MAN’S TRUE PURPOSE IN LIFE

I created mankind and the Jinn that they might worship Me. I demand no livelihood of them, nor do I ask that they should feed Me. God alone is the Munificent Giver, the Mighty One, the Invincible. (51: 56-58) These verses specify that man’s purpose in life is worship. This elicits from man his uniqueness in its ultimate form. God does not demand of you a livelihood, the verse states; rather He is responsible for your livelihood. This means that worship of God is motivated neither by inner desires nor outer influences, but comes into being through thought alone. When a person goes beyond his self and his environment he understands that there is a higher purpose to his life. When a person works, makes money, builds a house, makes an effort to improve his standard of living, he appears to be engaged in efforts towards some worthy end. This cannot be called a purposeful life; it is only a life of survival. It is the driving force of one’s desires; the pressure of one’s needs, and the wish to fulfill the demands of one’s self that underlie such a life. These are the considerations which guide a person in his search for livelihood. Growing up, he sees that those who have an abundance of these material things enjoy respect and apparently possess every form of happiness and luxury in this world. Thus he is driven on to do more than just seek a livelihood; he desires to earn greatly in excess of his actual requirements. In bustling markets, grandiose offices, and opulent buildings, he is guided by inflated ideas of his own needs, desires, longings and ambitions to achieve fame and high status. These activities are not directed towards the purpose which sets man apart from the animal. His true purpose in life can only be to seek the pleasure of God. When he seeks the pleasure of his Lord, his human qualities find full manifestation. This is what distinguishes man from animals. It is the ultimate station of human dignity. To determine the purpose of life is, in short, the effort to make life meaningful. It must surely be in accordance with man’s unique status; one which leads man on the path to success and progress in terms of his true nature. o A really purposeful life is a life in which his personality makes manifest its unique distinctive quality.