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athu billah, I seek refuge in God). It’s like a person who
concludes that there must be no God because they had a
bad dream. But why don’t we give the experiences of our
dreams much weight? After all, some dreams are
horrifying to live through—and very often do happen to
‘good’ people. In our dreams, do we not experience
extreme terror or bliss? Yes. But why doesn’t it matter?
Because put in context of our real life, it is nothing.
In the second world view (the Islamic paradigm) the
purpose of creation is *not* maximizing pleasure and gain
in a life that is nothing more than a dream. In that world
view, life’s purpose is defined by God who tells us: “I
have not created jinn and humans (for any purpose) except
to worship me,” (Qur’an,
51:56
).
It is important to note the special construction of this
statement. It begins with a negation: ‘I have not created
jinn and humans (for any purpose) […]’. First Allah
subhanahu wa ta’ala (exalted is He) negates ALL other
purposes before He states the one and only, singular
purpose: ‘except to worship Me’. This means that as a
believer I know that there is no other purpose of my
existence except to know, love and get closer to God. This
is the one and only reason why I was created. And this is
the most essential realization, as it defines everything else
I do or believe. It defines all things around me, and
everything I experience in life.
So returning to the meaning of ‘good’ and ‘bad’, we find
that anything that brings us closer to our ultimate purpose
is Good and anything that takes us away from our ultimate
purpose is Bad, in an ultimate sense. In a relative sense,
for those whose goal is this material world, worldly things
define their ‘good’ and ‘bad’. For them, things like gaining
wealth, status, fame, or property is necessarily ‘good’.
Losing wealth, status, fame, or property is necessarily
‘bad’. So in that paradigm, when an innocent person loses
every material possession they own, this is a ‘bad’ thing
happening to a ‘good’ person. But that is the illusion that
comes as a result of a flawed worldview. When the lens
itself is distorted, so too is the image seen through it.
For those of the second worldview, anything that brings us
closer to our purpose of nearness to God’s love is good;
and anything that takes us away from that purpose is bad.
Therefore, winning a billion dollars may be the greatest
calamity ever to happen to me if it takes me away from
God—my ultimate purpose. On the other hand, losing my
job, all my wealth, and even falling ill, may in fact be the
greatest blessing ever given to me if it brings me closer to
God—my ultimate purpose. This is the Reality that is
spoken about in the Qur’an when Allah (swt) says:
“It may happen that you hate a thing which is good for you,
and it may happen that you love a thing which is bad for
you. Allah knows, you know not.” (Qur’an
2:216
)
As a believer, my criterion is no longer gain or loss in a
material sense. My criterion is something higher. What I
have or do not have in a worldly sense is only relevant in
as much as it brings me closer or farther from my Aim:
God. This dunya (life) becomes nothing more than that
dream that I experience for a moment and then awaken
from. Whether that dream was good or bad for me,
depends only on my state once I awaken.
And so on the ultimate scale there is perfect justice. God
only gives good (nearness to Him) to good people, and
bad (distance from Him) to bad people. The greatest good
is nearness to God, in this life and the next. And it is only
‘good’ people who are blessed with this. That is why the
Prophet
has said: “Strange is the case of a believer,
there is good for him in everything—and this is only for
the believer. If a blessing reaches him, he is grateful to
God, which is good for him, and if an adversity reaches
him, he is patient which is good for him.” (Muslim)
As this hadith (record of the sayings or actions of the
Prophet
) explains, whether something is good or
bad is not defined by how it appears externally.
“Goodness”, as explained by this hadith, is defined by the
good internal state that it produces: patience and gratitude
—both manifestations of peace with and nearness to God.
On the other hand, the greatest calamity is distance from
God—in this life and the next. And it is only ‘bad’ people
who are punished with this. What such ‘distanced’ people
have, or do not have of wealth or status or property or
fame is only an illusion—no more real or important than
having, or not having, these things in the greatest dream, or
the worst nightmare.
Of these illusions Allah (swt) says: “Nor strain your eyes
in longing for the things We have given for enjoyment to
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