animal. Every human being regards himself as
incomplete until he has found that supreme
principle by which he can explain his existence in
this world and discover the purpose and meaning
of his life.
Everyone is a seeker. True. But few are finders.
Why? Because, where seeking is instinctive, finding
is the outcome of one’s own conscious effort.
In the pre-Islamic period, there were certain
individuals in Arabia, called hunafa. They were all
truth seekers. Confining themselves to solitary
places, they would remember God and say: “O God
if we had known how to worship You, we would
have worshipped you accordingly.”
This was due to their urge to come to grips with
reality—an urge such as is found in every human
being, the difference between one individual and
another being only one of degree: in some, the urge
is weak, in others it is strong.
Then, there are some deviations. Some people take
certain material objects to be their goal in life and
do their utmost to obtain them. But there is an
internal evidence that they do so mistakenly. Before
obtaining these material objects, they are highly
enthusiastic about them. But as soon as they have
them in their possession their enthusiasm turns to
frustration for, with experience, they invariably find
that what they have struggled for so hard, has failed
to give them the desired sense of fulfillment. All
these material things in this world are meant to
fulfill only our physical needs. They have nothing
to do with the purpose of our lives. This purpose
can be only spiritual in nature, and not something
material.
To achieve this purpose is the greatest quest in life.
Everyone is motivated, consciously or
unconsciously, by this demand of human nature,
everyone at one time or another suffers from a sense
of frustration, with or without sad experiences. To
make one’s life meaningful, therefore one has to
discover its purpose. One should be extremely
sincere and honest in this respect. Sincerity and
honesty are an assurance of engaging oneself
unremittingly in this pursuit, and never giving-up,
until one has discovered the real purpose of human
existence.
When a man succeeds in discovering this ideal, he
becomes a person who is fit to be called a complete
man, one who has succeeded in making his life
purposeful, in the real sense of the word. Such a
person has been called in the Qur’an: al-nafs alMutmainna (89:27).
This means a soul at rest, in
This means a soul at rest, in
peace or in a state of complete satisfaction. That is, a
man who wholeheartedly follows the divine way of
life and is always fully satisfied, whether or not it is
in consonance with his own desires. By showing
such total willingness to surrender his will to the
will of God, he attains that state of humanity which
is at one with the creation plan of God. Such people
will be rewarded with eternal paradise in the world
Hereafter.
This will to search for the truth is implanted in
everyone. But it depends upon every individual
himself, whether or not he pursues this natural
urge. Only through sincere pursuit will he discover
the truth and thus make his life meaningful. For any
kind of negligence or apathy in this regard, there is
no excuse, whatever the circumstances.
--Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
( Ref - Search For Truth )
