This is the text version of the talk delivered by Mr. Khalid Yasin (an American citizen and a convert to Islam) to a group of non-Muslims in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Please take my talk as information and advice and not a lecture.
The information that I wish to share may seem a bit extensive, but
when you consider the capacity of the human brain and the amount
of information it can store and it can decipher, then I am sure
that a few pages of information will not over burden you. However,
I will ensure that I take the average age here into consideration,
so that I don’t put you all to sleep.
On one hand, it is my responsibility to address the topic of our
discussion this afternoon: What is the purpose of Life? On the
other hand, all of you here have an equal responsibility and that
responsibility is to listen carefully with an Open Heart and an
Open Mind – because if I put a glass upside down and try to pour
water into it, I will never get a glass of water. Will I? Hence
for me to fill it up, it has to be the right side up. Similarly
for our heart and mind to receive some information, knowledge,
guidance, wisdom and so on, they have to be open, because once
they are close, then neither will we appreciate anything nor will
we find anything appealing.
In a world filled with prejudice and cultural conditioning, it is
very hard to find people who can take a moment to think about life
objectively and try to arrive at the truth about this world and
the real purpose of our life.
Unfortunately, when you ask most people this question, what is the
purpose of life? They will not tell you what they have concluded
through observation and analytical reasoning. In most cases they
will simply tell you what someone else said or they will tell you
what is commonly presumed by others, what my father said purpose
of life is, what the Minister of my Church said purpose of life
is, what my teacher said, what my friend said and so on.
If I ask any of you what the purpose of eating is, i.e. why do we
eat? In one word or another, everyone will say, well it is for
nutrition, because nutrition sustains life.
If I ask anyone why they work, they will say because it is a
necessity in order to support themselves and provide the needs of
their families.
If I ask anyone why they sleep, why they wash, why they dress etc,
they will answer this is a common necessity for all human beings.
Hundreds of similar other questions could be asked and we will
receive the same or similar answers from anyone in any language in
any place in the world. Simple.
Then I ask you the question, why is it that when we ask the
question what is the goal and purpose of life, we receive so many
different answers? It is because people are confused, they are
stumbling in the dark and don’t really know. Rather than to say,
they don’t know, they just answer any answer which they have been
programmed to answer. Please think about it.
Is our purpose in this world, simply to eat, sleep, dress, work,
acquire some material gains and enjoy ourselves? Is it our
purpose?
Why are we born? What is the object of our existence and what is
the wisdom behind the creation of man and this tremendous
universe? Think about that question.
Some persons argue that there is no proof of any Divine Origin,
there is no proof that there is a God, there is no proof that this
Universe has come about through any divine purpose. There are
people who argue about that. And they say that perhaps this world
came about by chance. A big bang and the whole great world with
all its orchestration just came together. They argue that life
doesn’t have any definite purpose. That there is nothing that can
be proven through either logic or science that there is a God or
purpose or any divine reason behind this world.
Here I would like to mention few verses from the Quran that
address the subject. I will first recite the verses in Arabic and
will then give the English translation.
AU-DHU-BIL-LA-HI MINASH-SHAITANIR RAJIM
Wa lillahi mulkus-samaawaati wal ardh: wallahu alaa kulli shay in-Qadiir
Inna fi khal-qis-samaawaati wal-ardhi wakh-tilaafil-layli wan-nahaari
la-Aayaatilli-ulil-albaab
Allaziina yaz-kuruunal-laaha qiyaamanw-wa qu-uudanw-wa alaa
junuubihim wa yatafakkaruuna fi khal-qis samaawaati wal-ardh:
rabbanaa maa khalaqta haazaa baatilaa! Sub-haanaka faqinaa
azaaban-naar!
Chapter 3, Verses 189-191
I seek refuge in Allah from the Satan the cursed, the rejected.
In these verses Allah says:
To Allah belongs the dominion of the heaven and the earth, and
Allah has power over all things.
