July 5th, 2011 @ admin // No Comments

THE MEANING OF OUR EXISTENCE IN ISLAM

 

With the intention of highlighting the question of “Why?”, the meaning of our existence, we will use the following symbolic story, which was passed from an angel to Prophet Muhammad and representatively illustrates this subject matter.

 

The Story about the King and His Palace

 

There was once a rich king who possessed many enormous treasure chambers, which contained all kinds of gold and jewels. He was very educated in all sciences. He was talented, skilful, competent and proficient in all trades and practiced them himself. Out of his successes, he built an extraordinary, inimitable palace. The many different parts of the palace were each furnished in their own style, and the roofs were adorned with elaborately crafted ornaments, which reflected his talents. When the palace was finished, he invited his subjects to his palace. On the different tables his guests were offered
unimaginable delicacies of the finest ingredients, all of which he had prepared himself.

The king commissioned his ambassador to reveal to his guests all the secrets of the palace, to explain the reason for the construction of the palace, where the meaning of all symbols and treasures distributed all over the palace lied, and also to convey his instructions regarding protocol and etiquette.

 

His ambassador stood in the middle of the largest hall, and his assistants were distributed in the rest of the palace. He began his speech:
“O people, truly our king, the lord of this palace, wishes to introduce himself to you through all you see here, and he expects from you that you become eager to know him. He wants to manifest his attention to you through all these ornaments. He invited you here out of his hospitality, grace and generosity, and gave you all of this. The king loves you, and he wants you to love him as well, to be grateful and to follow his instructions. So, at the end of the celebration, he will grant you your wishes, shower you with his grace, and show you further benefaction.”

 

There were two kinds of guests. One type wandered around the palace, observed its wonders, astounded, and said to one another: “A mighty king must stand behind this palace, who surely pursues determined goals. Why did he invite us and honor us so? Why did he craft all these things?”

 

As they conversed, they heard the voice of the ambassador, as he began his speech, and hurried to hear him. They listened to him attentively and respectfully, and they conscientiously followed his instructions. At the end of the celebration, the king invited those guests to live in another, even more beautiful palace. They were rewarded according to the majesty of the king.

 

The other type of guests, as soon as they entered the palace, were only concerned about their own pleasure. They enjoyed themselves everywhere in the palace and did not ask who had prepared all of it for them, and why they had been invited. They missed the speech of the ambassador, and they did not show any interest in him. They did not observe his instructions at all, and at the end of the celebration they were punished by the king according to his magnificence.

Hence, this palace symbolizes our Earth, which is embellished by plants and animals, and the sky, adorned with stars. The assistants of the ambassador are the other prophets, who were distributed on Earth at different times.

 

The angels once said that he who obeys Muhammad is also obedient to God and will come to Janna. The fate of man is decided through Muhammad.

 

In order to summarize the meaning of life in Islam, one can say that man should benefit from this life without forgetting the Afterlife. The latter means that man should accept the Message of God and not ignore the Word of God.

 

Tags: Islam, Janna, Prophet Muhammad