By Iman Ivan Tan

What is my purpose?

Every morning when you wake up, have you ever thought of the purpose of doing so? When you’re on your way to work, have you thought about your purpose? When you’re meeting people at a social gathering, what is your purpose? At the end of the day, before you sleep, what is your purpose? And who determines your purpose?

Well, I have always been thinking about what the purpose of me waking up in the morning, going to work, and meeting people at social gatherings is. What is the purpose of me chasing all the fame, glory, and money? What do I get at the end? I’ve been doing this for so many years.

Then, on 28th February 2023, during our Tuesday New Muslims Circle, Ustaz mentioned the subject of purpose—the purpose of our existence. Many of you may have heard of this somewhere, or you may already know about it and have been practising it. However, to me, this is something groundbreaking and new.

To journey through life, which was given to us by The Owner of Life, Allah ﷻ, we need these five purposeful lenses to live a meaningful and beautiful divine life:

From Allah, we came into Life

Our very existence comes from Allah ﷻ. We owe our lives to Him. The Prime Mover, who compelled us into existence and chose for us all the circumstances that we were born into—our parents, ethnicity, nationality, etc.—and gave us a chance to enjoy the experience of existing.

By the help of Allah ﷻ, we live

Whatever abilities we are gifted with, even down to the simple act of breathing, blinking, browsing, or just being, they are all favours from Allahﷻ.

With the companionship of Allah ﷻ , we live

We are never alone. Allah ﷻ is closer to us than our jugular vein: He is As-Samee’, Al-Basir, Al-Alim. He is never absent in all of our affairs and is the Only One worth depending on.

For Allah ﷻ, we live our lives

The life that we have now, we live for Allah ﷻ, in accordance with what He wants us to do. Every single deed, therefore, should be intended to please the Real Owner of Life.

To Allah ﷻ we return

At the end of the day, to Allah ﷻ we return, and we depend on His Mercy and Acceptance to be counted amongst those who were diligent at living a life in pure love, gratitude, and reverence to Him.

From Allah ﷻ → by Allah ﷻ → with Allah ﷻ → for Allah ﷻ → to Allah ﷻ

And He guides whomever He wants. So, instead of arrogance, be thankful that you have been chosen by Allah ﷻ in guidance. Know that practising Islam in the way that is ordained by The Lord of the Worlds, The Greater than Great, The Giver of Life, is not a favour to Him but a necessity because Allah ﷻ is free of needs. He is our lifeline, but beyond knowing that He is giving us favours, we can also look at the very fact that He has given us honour to understand the difference between the Creator and the creation. He has told us that to Him we shall return, and that is an instruction to set the GPS in our hearts to Him as our final destination.

Should we not then be thankful for His unending stream of favours and gifts?

Be pleased that we do not fall under the category of ignorance that’s mentioned by Imam Ghazali:

Questioning or arguing out of envy and hate.
Foolishness is sickness.
Unintelligent and does not grasp realities.

In conclusion, the lives that we have now are from Allah ﷻ. We should always do things in His presence and let Him become our best friend, confidante, and companion, He is the one that will never betray us and have our backs covered at all times. At the end, Allah ﷻ is who we return to.

May Allah ﷻ grant us divine strength and guidance and accept us with His Infinite Mercy, and may Allah ﷻ grant us more beneficial knowledge and not put us among the ignorant.