A full circle
Sufaya Yousf
“Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a traveler” (The Prophet Muhammad)
Life, according to Islamic belief, is both this worldly life and the life of the Hereafter. It is the whole journey from our creation to the point of return to The Creator, which clearly consists of life here in this world as well. It is a minor journey compared to the bigger journey. It is loving the journey of life, set by Allah, for Allah and by the guidance of Allah.
This worldly life is no more than play and amusement. But the Hereafter is indeed the real life, if only they knew. (Quran)
(Surah Al-’Ankabut, 29:64) The worldly life is a boon from Almighty Allah. Allah gave us this life so that we can prepare for the afterlife. This life is an opportunity for those who believe. We have been commanded to savour the worldly life appropriately instead of refraining from its delights.
Those whose faith is not strong believe that life is limited to this worldly life, this is a big calamity that averts a person from his ultimate purpose. In real senses this life is only an opportunity to do good deeds that leads to a good life in the hereafter. Only a true believer can understand the concept of life well and can uphold the responsibilities of this world.
We should always keep one thing in our mind that this life is a journey not our destination. In this journey we see many ups and downs but we should always keep our eyes on our destiny. We often associate journey with long distance travels which cover only one aspect of the meaning of journey.
Journey is also a progress from one proceeding point to another. Everything in this world we do for a purpose. And the purpose of a journey is always a destination or a target. There is also an act of discovery in a journey. We explore into the unknown. Just like these short journeys life is also a journey from Allah to Allah.
He sent down his creatures in this world for a purpose and one day will come when we all will return to Him. Every second is a moment to pass. Every journey starts with a beginning and at last it ends. At every corner, we discover life and its purposes. The journey of life is the greatest journey we embarked on.
The most important things a traveler needs during travelling are money, food, first aid, clothing and means of communication but for the journey of life we need fear of God, good deeds, piousness etc. For these timely trips we need transport for travelling and a map for guidance but for the journey of afterlife we have to follow the Quran and sunnah and Prophet Muhammad (saw) with the help of them we can layout our route and destination. The Quran provides us with solutions for every problem.
It is only the Quran and sunnah which can soothe and comfort our souls in the best possible way. In this journey we might find beautiful places along the way but we should never lose sight of where we are going. We should always keep our eyes on our final destination.
Now at this point a question arises if life is a journey and every journey has a starting point and an ending point, which point is a beginning of our life and at which point our life ends? As we see there is always an end to a day before a new day begins. This shows that after every ending there is a beginning. It means that life is not a single journey but it is a compilation of multiple journeys. It is a clear fact that judgment day is the end of this worldly life. But we should never be hopeless. Our religion is a religion of peace, hope. The attitude of a believer must be hopeful.
Our Prophet Muhammad (saw) always taught us to never look for a life to end but to always look for a new beginning. But we should always keep in our mind that we should repent before it is too late. We must prepare for the final journey before it’s too late. Because no one knows their end. If there is hope there is also an uncertain end too.
May we be granted with that strength and faith through which we can endure life’s challenges with brightness, so that we can see hope from every corner, and with and with wisdom to walk the journey with ease. (Ameen).
The author is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree at Srinagar)
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