A Muslim, a Christian, a Buddhist, a Jew, a Pagan, an Atheist, an Agnostic – whatever religion or belief a person dwells in – at a time in life would ask the question, ‘why was I created? Or why do I exist?’
This question comes to mind, might be for several reasons. It is, perhaps, because of the understanding or the ideology or the feeling that a person feels, ‘I am not created or I do not exist simply to live and die’! However, when a person is mature enough and opens her eyes to the world she sees her surroundings. A surrounding that is filled with different people of different beliefs, cultures and life styles. And she thinks about their daily activities. She sees people worship, she sees people build the world, she sees people learn and teach…so on so forth. And at the end she sees people leave behind marks that are beneficial and useful for others. Marks that remain used, unchanged for centuries and centuries!
She sees people trying to achieve goals, some succeed, and some fail. And she asks herself, over and over again, what am I supposed to do? And if she is a believer, she looks up into the sky and asks, ‘O Lord! Why did You create me?’ And by all these questions and thoughts, she is only searching for a higher purpose, a reason for living, a deeper meaning and to gain more than what is already gained and to provide more than what is already been provided.
And when she is told it is for worship that she exists, she wonders what is meant by worship. Indeed, the word ‘worship’ in the Islamic dictionary is vast. Unlike what certain sheikhs says it is not only about the daily five prayers, zakat, hajj, fasting etc. But worship means a lot more than that. It is the defining point of life, the very rule that governs every moment in life. Obviously one could not spend every second in the meaning that certain sheiks explain as worshipping.
In the very simplest of terms, worship could perhaps be explained as the act of refraining from deeds that is been forbidden! As long as she remains away from what is been forbidden she is in a state of obedience and therefore following what is been revealed and thus worshipping.
She learns from The Book, that amongst the various meanings of the term worship, it also includes activities of enjoyment, learning, educating etc. And what grasped her concentration utmost was how strongly it is called upon to observe, learn and gain knowledge. And because this was so strongly mentioned she believed that learning and gaining knowledge is of utmost priority.
And it was only when she studied; when she learned the world, she realized there is a meaning to life. That is when she realized that living does not mean spending days and days at home covering with a cloak. But learning and making use of what is been learned, exploring, researching and tackling every little to big thing in life, is more of a living and a worship.
That is when she realized it is not only what is after death that matters, but this world is of high importance. The purpose of men and women is to sustain life on earth. And in order to do so, building the earth is a necessity. Earning is a must. Some describe earth as a bridge, and their advice is to ignore it and only to think about what at the end of the bridge. But she realized that crossing a bridge is a hard work, particularly if the seas underneath are rough. All precautionary measures need to be assured; life jackets need to be worn, the paths should be learned, friends and foes require to be identified. Walking with eyes closed will only direct to a path of darkness. Perhaps with closed eyes it would lead to a hall on the bridge if stepped into would drown her in the rough seas.
Therefore, she concludes that life on earth requires endless effort in personal development, adjusting herself to the surrounding and making the world a place where she could live. And most importantly she needs to make the world a place where her children, grand children and the generations to follow could live.
-thadu