Verily, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the
alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of
understanding.
Those who remember Allah (always, and in prayers) standing,
sitting, and lying down on their sides, and think deeply about the
creation of the heavens and the earth, (saying): "Our Lord! You
have not created (all) this without purpose, glory to You!
(Exalted are You above all that they associate with You as
partners). Give us salvation from the torment of the Fire.
Now, here in these verses, Allah has mentioned very clearly to us,
by first drawing our attention to the creation of ourselves, the
different postures of the human body, the different attitudes of
the human psychology. He draws our attention to the heavens, the
alternation of the day and the night, the stars, the
constellations. And then he says to us, he has not created all of
these for any foolish purpose, because when we see the design of
it, we know that the design of it is very powerful and very
precise. Something very powerful and precise, that is beyond our
imagination and beyond our own calculation, cannot be foolish.
For instance, if you took 10 marbles of different colours and
numbered then 1 to 10. If you put them in a bag and shook the bag
and then closing your eyes, reached inside that bag and I tell you
to pullout marble no. 1, then pullout marble no. 2, and then
pullout marble no. 3 in order. What is the chance of you pulling
out those marbles in order? Do you know what the chances are? 26
million to 1. So what are the chances of heaven/earth, been thrown
in the big bang and are orchestrated like they are? What is the
chance of that?
Dear respected elders, we have to ask ourselves a further
question, when you see a bridge, building or an automobile, you
automatically consider the person who constructed it. When you see
an airplane, rocket, satellite or a large ship, you automatically
consider how incredible vehicle it is. When you see a nuclear
plant or a space ship, you will have to be thoroughly impressed
with the engineering dynamics involved. Yet, these are things that
are manufactured by human beings. Then what about the human body
with its massive and intricate control system? Think about it.
Think about the human brain - how it thinks, how it stores and
retrieves information, how it analyses, how it distinguishes and
characterizes information in a millionth of a second and does it
constantly. This is the brain that made the automobiles, space
ship and so on, but who made the brain? Think about that.
Think about the heart – how it pumps continuously for 60 to 70
years, in taking and discharging blood throughout the body and
maintains that steady position throughout the life of that person.
Think about the kidneys – what kind of function do they carry. It
purifies instruments of the body, which performs hundreds of
chemical analysis simultaneously and also controls the level of
toxicity in the content of the body and it does this
automatically.
Think about your eyes - the human camera, that adjusts, focuses,
interprets, evaluates, applies colour automatically. The natural
reception and adjustment to light and distance is automatic. Think
about it.
Who created all of these? Who mastered all of these? Who plans and
regulates all of these? Human beings themselves? No, of course
not.
We have just seen that each and every part of our body is created
by Allah – The Almighty, and all the parts of our body are
constantly following the laws of Allah. In other words all the
parts of our body are constantly submitting to the will of Allah.
And everything that submits to the will of Allah is a Muslim. Yes,
you don’t have to relate the word Muslim to Arabs or Middle-East
only, every being or thing that submits to the will of Allah is a
Muslim. That is what the definition of the word Muslim is. So,
whether you like it or not and whether you accept it or not, each
and every part of your body is a Muslim. If someone here doesn’t
agree with this, they can let me know to whose will are the parts
of your body submitting? If it is your will, can someone prove it
to me please, can you ask your eyes to hear and ears to see or can
you ask your nose to taste and tongue to smell. Can anyone do
that? No you can’t.
What about this Universe? Think about this. This earth is one
planet in the Solar system and our solar system is one of the
systems in the milky way and the milky way is one of the
constellations in that Galaxy. There are millions of Galaxies like
that Milky Way. And they are all in order, they are all precise,
they are not colliding with each other, they are not conflicting
with each other and they are all swimming along in an orbit that
has been set for them. Has human beings set that into motion and
are human beings maintaining that position? No of course not.
