INTERVIEW WITH MAULANA WAHIDUDDIN KHAN

it ends all disputes. I tell people that if you look into a mirror and find spot on your face, you do not get angry. Similarly, any critic tells you about some such spot, what is the reason to get provoked then? Take it in a positive sense. Consider him a great well-wisher of yours. Dissent is the essence of progress. I think not a lot of people believe in it, which is also true. This is a very philosophical question, and I don’t think anyone better than you to answer it, Maulana Saheb! What is the purpose of life? Do you want to know the purpose of life according to Islam? Yes, of course. Look. I have been reading the scriptures of Islam all my life. I have been reading many books. I have studied all religions. What Islam tells is that God created a very beautiful world. This world is Paradise. Now, God needs candidates to settle in this Paradise. Deserving candidates. God created this world because He wants to do selection here for Paradise. So, you and I are here under God’s watch, and God is watching us to determine who is capable of being settled there. And who is the deserving candidate of that Paradise? The most important thing about this is peace. The Quran says about the people of Paradise that ‘only the words of peace and tranquility’ (56: 26) will be spoken by them. People of Paradise will live peacefully. No one there will harbour any negative thought. No one will fight with another person. A person who proves in this world that he is the person who lives peacefully in social life, he will be the one selected to enter Paradise. It is such a beautiful purpose of life that we are placed in this world for a limited period which is pre-death period of our life. If we can prove here that we are those people who can live with spirituality, with peace, with love, and we do not harbour hate for anyone, it means we will be selected to settle in Paradise in post-death period. This is the concept of Islam. What do you think is the purpose of life? See, I believe that I can say that I love God most, Who created me. I often think alone that my hand, this foot, this mind, this eye, this ear, who gave me all these? I can say with certainty that the mountain, the sea, the sun, the moon, none of them have these. I have these gifts. An ocean of love then flows in my heart for God. I glorify God that He has given me all these things. It’s the biggest asset of my life: to love God.