What was the reason?
Finding your North Star
A few weeks ago, I read this incredible post that served as a launching pad for what you’re about to read. (Reason 100000 for why I love Substack lol, so many inspos).
I had this idea ruminating in my mind, sitting in my drafts waiting to be further developed, and as soon as I read that post, it reminded me of one of my poetry pieces reflecting on Allah’s words of ‘kun fa ya kun’, and then I took the idea and rannnn with it, so let’s dive in…
Why are we here?
A couple years ago, I remember questioning my purpose, why I was created, for what reason? Why did Allah choose this specific time, this era for me to be created in?
In this body and skin, with these abilities and experiences, with these people to journey through this life with.
What purpose was I meant to fulfill and live out during my limited time on this earth?
I think it was the death of someone I knew that sparked this line of thought, seeing how the world moved on, how the sun still came up and set the same day, time stopping for no one.
Seeing how big the world was made my place in it feel small, insignificant, unimportant, in the grand scheme of things.
We are but a speck of dust in the vast land of the sandy shore
We are but a drop of water in a mighty ocean that runs deep
We are but a leaf in the thick of the amazon forest
We are but 1 in a world of many
And so when we’re gone, the world will move on, stopping not for a single soul
It led me to question my worth and existence, like why did God choose me, out of the many other creations He could’ve chosen, He picked me, and He did so for a reason.
And I don’t think I have the perfect answer for these questions, but I pray that in the journey of life, the answer will eventually unfold and reveal itself.
And maybe the answer itself is not as important as the person I become in pursuit and fulfillment of that purpose.
So far, I have found that finding your purpose is a lifelong pursuit, and it’s one I’m still figuring out and trying to fine tune everyday.
In many places in the Quran, we are called to reflect on the creation of God all around us - and see how each has a purpose, created with intention - to remind us that we too have a purpose.
Being one of the best creations of God (that the angels were commanded to bow down to) - how can we be created without a purpose?
Then what would be the point of being here?
Allah has said in the Quran: “We did not create the heavens and the earth and everything in between without a purpose.” (38:27)
We are included in this description.
So God tells us that He created us for a purpose, but why is it important to discover what that is?
Why does it matter?
“What purpose is supposed to teach us, is how to navigate our way in the world and become a successful human being. As we get more and more surrounded by extreme ideologies, having a sense of purpose is a grounding, centring force. It keeps you accountable, keeps you focused on the big picture and gives you a sense of urgency and legacy. Above all, our decision-making, when made through the lens of purpose are vastly improved.” - Faisal Amjad
The quote shared above is from an incredible post I read while writing this piece.
I often find that when I have a topic I want to write on, but not enough to make it a full fledged post, reading works like these really give me substance, sparking curiosity and inspiring other lines of thought.
Anyhoo, back to solving my existential crisis…
We need to spend our lives living out our purpose, because we’re not here by accident, and so we can’t journey through this life aimlessly.
Identifying our purpose makes life more meaningful, you’re not just moving through life without a goal, without a purpose (see what I did there…)
You know what you were created here to do, and you’re working towards achieving that.
I think it would be quite cruel, if we were created for no reason, to go through this life, with its ebbs and flows, with pain and sadness, to no end.
I’m so grateful for such a Merciful and Kind Lord, Who created us, Knowing that we’d always be on a life quest in search of meaning and purpose, and so He told us from the get go that He created us for a reason, and from His infinite kindness, He tells us that reason in His Holy Book that guides us towards fulfilling that purpose.
Purpose is direction, it’s walking down the road knowing where you’re headed, and without it you’d be lost.
And even when you’ve identified your purpose, sometimes you don’t know how to get there, and what you need to do to fulfill it.
It’s like being given a map but you don’t know how to use it.
Identifying your purpose frees you from the rat race of this world, knowing that you are destined for so much more than what you’ve been told.
So what now? What’s next?
How do we identify our purpose, and once we’ve done so, how do we live our lives in fulfillment of that purpose?
Our first step is to turn to the words of the One Who created us, Who told us why He did so: “I did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me.” (51:56)
When I read this verse, I used to think just fulfilling the routine obligations alone was worship - praying, fasting, reading the Quran, doing dhikr (glorification of God), giving charity, was all there was to worship.
And if I was doing anything outside of what God created us for (worship), I wasn’t fulfilling my purpose.
This brought me back to my existential crisis.
How can I live my life on this earth, with my goals and ambitions, with the bills to pay and livelihood to maintain, and also fulfill my purpose of worship.
