When you try to seek a path, the only thing to do is sincerely look at Islam and the Quran. What the Quran is essentially saying to humanity is, Allah (SWT) created you for a purpose.

1. The Purpose of Life
Humanityhasprogressedandevolvedmuchoverthe centuriesinthe fieldof technological
developmentincludingthe sciencespertainingtoall aspectsof life,especiallyinthe realmsof sciences
and studiesthathave todo withthe medical andwellbeing of humans,still there are some questions
that have gnawedat the verycore of humanbeingssince the dawnof time be it consciouslyor
unconsciously.The issuesof the metaphysicshave alwaysbeenthere toplague the wakingrational
thoughtsof the human creature that pridessomuchin itsintellect.Itisamongthese questionsthatthe
mostthoughtone of by people of all walksof life is whatisthepurposeof human existence?
For centuriesnowphilosophersandthinkers,the socalledintellectsof the specieshave beendebating
thisissue andare still desperatelyseekingthe answerof the reasontowhyhumansexist.Especially
afterthe advancementinspace travel andthe studiesof the almostinfiniteuniversearoundus,the
questionof whatsucha small andminute specieslike usdoingamongall these gargantuancelestial
bodieshasonlygottenstronger.There are those thathave takenthe route of philosophytoanswerthis
question,some wenttowardsthe wayof science.Tomany people thesetwoare the onlylogical
podiumsfromwhichananswercan be found,butwhattheydon’trealize isthatthere isa thirdtype of
understanding.Thisquestionhasalreadybeenansweredinthe lightof religion.
FindingthePath
Perhapsone of the thingsthat mostpeople whoare notreligioustendthe hardesttobelieve isthatthe
sense of findingtheirpurposeinlifeandwhytheyare here comesbuiltinthem.Letus now take a
commonexample.Consideraman whohas spenthislife ineverykindof indulgence inhislife,anditis
verycommonto findthat evenamongthose thathave all theycan inthis life,theystill feel like thereisa
voidintheirveryexistence,the feelingthatsomethingisindeedmissing.There comesatime inalmost
everyperson’slifewhenhe orshe decidestogetseriousregardingwhattheyare doinghere.Butthe
mainobstacle thattheyrun intofrom the start is,whenthere are so manypaths,how do theyfind
whichisthe right one and howto followit.
The ThoughtProcess ofSomeone Comingto the Right Conclusions
There are seldomanykindsof people thatthinkthatthere isnota purpose behindthe creationof this
world.Eventhe greatestmindsof science andphilosophy,eventhoughttheymightoppose the concept
of a higherbeing,tend toleantowardsthere beingareasonwhywe have come intoexistenceandthe
verythoughtthat humansjustcame intobeingandwill eventuallydie doesnotsitwiththembecause in
thisvast universe,thatistoobigand obscure of a coincidence tobe takenseriously. Humanscoming
intobeingare no coincidence andmostpeople alreadyacknowledge thatthere isapurpose behind
thembeinghere.Nomatterwhatthe beliefsof the person,he orshe cannotdenythe intricate detail of
our verydesigndowntoour fingernailsisamazing,whichmeansthatthese thingscouldn’thave been
createdwithoutanagendabehindthem.

