱشْكُرُوا۟ لِى وَلَا تَكْفُرُونِ ١٥٢

remember Me; I will remember you. And thank Me, and never be ungrateful. (2.152)
— Dr. Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran

2 Understanding the names of Allah

The needs and desires that we have, not only allow us to experience the mercy and compassion of Allah (SWT); but they also allow to understand the names of Allah (SWT) and get to know Him better.

So, when we’re hungry and He gives us food, we understand what it means for God to be al-Razzaq (The Provider).

When we are sick and he heals us, we understand that He is al-Shafee (The Healer).

When we need modesty and God gives us clothing, we see that He is al-Sitteer (The Concealer).

And so on.

3 Manifesting the names of Allah (SWT)

God gave us some manifestations of His names. For example…

God is ar-Rahman (The Merciful) and He gave us mercy towards our children and others.

God is al-Aleem (The Knowledgable) and He gave us some degree of knowledge.

God is al-Ghaffar (The Forgiving) and He gave us the ability to forgive.

And so on. Our goal is to display these manifestations to the world consciously, knowing that God has placed these manifestations in us. Knowing that this is the way that God has created us and wants us to be.

Just like other creations of God manifest His names before us, thus teaching us and reminding us about our Creator, we too should manifest His names, thereby playing our own role in teaching and reminding others about Allah (SWT).

For instance a flower manifests the name al-Jameel (The Beautiful One). A seed manifests the name al-Hafeedh (The Preserver) by preserving the entire DNA of the being within it. By looking at a flower, we remember that our Lord is The Source of beauty. By looking at a seed, we see that God is The Preserver Who preserves the entire DNA of a tree in a tiny little seed.

Similarly, a mother for example should display her mercy and compassion towards her children with the full consciousness that this is a manifestaton of God’s mercy and compassion, and thereby serving as a reminder of her Lord’s mercy and compassion to those around her.

A scholar should display his knowledge to others with the intent and consciousness that his knowledge is a minuscule manifestation of the name al-Aleem (The Knowledgable), thus reminding others of God’s immense and ultimate knowledge of everything.

Notice that even though a flower manifests the name al-Jameel (The Beatiful) and a seed manifests al-Hafeedh (The Preserver), they do this unknowingly since they are not conscious. Since we are conscious, we should do so consciously and knowingly since God gave us this ability which He did not give to others.

Although the source of the phrase تخلقوا بأخلاق الله (Take on the manners of Allah) has been debated by scholars on whether it is a hadith or not, the meaning has been accepted by all scholars to be true. Here, “manners of Allah” is understood as “names of Allah”.

Furthermore, there are numerous verses in The Qur’an encouraging us to reflect on the creation of Allah and what they tell us about God. We too are a creation of Allah; a creation that should be reflected on. So not only should we reflect on other beings, but we should also play our own role as an object to be reflected on. Unlike other beings, we should do so consciously and knowingly due to the intelligence that God has bestowed upon us.

4 Worshipping God

As humans, we are inclined to worship. Whether that means we worship God, multiple gods, or things like money and power; we all have this inclination regardless of faith.

So what does God want from us? He wants us to direct this inclination towards Him and worship Him alone. In fact, this is the very reason He gave us the need to worship.

This is clearly mentioned in the Qur’an…


وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ ٥٦

I did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me. (51:56)
— Dr. Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran

5 To demonstrate the manifestations of the names of God before God

Just as we demonstrate the manifestations of the names of God before other beings, we should also manifest them consciously and knowingly before God.

Indeed in a hadith, The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) states:

حَدَّثَنَا الْحَسَنُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ الزَّعْفَرَانِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا عَفَّانُ بْنُ مُسْلِمٍ، حَدَّثَنَا هَمَّامٌ، عَنْ قَتَادَةَ، عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ شُعَيْبٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ جَدِّهِ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ “‏ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبَّ أَنْ يُرَى أَثَرُ نِعْمَتِهِ عَلَى عَبْدِهِ ‏”‏ ‏.‏ وَفِي الْبَابِ عَنْ أَبِي الأَحْوَصِ عَنْ أَبِيهِ وَعِمْرَانَ بْنِ حُصَيْنٍ وَابْنِ مَسْعُودٍ ‏.‏ قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ ‏.‏

Narrated ‘Amr bin Shu’aib: from his father, from his grandfather who said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Indeed Allah loves to see the results of his favors upon His Slaves.'”

Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2819
https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:2819

These manifestations that God has given us are incredible favors. The compassion of a mother, for instance, is a beautiful favor. So is the knowledge of a scholar and so on. According to this hadith, God wants to see the results of these favors on us. So we should display them before Him, consciously and knowingly.

6 Reflection on the worship of other beings

Every creation of God worships Him in their own unique way. If we look deeply, we can actually see how they worship and glorify God. A flower, for instance, worships and glorifies its Creator by showing us how flawless and beautiful it was created. The sun glorifies God by showing us how Powerful He is.

