Words are sharper than a knife

Life’s purposes

What really are your purposes in life?

 What are our priorities in life? Is it to gain money, fame, power or even just to have fun ?, well how many have had worn silk garments with gold and jewels decorated on it and lived in palaces where its floor were made out of crystals and had thousands of slaves to do their bidding, they left the world with not even a single dirham, dinar, pounds or dollars but left with the white shroud that they were promised. How many have sought fame and have left the world with not even a single soul to utter their name, while others only sought to amuse themselves by just playing and did not put their lives to account , those were beaten at their own game. So if ones purpose in life is not earn money or fame, what really is our purpose. 

One may find his or her purpose in life by asking themselves, why am I here, who brought me here, and what happens to me after I die, these are questions which leads one to find his or her answer in due time. As we know when we go somewhere we go to that particular place for a reason, for example we go shopping to buy food, clothing  and so forth, if we go to work it is to earn our daily living , if you where to go somewhere and was asked why were you here and you replied ‘I don’t know’, you would probably be declared insane and be put in the mad house. If in our daily life there our purposes for being or not being at a place then our being here on this earth must have a purpose and that purpose links back to the ultimate question of all, who brought us here, who created us and the earth we live in, who holds the sky we look at, who gave us the water we depend on and told us why we depend on it, who makes the sun and moon follow their orbit without one intervening in the others orbit, who was the one who separated the salted water from the sweet one and every amazing thing that we see, only Allah has the capability to do that and more. The existence of Allah is proved by all the things around us and even ourselves, Allah has said:

(We will show them our signs in the universe and in their own selves, until it will become clear to them that this is the truth)

(Fussilat 53)

This verse tells us to look around and contemplate on the world we live in, and see with our own eyes the creation and bounties of Allah which no one other he can create. Every morning we look at the sky but how many of us has ever actually thought about how sky stays in its place without anything to hold it in place, Allah had challenged those who doubted his signs by telling them to look at the sky by saying:

(He who has created the seven heavens one on top of the other; you can see no fault in the creation of the most gracious. Then look again: “can you see any rifts?”. Then look again and again, your sight will return to you in a state of humiliation, and worn out)

(Mulk 3-4)

Water is important for human survival

The water we drink comes from rivers, what would happen if those rivers were to dry up, no matter how much one would go excavating for the water or no matter how much millions was spent on these projects only Allah would be able to bring it back. What happens if it was sour, what would we be able to drink?,

(Say (O Muhammad s.a.w) Tell me if all your water were to sink away, who  then can supply you with flowing water?)

(Mulk 30)

(Have you not seen the water you drink. Is it you who sends rain down from the clouds, or are we the ones who send it down?. If we willed, we verily could make it salty; why then do you not give thanks?)

(Waqiah 68-70)

The sun and moon has a precise orbit that cannot be breached, they each run on its fixed course,

(It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor for the night to outstrip the day. They all float, each in its orbit)

(ya-seen 40)

These are just some of the signs of Allah that we never take heed on or even give an eye to, but what about us, how were we created? did Allah mention our creation?, the answer is yes. Allah has mentioned to us about our creation before doctors were able to tell us about the different stages we go through in our mother’s womb, Allah has said:

(And indeed we have created man from an extract of clay. Thereafter we made him from a sperm drop in a safe lodging. Then we made the sperm drop into a clot, then we made the clot into a little lump of flesh, then we made out of that little lump of flesh bones, then we clothed the bones with flesh, and then we brought it forth as another creation. So blessed is Allah, the best of creators.)

(Mu’minun 12-14)

Allah told us that we were made out of water and that we and every living thing depends on water,

(And we have made from water every living thing, will you not then believe)

(Anbiya 30)

As we know the prophet (s.a.w) was from the unlettered Arabs, which meant that he could not read and write, but mentioned to us many things that have only been discovered today because of the advance in technology, for example the prophet (s.a.w) told us that the human body has 360 joints, scientists in the 19^th century did not exactly know how many joints the human body had but estimated that it could be maybe between 200-300. Finally, they discovered it was 360 just as the prophet (s.a.w) said, that’s why scientists wondered how a man who lived in the desert and could not read and write knew all of this while those at his time who had knowledge did not possess such knowledge, professor T.V.N Persuad said, “The way it was explained to me is that is Muhammad was a very ordinary man. He could not read, didn’t know (how) to read. In fact, he was an illiterate. And here we are talking twelve (actually about fourteen) hundred years ago. You have someone illiterate making profound pronouncements and statements and that are amazingly accurate about scientific nature. And I can’t personally see how this could be a mere chance. There are too many inaccuracies and, like Dr. Moore, I have no difficulty in my mind that this is a divine inspiration or revelation that led him to these statements”. Dr Joe Leigh Simpson studied two sayings of the prophet (s.a.w):( In every one of you, all components of your creations are collected together in your mother’s womb by forty days…), (“ If forty-two nights have passed over the embryo, god sends to it an angel to it, who shapes it and creates It’s hearing, vision, skin, flesh, and bones…). 

During a conference he said,” So that the two hadiths that have been noted provide us with a specific time table for the main embryological development before forty days. Again, the point has been made, I think, repeatedly by other scholars this morning: these hadiths could not have been obtained on the basis of scientific knowledge that was available (at) the time of their writing. …It follows, I think, that not only there is no conflict between genetics and religion but, in fact, religion can guide science by adding revelation to some of the traditional scientific approaches, that there exist statements in the Quran shown centuries later to be valid, which support knowledge in the Quran having being derived from god”. This is because what the prophet(s.a.w) said was not from his tongue or mind, but it was Allah who had inspired his prophet:

(Nor does he of his own desire. It is only a revelation revealed.)