2. Gratitude& Appreciation
One characteristicof decencyisgratitude.If a personhelpsyoufix yourcar tire,itishuman decencyto
thankthem.It will be highlyindecentof youandinappropriate of youtoleave withoutthankingthe
individual’shelptoyou.Humandecencyiscommonamongall the religions.Whenyourealizethatyou
have a creator, yourealize He hascreatedyou insuch a perfectwayand givenyoucharacteristicsthat
He has notgiventoother creatures,He hasalso givenyouall of these facultiesthatare amazingthatwe
didnot evenhave topay for,such as our eyesandhands etc.and on top of all these thingsHe has given
us sustenance,likethe waterwe drinkthe airwe breathe andthe foodwe eat,the familythatwe enjoy,
the house that we live inetc.All of these thingsare justpouredonus andgivento usfor free,soit is
onlynatural that ineverydecentperson orinany personinfact, somewhereintheirmindthere will be
a thoughtof at leastbeinggrateful forall thattheyhave.Itis amazingto see oftenthateventhose that
are notreligious,whensomethinggoodhappenstothem, theytendto ThankGod fortheirgoodluck.
Alongwitha sense of gratitude,there isalsoasense of appreciation. Meaningthe Creatordidnotonly
helpus,He helpedusinsucha profoundway.The vastnessof the universe,the flawlessness’of the sky
above amongcountlessotherthings,willfill apersonwithawe atthe greatpowerof thisCreator.
WhoCan Tell Usour Purpose?
The questionthenarises,whoisthe bestpersontotell usof our purpose.Asan example,anyperson
whomanufacturessomethingmanufacturesitfora reason.Whenhumansdesignsomething,they
designitfora purpose.Sowhenapersonacknowledgesthe factthat the Creatorhas createdus with
such intellectandfeatures,the questionsarise,whatisourpurpose andwhocan tell usthat purpose.If
youcan’t figure outa device thatyou bought,yougo back to the manufacturertolearnaboutit.
Similarly,if youcan’tunderstandyourpurpose inlife,youhave togoback to your Creatorbecause He is
the one who designedyou.
Anotherpowerful conclusionthatpeople come toafteracknowledgingtheirCreatoris,upuntil that
pointintheirlife,howeveroldtheyare,theyhave beeninviolationof theirpurpose because theydid
not evenknowwhatitwas.
For example,if youhave acomputerthatdoesnot performitsfunctionsaccordingtowhatyou require,
it crashesand haserrors,you can easilythrow itaway.You ownit,you boughtitfor a purpose, andit
didnot fitthat purpose soyougot rid of it. If a farmerhad gottena cow for milk,andthenthe cow
stoppedgivinghimmilk,he wouldjustslaughterit.
So nowwe come to the conclusion,thatyouwere createdfora purpose,there isaLord overyou that
expectyoutofill yourpurpose,butforthe last whateveryearsof yourlife youhave beenviolati ngthat
purpose because youdidnotevenknowit,didthatLord punishyoufor it?For example,one purposeof
humansisnot to lie.Diditeverhappenthatwhenyoulied,lightningstruckandburnedyourtongue>if
youeverstole,didyourhandjustsuddenlyfall off?Everytime youengagedinsomethingevil,didyou
experience punishmentimmediately?Of course not,because the Creatorletsyougo,He keepsletting