I am sure now you know how vast the Universe is, because some
people don’t know. Few days ago, I watched President Bush on T.V.
saying that he has ‘Universal Approval’ for his mission. I was
shocked when I heard that and asked myself, does he really know
what the Universe is? When you compare the planet Earth with the
Universe, the Earth won’t even be .01% of the Universe, so I have
no idea what President Bush was talking about. I say this because
we have to be very careful when we talk about something that is
beyond our limitation. This reminds me of another incident, many
years ago when America wanted to send a rocket or a space toy into
space. I say space toy because I don’t know what exactly they are
used for, because if one of their functions is spying/sensing,
then what were they doing when New York and Washington were
attacked. Anyway, they wanted to send something into space and
they named it Challenger. There are people in this world who think
and ponder, so if you think about the name Challenger, a question
arises – Whom are you going to challenge? Are you going to
challenge the Divine Being or His creation or what? Eventually,
when the challenger went up, it was blown away and since then they
have never used that name again. If anyone here has connections to
President Bush, please pass on this to him. I am a common person;
I don’t have connections at that level, you see.
Think about the Oceans, the fish, the insects, the birds, the
plants, bacteria, the chemical elements – which have not been
discovered and cannot be detected even with the most sophisticated
instruments, yet each one has a law that they follow. Did all of
these – synchronization, harmony, variation, design, maintenance,
operation and infinite numeration, they just happened by chance.
Also, do these things function perfectly and perpetually – also by
chance? Do they keep on reproducing themselves and maintaining
themselves – also by chance? No of course not.
It is totally illogical and foolish to think and in the least, it
would indicate that however it came to be, it is totally outside
of our own capability. We will all agree to that.
The Being, the Almighty Power, God, the Creator, Who has knowledge
to design, to proportion, Who has created all of these and is
responsible for the maintenance of all of these; is the only ONE
deserving of Praise and Gratitude. If I gave each one of you $100
for no special reason, but just for coming here, you would at
least say thank you. So what the gifts in the form of your eyes,
your kidneys, your brain, your life, your breath, your children.
What about that? Who gave you that? Is He not worthy of Praise and
Thanks? Is He not worthy of your Worship and your recognition? My
respected elders, that in a nutshell is the purpose and goal of
our life.
Allah (the Glorified and Exalted) said to us in the Quran:
Wa maa khalaqtul-Jinna wal-insa illaa liya-buduun. Chapter 51,
Verse 56
And I created not the jinn and mankind except that they should
worship Me.
This is what the Almighty said.
So in my conclusion, our purpose in life is to recognize our
Creator, to be grateful to our Creator, to worship the Creator, to
surrender ourselves to our Creator and to obey the laws that He
has determined for us. In a nutshell it means Worship. This is our
purpose in this life and whatever we do in the cause of this
worship i.e. the system - eating, drinking, working, dressing,
sleeping, the enjoin between life and death, all of these are just
consequential, but we have been created for Worship, that is the
purpose of our life.
I don’t think that anyone who is scientific or analytical will
have much argument with that purpose. They might have some
alternate purpose within themselves, but that is something they
will have to deal with, within themselves and Almighty God.
Meanings:
Stereotype: An over-generalized idea, impression, or point of view
allowing for no individuality or variation.
Rancour: a long-lasting feeling of bitterness , dislike or hatred.
Intricate: Full of complicated, interrelated, or tangled details
or parts and therefore difficult to understand, analyze, or sort
out.
Toxicity: 1. The degree to which a substance is poisonous. 2. The
state of being poisonous.
References:
1. Interpretation of the Meanings of The Noble Quran by Dr.
Muhammad Taqi-ud-din Al-Hilali
and Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan
2. The Holy Qur-aan by Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall
3. Purpose of Life by Brother Khalid Yassin (video cassette)
4. Video cassettes of Abu Ameenah Bilal Phillips and Imam Hamza
Yusuf
5. Holy Bible – King James Version. |
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