Growing up, I used to think you had to pick between the 2 - worship Allah and be completely devoted to the deen by becoming a scholar, or pursuing a career, like we’ve been prepped to do from kindergarten, when we all knew what we wanted to be and what purpose we had to fulfill.
As I’ve journeyed through this life, I’ve learnt that you don’t need to pick.
You can have both.
Your work and career can be worship. With the right intention and efforts, your work can be an act of worship.
In my case, I have a dream of becoming a lawyer to defend fundamental human rights and protect marginalized communities from facing oppression and discrimination.
I want to help enact justice on this earth, because God is Al-Hakam, Al-Adl.
When you are in service of God’s creation - how is this not a form of worship?
Worship is so much more than what we think- and should be so much more.
Because we don’t fast and pray and give charity and do dhikr 24/7 - we need to worship God in the other moments of our day, outside of our routine worship.
We can worship Him through the careers we pick, the community work that we do, the simple everyday acts of service to others, the passions and hobbies that we engage in (ex: writing here on substack to help benefit others).
We have to put everything we do in the context of fulfilling our ultimate purpose in life - worshipping Allah - and when you do this, you have more harmony with the life you’re trying to live here, and the eternal life you’re working towards in the hereafter.
Ultimately, worship is living every moment of your day doing what God has created you for - a greater purpose and vision beyond yourself.
Our next step to identify our purpose is simple, but also kind of hard, because we are complicated multi-layered and multi-faceted beings.
And although we live everyday with ourselves, we sometimes don’t like to face ourselves, and be real and honest with ourselves.
So we need to discover who we are, our passions, interests, talents, and our potential - who we can be with the right resources and guidance.
I’d like to share some tips from this amazing lecture I watched by Ustadh Hisham Abu Yusuf:
Be like a 3 year old
Lean into your curiosity and ask: why is the sky being held up the way it is, how are the birds able to fly, what purpose do the mountains serve?
Moving through life with child like wonder will lead you to question why you were created - and to embark on a journey to find that answer
Be self aware
Ask yourself: what are your unique qualities?
Ask yourself: what are things that come easy and naturally to you? What do you enjoy doing, what are you passionate about?
Identify who you are and who you can be
Plan and develop
Once you’ve answered the previous questions and you’ve identified your skills and talents, the next step is to plan and develop this skill
Invest time, money, mentorship, and experience till you’ve mastered it, and aim for excellence - be the best that you can be
Impact
Use the skill you’ve developed for the sake of God - and serving the community - identify what gaps you can fill - and work towards doing so
Centre it all in worship: use the skills, talents and qualities you’ve been given, to worship God in the best way possible.
So what if I want to do it all?
On having multiple purposes
Because we are multi-faceted beings, we will have different purposes at different points in our lives - and you can have multiple purposes simultaneously - with the same end goal in mind: worshipping Allah.
Being a student: developing your foundational understanding of an industry, to be able to help others
Being an employee: working and earning a living within a certain industry to improve it and make an impact - leaving your mark and legacy
Using your income to support the community and the ummah through charity and investing in sustainable projects and community work
Being a parent: fulfilling the duty of raising the next generation
Being a Khalifah (another important purpose to fulfill): being representatives of God on earth
Representing Islam to the best of our ability - Allah didn’t just create us, He created us Muslim as well - and that’s another layer, another purpose within to uncover
We’ve been sent as Khalifahs not just to represent God on earth, but to spread His message and teachings of the Prophets (peace be upon them all)
I am still discovering my purpose as I write this, but I think I have an idea, and a roadmap of how to get there.
I may not have it all figured out, but I wanted to bring you along in this journey of such an important topic, and sharing what I’ve gathered thus far.
I’d like to end off with the poetry piece that I teased at the beginning of this post:
You were chosen, one out of many, to live this life, to prosper on this earth.
Out of God’s many creations, He created you too.
Alongside the mountains and the rainforests, the ocean and all the life underneath,
the desert and all the creatures you cannot see, the sky and all the stars in between,
the galaxies and all the planets out of reach,
the sun and the moon, rotating in harmony.
He said “kun fa yakun - be and it is”.
So here you are existing, so don’t ever doubt your existence here,
you are an intentional creation,
planned before your conception and the inception of time.
So no mistakes were made, you are meant to be here, you are meant to exist.
…
Until next time, I leave you in the care of God, Fi Amanillah (may God protect you).