What is the purpose of life?
why are we here?
the answers are all around us
the Greeks aimed for happiness
Aristotle even
listed eleven virtues
that would help achieve happiness
he pointed to the Golden Mean
the Abrahamic faiths
Jews, Christians and Muslims
believe it is to worship
the Abrahamic God
to be good and pious people
to do unto neighbors
what they would do unto you
the Jews
emphasize tikkunolam
to heal a fractured world
the Christians are inspired by Jesus’ commandment
to love one another
even on the cross
crucified, tortured and taunted
Jesus still had it in his heart to say
forgive them for they know not what they do
Islam’s message is defined by
the two greatest attributes of God
compassion and mercy
the Prophet was called
a mercy unto mankind
the spirit of Islam is contained in God’s message
“My mercy prevails over My wrath”
Muslims aim to achieve Rida
contentment
others too sought the meaning of life
some searched for
dharam-ahimsa in non-violence in India
some sought nirvana in the jungles
yet others
found joy in the peace, beauty and quiet
of the mountains and streams
through silence, meditation and withdrawal
one Zen master spent ten years staring at a rock
weren’t the mystics and yogis practicing similar methods?
the philosophers of atheism
sought to kill God
but in the vacuum stepped monsters
like Mao and Stalin
who demanded the blood sacrifice of millions
in the end the eudaimonia of the Greeks
or the nirvana of Buddha
or the fulfillment of the Abrahamic faiths
all point to the same direction
an attempt by us
in this brief span
to answer the question
what is the purpose of life?
The writer is the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies, School of International Service, American University, Washington, DC