A while back I watched an interview with a prominent Western pop star, perhaps the most famous singer in the world. The interviewer asked him: "What is your life's purpose?"
After a long period of silence, the singer responded, "My goal is to inspire people."
Inspire them to do what exactly? And why did you choose this goal? The interviewer didn't ask these questions, he just started heaping praise on the young singer's meaningless answer.
The question of life's purpose is a highly uncomfortable question for westerners. This is because the question itself contains an implicit inquiry into the individual's belief in the afterlife and, consequently, their belief in God.
Because the purpose of something cannot be a part of that thing. The purpose of an exam is graduation or advancing to the next grade.
The purpose of work is to earn money or serve society. If an exam ended by burning all answer sheets, what's the difference between writing correct or incorrect answers?
Similarly, if the effects of your actions in this world didn't extend beyond this world, what's the difference between doing good and doing harm?
Islam is the only path on Earth that offers humans a solution to this problem. You live to obtain eternal rewards in the Hereafter.
God says in the Quran:
"Indeed, those who say, 'Our Lord is Allah' and then remain steadfast - the angels will descend upon them, [saying], 'Do not fear and do not grieve but receive good tidings of Paradise, which you were promised.' We [angels] were your allies in the worldly life and [are so] in the Hereafter. And you will have therein whatever your souls desire, and you will have therein whatever you request"
The goal is eternity in Paradise – a massive and sublime goal incomparable to any objectives filling self-help books, such as "Creating a Successful Company" or even "Changing the World"!
What's the purpose of changing the world when you will be leaving it sooner than you can imagine?
This is why men and women in the West fall into the traps of depression, suicide, and drugs when they realize that even achieving these worldly goals doesn't protect them from feeling the futility of life.
The absence of purpose makes the individual miserable and destroys society. The only purpose that can save a person from this fate is striving for the pleasure of Allah and the eternal bliss of paradise.
The difference between this goal and any worldly goal is not only that it is greater beyond measure, but also that it is possible to achieve it by 100%. Yes. If you sincerely and earnestly try, you will succeed in reaching it. It all depends on you alone. A person may use up his entire life trying to reach a specific amount of money, for example. But due to various factors, he fails to achieve that goal.
But if he works towards reaching Paradise to the best of his ability, then his destiny is undoubtedly Paradise. In islam, there is no specific number of prayers to reach, no fixed number of fasting days, nor good deeds. The whole matter revolves around intention and effort.
Allah Almighty says in His Noble Book: '{And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me}'
Since this is the purpose of creation, one has succeeded in the test if they lived in accordance with this goal.
This does not mean that a person should live ascetically, renouncing all worldly possessions, enduring poverty and misery, hoping only for Paradise.
In quran, it is said: 'Whoever does righteous deeds, whether male or female, while being a believer - We will surely cause him to live a good life, and We will surely give them their reward [in the Hereafter] according to the best of what they used to do.'
So, even to achieve materialistic goals in this world, it requires a certain period of suffering. In order to earn money, one must work long hours, perhaps years and years.
In order to have a beautiful body, one must engage in strenuous exercise and deprive themselves of delicious foods, and so on.
As for the greater goal, it ensures happiness and inner peace in this world, as well as bliss in the Hereafter, all in exchange for resisting the desires of the self for a limited number of years. Which deal is more profitable than that?.
