Our Essential Purpose in Life

I am reading a couple of books on Islam and its spiritual insights. One author who writes well and is insightful is Imam Jamal Rahman. He is entertaining and that is what I ask first from any book I read. He tells many stories that will give you food for thought.

The following extract is from Sufi Tales by the above author:

Upon reflection it would appear that our primary purpose in life is to evolve into the fullness of our being. The Qur’an declares that each of us was created not for “idle sport” but for a “just cause” and a “determined time.” All our actions and acquisitions, precious though they may be to us, are secondary to our sacred and foremost duty to move in the direction of realizing our “just cause” and sacred potential.

Sufi teachers are insistent on this point, and Rumi is particularly passionate about it. In the Masnavi, Rumi’s extensive poem of spiritual and ethical teachings, he says that if we perform and remember everything else, yet forget our essential purpose, then we have done nothing whatsoever. All things are assigned a task, Rumi says: The Heavens send rain and light to the Earth; the Earth brings forth blossoms and fruits; the mountains offer mines of gold and silver. As for the human task, Rumi invokes the Qur’an: “Truly, We offered the trust to the Heavens, and to the Earth, and to the mountains; but they refused to undertake it”— that is, they were happy enough just to be Heavens, Earth, and mountains without responsibility or choice in the matter —“ but the human being undertook it, though he was indeed unjust and foolish” (33: 72). In other words, primordial humans accepted the “trust” of free will in the matter of achieving our divine purpose, but we are often foolish and behave in ways that betray and belie our higher being. We ignore the sacred trust. Again, Rumi invokes metaphors to lament our unconscious choices. Our God-given potential is like a golden pot worth hundreds of ordinary pots, he says, but we use it to boil ragged turnips. Or it is like a gem-studded Damascene sword, but we use it as a peg to hang a lowly gourd. Why not use the golden pot to boil the dross of our ego and wield the heavenly sword to cleave through the ego’s veils of arrogance and ignorance?

How urgent and necessary is our inner work? Let’s hear it from the Mulla who, as a ferry captain, met a famous scholar of religion on a four-day journey aboard his ferry. On the first night, the scholar asked the Mulla if had read the Qur’an in Arabic. No, said the Mulla, he had never learned Arabic. “How unfortunate,” lamented the professor. “Without a foundation in Arabic, you have missed out on the subtleties of the Holy Book. I am afraid that you have wasted half your life.” The next night, he asked the Mulla if he had heard of famous Islamic sages such as Rumi, Hafiz, or Ibn Arabi. No, the Mulla knew very little about them. “How incredible!” commented the scholar. “Truly, you have wasted three-fourths of your life.” The third night, a fierce storm arose. The Mulla rushed to the scholar’s cabin and shouted, “Professor, do you know something about swimology?” The scholar asked if the Mulla meant something to do with swimming. “Yes! Yes!” exclaimed the Mulla. “Oh, in my busy life I never had time to learn how to swim,” replied the scholar. “How tragic!” sighed the Mulla. “The ferry is sinking and we have no lifeboats or life jackets. I am so sorry to tell you that you have wasted all your life!”

These teachings have the authority of the acclaimed (and possibly enlightened) mystic and poet – Rumi. There are a few points that I can add:

1. There is no objective proof that these teachings are valid. But the Bible says that one will be able to identify false prophets by their fruits. False prophets will not produce good fruits. Rumi’s enlightenment can be taken as testimony of the validity of this teaching and I am sure many other Sufis have been inspired by it.
2. Accepting this teaching gives meaning and purpose to life to anybody of any age. And without purpose life is not very much worth living.
3. So this is our essential purpose according to Islamic teaching. The key point is that if you do a thousand tasks but not the task that is given to you then it is as if you have done nothing. But if you do just this one task then you can rest with the assurance that you have done your duty and nothing more is required. The key sentence is in bold above.

Here is a link for you to browse the book – Sufi Tales – at Amazon (not an affiliate link):

I’ll end here. Please comment on this article if you liked it or even if you didn’t. Feedback from my readers keeps me going

Find this handy. Buy me a coffee