3. your transgressionsslide.Humanbeingsare notlike that,if we expectsomethingfromsomeone,we
make sure we get itand if we don’tget itwe tendto manifestnegative consequencesforthatperson.
Now That YouHave Realized
So youagree that youwere inviolationof yourpurpose,andthatthisLord is far more merciful than
anyone else inthe universe,Hismercyisunimaginable.Butnow there comesanotherpoint.Since you
have realizedthatyouhave a purpose andsince youdidnot know it,youhave beengettingawaywithit
all thistime,shouldyoujustforgetaboutit?No,because if youhave reachedthisfar inyour thought,
youshouldknowthat the Creatoralsoknowsthat youhave reacheda pointwhere yourealize you
shouldbe lookingforyourpurpose.Suffice tosaythat if youstop here,andthinkthat youare thinking
to deepanddecide togo back to youroldway of life,thenknow thisthatthere will be consequences.
The Next Step
Nowthat youhave realizedthis,the nextstepisyouturnto thisCreatorthat youdon’tyet know and
youdeclare one thing to yourCreator,‘IacknowledgethatYouaremy Creator, Iacknowledgethat Iam
supposed to bein service to You, I acknowledgethatin thislife I haveto live up to Your purposethat
Youhavesetforme, but, I cannotfill that purposeon my own becauseI don’tknow whereto start,so
even if I wantto serve You,howwill I do so unless You help me.’
ThoughtProcess
So let’sgooverthe thoughtprocessagain:
1. Firstthere wasGratitude & Appreciation.
2. Secondthere wasHis amazingMercy thatHe letyouslide solong.
3. Thenthere wasthe ideathere are consequencesif youdon’tgetyouract together.
4. Thenthere isthe factthat you turn tothe Creatorinsubmissionandworship,butyouneedHis
help,youneedguidance anddirections.
So youask Him forguidance andfor the straightway.Thenyoucome to anotherconclusion,if He isso
merciful,youcan’tbe the onlyone whohad wantedguidance.Thismusthave happenedbefore.There
musthave beenpeople before youthataskedforthisguidance andwere givenit. Soinsteadof being
leftonyour own,youask Himto showyou a path that otherpeople have alreadywalkedthatthe
Creatorfavoredupon.Thenthere are people whoaskedforthatpath but didnotgo on it,for example if
youask a personforthe rightdirections,thatpersongivesittoyoubut youdon’tfollow those
directions,thatpersonwhoaskedforguidance,gotitandthendisregardedit,thatisa personwith
whomthe Creator wouldbe veryangrywithand isa personwhodeservesHis wrath.
So whatwas the purpose of explainingthisthoughtprocesstoyou?The reasonforgoingthroughthis
route is because;thisisthe THOUGHT PROCESSOFTHE QURAN,IN THE FIRSTSURAH. The veryfirst
surah of the Quran is actuallythe thought processof someone seekingthe truth.
Surah Fatihaandthe Purpose of Life

4. We Recite:
All praise is due to Allah,Lord ofthe WorldsO
So we talkedaboutpraise andgratitude.Thenwe recite,
The entirelyMerciful,the EspeciallyMerciful O
Thiswas the part where ourLord is Merciful.Afterthiswe recite,
Master of the Day of Recompense (Judgment) O
We acknowledgedthatthere will be consequencesif we triedtotake advantage of Hismercy.Thenwe
Talkedaboutreachingthe conclusionthatwe wantto worshipHim, sowe recite,
It is Youwe worshipandYou we ask for help O
We acknowledgethatwe worshiponlyHim, butwe alsoneedHishelp.Whatisthe exacthelpwe seek?
Guidance,sointhe verynextverse we recite,
Guideus to the straight path – O
Guide usto and alongthe straightpath. Thenwe acknowledge thatwe are notalone on thispathand
there have beenthose whowalkedthispathbefore usthatthe Lordfavoredand notof those who
earnedHiswrath andnot those whowentastray.So we in the endrecite,
The pathof those uponwhom Youhave bestowed favor,not those whohave evoked [Your] angeror
of those are astray. O
Logic ofthe Path
Thisthoughtprocessiswhat we as Muslimsaskpeople toconsiderforthispathis universal.If youhave
noticedwhile readingthis,we didnottake adirectapproach to the Quran fromthe beginning,rather
the focuswas on makingpeople understandandappreciate the logicof the thoughtprocessfirst.The
mainpointisto be sincere toour CreatorAllah(SWT),be grateful toHim, acceptHim as yourLord,
worshipHimand askhimfor guidance.Forthose that are seekingthistruth,there are twomeasuring
sticks,
1. Your ownconscience.
2. If you acknowledge thatthe truthandguidance youseekisfromAllah(SWT) (God),thenthe
primarystandardis that there can be no one betweenyouandthe worshipof Allah(SWT).
There can be those whomAllah(SWT) hasfavoredand fromwhomyoucan learnhow to
worshipAllah(SWT) andreachthat path,but youcannot worshipthem.

5. Withthisstandard whenyoutry to seekapath, the onlythingwe humblyaskyouto do issincerelylook
at Islamand the Quran. What the Quran isessentiallysayingtohumanityis, Allah (SWT) created you for
a purpose.
Allah (SWT) sayingin the Quran Surah Adh-Dhariyat Ayah 51:56
And I did notcreate the jinn and mankind exceptto worship Me.
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