(Najm 3-4)

Allah also said about his prophet:

(And you did not recite before it any scripture, nor did you inscribe one with your right hand. Otherwise the falsifiers would have had [cause for] doubt.)

As Allah said, he showed his signs and the most knowledgeable of society has recognised it, knowledge is not that you can solve calculations or win noble peace prizes for scientific discovery, rather it is about using your human intellect to search for the truth, the truth is clear and ready but how many of us have a rational mind to search for it? 

The search is not hard or long, Allah has put it all in a book, whether you search for science, mercy, way of life solutions to mankind’s everyday problems, you will find an answer for all answers are with Allah and if he does not have the answer, who does?  

Famous French scientist named Maurice Bucaille who was in charge of the body of the pharaoh thought he discovered how the pharaoh had died after finding salt remains stuck in his body but was amazed when he was told that Muslims already knew this. At first he did not believe it because he thought such a discovery would need modern day technology and computers, but he was even more shocked to know that the Muslims knew the answer to his question that the pharaoh drowned and his body remained intact even after he drowned as that the story of the pharaoh’s story was mentioned in the Quran. Bucaille kept asking “Where did the Muslims Quran quote these data from while the mummy was not discovered until 1898 i.e. about 200 years only, given that the Quran has been recited by Muslims for over 1400 years, and given also that until a few decades ago the entire mankind including Muslims did not know that ancient Egyptians had mummified their pharaohs? 

Dr Maurice Bucaille 

Maurice was amazed because the gospel only mentioned the story of the pharaoh when chasing prophet Musa (a.s) without mentioning the fate of his body, he said” Is it believable that Muhammad (s.a.w) knew about this over 1,000 years ago while I have just known it?”. Bucaille went and read the Torah but it also did not relate the fate of pharaoh, he decided to pack his bags and travel to Saudi Arabia and attend a medical conference. There he was informed about the pharaoh and they read to him the ayah

(So today we will deliver you with your body that it may be a sign to the ones who succeed you..)

(Yunus 92)

After hearing the verse Maurice Bucaille accepted Islam on the spot and years later wrote a book called, ‘The Bible, The Quran and science, The Holy scriptures examined in the light of modern knowledge’, in the preface of his book, Maurice Bucaille said,” These scientific areas which Quran established to the exclusion of other scriptures filled me with deep surprise early on, since it never struck my mind to see such a large amount of scientific issues in such variable and accurate way that they are a mirror image of what has recently been discovered in a book which has existed for more than 13 centuries.!!”. He also said: There is no compulsion for man to accept the truth. But it is certainly a shame upon the human intellect when man is not interested in finding out as to what is the truth! Islam teaches that god has given man the faculty of reason and therefore expects man to reason things out objectively and systematically for himself. To reflect and to question and to reflect”.(Book, The Quran and modern science  )

As Dr Bucaille said the human was given the power to reason, examine and then make our decision, it is one of the things that made man the best of Allah’s creation. So after examining the world around you and the creation of your own self, one can see that there must be one of unique power who could create all of this. All Allah wants from us is to worship him alone as he said:( And we have not created the Jinn’s and human’s except to worship me. I do not want any provisions from them or to feed me. Verily Allah is the sustainer with the strong and powerful.( Dhariyaat 56-58)  and give thanks to all the favours he has given us for these favours cannot be counted,

(And if you would count the favours of Allah, never could you be able to count them. Truly, Allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful.)

(Nahl 18)

Allah promised those who work hard and do good with gardens with which rivers flow underneath as Allah mentioned it countless times in the Quran, it is a reward for those who do good and live up to their purpose just as how the spoon, the internet or even food lived up to their purpose for every soul shall taste death and we shall leave the things we had in this world and we will enter our graves without our friends, family or even our money, it will be just you and the one who created you alone in your mother’s womb but this time in the grave carrying a mountain load of deeds, good or bad just waiting for the day you were promised. The prophet told us to remember death because it is indeed the destroyer of pleasure, every good thing one has death will take it away from him:

(From it( i.e. earth) we have created you and to it you shall return and to it you shall be resurrected from)

(Ta-ha 55)

So use the power of reason and understanding and determine what is right and what is wrong for on the day when all will be resurrected for the good and bad they do, those in the fire will be asked what brought them here and after answering they will say:

(And they will say,” If only we had used our minds or had heard we would not have been among the companions of the fire)

(Mulk  10)

In this verse these people will regret not using their minds to reason and hearing here means understanding because one may hear something but never understand what he hears. This is why Allah said in surah Hajj that it is the heart which grows blind and not the eyes, for how many could see but still were blind, blind from the truth that they could see with their own eyes just as the pharaoh did, but when he saw his demise he realised the no matter how powerful one maybe, there is always one more powerful and that’s when he declared that he was but a human and the one who he had denied, rejected and even said out of power,” we will see he who has the everlasting punishment”,( Ta-ha 71) was the true lord, but it was too late. If the pharaoh had been a lord I do not think his body would go on display, I think he would probably get a decent burial. So it’s time we look inside ourselves and we start to live up to our purpose for always remember, no matter how much mistakes or sins you carry on your back, even if it is the size of the of the earth he will forgive it:

(Say, O my slaves how have wronged themselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah, he forgives every sin. Verily he is the most forgiving, the merciful.)

(Zumar 53)

So even if you’ve found the truth don’t worry there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, so never lose hope and keep on going, and

always remember that we always have a lord who’s hands are stretched and ready to accept those who repent sincerely after finding the truth.

I hope this what a useful insight to knowing are purpose in life for if a spoon, the internet or even food has a purpose, then we as humans must have a purpose.