Reflecting on how other beings worship God is worship itself. For it teaches us and reminds us about our Creator. Allah (SWT) states in The Qur’an,

17:44
تُسَبِّحُ لَهُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتُ ٱلسَّبْعُ وَٱلْأَرْضُ وَمَن فِيهِنَّ ۚ وَإِن مِّن شَىْءٍ إِلَّا يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهِۦ وَلَـٰكِن لَّا تَفْقَهُونَ تَسْبِيحَهُمْ ۗ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ حَلِيمًا غَفُورًۭا ٤٤

The seven heavens, the earth, and all those in them glorify Him. There is not a single thing that does not glorify His praises—but you ˹simply˺ cannot comprehend their glorification. He is indeed Most Forbearing, All-Forgiving.
— Dr. Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran

7 Learning about God through our own attributes and circumstances

Allah (SWT) gave each of us an ego which plays a huge role in understanding our Creator. For example, it is our ego which makes us feel as though we are the owner of, say our house (even though The True Owner is God of course). Because we feel like we are the owner, we are able to understand the concept of ownership, thereby understanding what it means for God to be al-Malik (The Owner).

Essentially, our ego causes us to feel that our strength, wealth, knowledge, compassion, and so on belongs to us. For example, if we own a house, we think “I am the owner of this house and God is The Owner of the universe.” The feeling of ownership that we have allows us to understand the concept of ownership and therefore understand what it means for God to be The Owner (al-Malik). If we did not have ego, we would not claim ownership of anything and fail to truly understand what it means for God to own everything.

Also, for example, we might think “I am strong enough to carry this box and God is powerful enough to cause this storm”. Again, it is our ego that makes us that our strength belongs to us, which in turn allows us to understand the concept of strength and power. This in turn helps us understand what it means for God to be The Powerful (al-Qaader).

Consequently, ego is a tool that God gave us human beings so we can learn more about our Creator.

Now, once we understand these names of Allah (SWT) through our ego, the next step is to get rid of our ego and become a true servant of God. This topic is very deep and discussed thoroughly in the The Thirtieth Word. I will leave a link to that below the description for anyone interested.

8 Reflection on what other beings tell us about the oneness and rububiyyah (Lordship) of God

Not only does every being worship God, but they communicate to us how God nurtures them and takes care of them so they can reach their full potential. They also tell us that God must only be One without any partners (subhanah).

Observing a seed sprouting and growing into a tree; offering us the most delicious fruits that come in beautiful shapes and colors, we observe with awe and wonder how God created this beautiful tree from a tiny seed, and how He created the most delicious fruits from trees that have no taste or scent to them. Indeed God is the best of nurturers, which points to his Rububiyyah (or Lordship). Our goal as humans is to observe and reflect on these in everything we witness.

Furthermore, the tree points to the oneness of God. For the One Who created the tree is the One Who created sunlight, soil, and water which the tree depends on. That is, part of creating the tree is to create the necessary sunlight, soil, and water. Also, The One Who created these fruits in the most suitable way for our bodies to consume, should be our Creator as well. The whole universe is like a puzzle where everything fits perfectly in its spot and every piece is connected with the rest.

Our goal as humans is to discover these links which point to the Oneness, and to reflect on How He creates and nurtures all of us through His Rububiyyah (or Lordship).

9 Understanding the power and wealth of God through our weakness and poverty

We cannot understand light without darkness, hot without cold, strength without weakness, beauty without ugliness, and so on. It is the existence of opposites that allow us to understand these concepts. If there was no darkness, we would not understand what light means. If weakness did not exist, we would not be able to understand what strength means. In turn, we would not be able to comprehend the name of God, The Powerful (القادر).

In particular, it is our weakness that helps us to understand this name of God. When we feel too weak to do something, we are reminded of the power of God. The more we feel our weakness, the more we feel the power of God.

Think about it. When was the last time you felt incredibly weak due to your circumstances, because you wanted to change something but could not? It is usually in these contexts that we turn to Allah (SWT) with all our sincerity and pray for His help. It is these circumstances that allow us to truly feel our weakness and helplessness and in turn to feel the greatness of God’s power. This is the state when we truly feel that He is our Creator and we are His creation. He is our Owner and we are His servants.

Now, imagine if we could be in this state not only in times of hardship and need, but at all times. This is what we should seek to achieve. To ponder on our weakness and truly feel it so that we can see the greatness of His power and be grateful for it. When we eat a fruit, to ponder on how our Powerful Creator has created this fruit from mere soil and gave us the means to buy it. That if it wasn’t for Him and His power, we would not have anything to eat. When driving a car, to think about how He created such vehicles and gave them to our service. That if it wasn’t for Him, we would have to walk long distances. In fact, even the ability to walk was created by Him. He created our bodies in such a miraculous way that we are able to move and walk effortlessly without having to think.

Essentially, if we continuously ponder on our weakness, we will reach a state where we not only acknowledge that we are weak by using our logic, but a state where we actually feel it. This is the state of true servitude to Allah (SWT) and this is what we should seek to achieve.

Similarly, our poverty allows us to understand that God is al-Ghani (The Self-Sufficient One). The more we ponder on our poverty, they more we will comprehend and feel this name.

Source

The Eleventh Word, The Words by Bediuzaman Said Nursi

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