***Can Wealth Be an Aim???***
People answer these questions in different ways. Some people believe that the purpose of life is getting wealthy. But these people do not know what their purpose will be after they become wealthy.Tehy have collected millions of dollars. So what ? and then what ??? What will be the purpose after they get these millions of dollars ? If the purpose of life is to become wealthy , there will be no purpose after becoming wealthy. And , in fact, here comes the problem of some disbeleievers or misbeleivers . In some stages of their life, they make collecting money as the taraget of life. When they collect the money which they have dreamt of, their life loses purpose and they live in tension and restlessness and suffer from the panic of nothingness.
Can Wealth Be an Aim ???
We often hear of millionaire commiting suicide. Sometimes, not the millionaire himself, but his wife, or son or daughter. The question is this : can aiming at wealth bring happiness to the individual ? In most cases, the answer is NO. Is the purpose of collecting wealth a standing purpose ? As we know, the child of five years does not look for wqealth; he prefers a toy to a million of dollars. The adolescent of eighteen does not dream of wealth, because he is busy with more important things. The old man of ninety years does not care for money, becaause he is worried more about his health. This proves that wealth cannot be a standing purpose in all the stages of the individual’s life.
Wealth can do a little to bring happiness to a disbeleiver, because a disbeleiver is not sure about his end or his fate. a disbeliever does not know the purpose of his life. And if he has a purpose, this purpose is doomed to be temporary or self-destructive.
What is the use of wealth to a disbeleiver if he feels scared of the end and skeptic of everything . A disbeliever may gain a lot of money,but he surely loses himself.
**Worshipping Allah as an Aim**
On the contrary, faith in Allah gives the beleiver the purpose of life he needs. In Islam the purpose of life is to worship Allah. The term “worship” covers all acts of obedience to Allah.
The Islamic purpose of life is a standing purpose.The true Muslim sticks to this purpose throughout all the stages of his life, whether he is a child,adolescent,adult, or an old man.
Worshipping Allah makes life purposeful and meaningful especially within the framework of Islam. According to Islam, this worldly life is just a short stage of our life. Then there is the other life. The first life and the second life are sepaarated by the death stage, which is a transitory stage between the stage of the first life and the stage of the second life. The type of the second life a person deserves depends on his deeds in the firsat life. At the end of the death stage comes the Day of Judgment. On this day, Allah rewards or punishes people according to their deeds in their first life.
The First Life as an Examination**
So Islam looks at the first life as an examination to man. The first life is a test to man. The death stage is similar to arest period after the test, i.e. after the first life. The Day of Judgment is similar to trhe day of announcing the results of the examinees. The second life is the time when each examinee enjoys or suffers from the outcome of his beahaviour during the test period.
In Islam, the line of loife is clear, simple, and logical : the first life, then death, then the Day of Judgment and then the second life. With this clear line of life , the Muslim has a clear purpose of life. The Muslim knows he is created by Allah. The Muslim knows he is going to spend some years in this first life, during which he has to obey Allah, because Allah shall question him and hold him responsible for his deeds, whether done publicly or privately, because Allah knows all deeds of all people. The Muslim knows that his deeds in gthis first life will determine the type of his second life. The Muslim knows that this first life is a very short one, one huindred years,, or one hiundred and forty years at most, whereas the second life is eternal one.
The Eternity of Second Life**
This concept of the eternity of the second life has a tremendous effect on the Muslim during his first life, because the Muslim beleives that his first life determines the shape of his second life. In addition, this determination will go through the judgment of Allah, the Aljust, and the Almighty.
With this beleif in the second life and the Day of Judgment, the Muslim’s life becomes as purposive as possible and as meaningful as possible.The Muslim standing purpose is to go to Paradise in the second life.
In other words, the Muslim’s permanent purpose is to obey Allah, to submit to Allah, to carry out his orders, and to keep in continuous touch with Him through prayer,fasting,charity,and pilgrimage.
The Need For a Permanent Purpose**
Disbelievers have purposes in theiur lives such as collecting money and property, indulging in sex,eating,drinking,and dancing.But all these purposes are passing ones.They come and go.Money comes and goes.Health comes and goes.Sexual activities cannot continue forever. All these lust for money,food,and sex cannot answer the individual’s question to himself: so what ? then what ???
However, Islam saves the Muslim the trouble of asking the question, because Islam makes it clear to the Muslim, from the very beginning, that the permanent purpose of the Muslim in this life is to obey Allah in order to go to Paradise in the second life.
Can Wealth Be an Aim???
Source :http://islamgreatreligion.wordpress.com
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