Life’s journey

سورة العنكبوت ٦٤
وَمَا هَـٰذِهِ الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا لَهْوٌ وَلَعِبٌ ۚ وَإِنَّ الدَّارَ الْآخِرَةَ لَهِيَ الْحَيَوَانُ ۚ لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ

Surah Al-Ankaboot 29:64
What is the life of this world but amusement and play? but verily the Home in the Hereafter,- that is life indeed, if they but knew.

What is this life? A lot of people tend to ask themselves that at some point in their lives. For many followers of Islam, the answer is usually that life is a trial and Jannah is a reward for faith, striving, and good behaviour. But what does that mean exactly?

Let’s consider life’s journey. A child comes into this world then learns the ability to speak and communicate… the child gets most of its understanding from his or her parents. As the child grows older, it learns to understand more and more things and is also affected by the surroundings, society, friends, and so on. The child gets ideas of right and wrong and his or her place in the world. Children are curious about everything. It’s a learning process, experience teaches things. The child is then shaped by education and starts to develop a direction in life, ambitions, dreams, worldly goals to strive for. Depending on the journey, new goals may appear along the way, but a person continues to evolve and learn things through life. In truth, education only truly ends when your life does.

It comes down to how life changes us. How do we use it and to what end? What are we hoping to achieve with it? We may not think about it often, but the real question is… why are you striving?

سورة التوبة ٣٨
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَا لَكُمْ إِذَا قِيلَ لَكُمُ انفِرُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ اثَّاقَلْتُمْ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ ۚ أَرَضِيتُم بِالْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا مِنَ الْآخِرَةِ ۚ فَمَا مَتَاعُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا فِي الْآخِرَةِ إِلَّا قَلِيلٌ

Surah At-Tawba 9:38
O ye who believe! what is the matter with you, that, when ye are asked to go forth in the cause of Allah, ye cling heavily to the earth? Do ye prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter? But little is the comfort of this life, as compared with the Hereafter.

The thing we should think more about is – why – we do what we do. Will it benefit me as a person in any way and in such a case how? New experiences teaches us things, we go through changes in life. How do we use that?

سورة البقرة ٢٦٩
يُؤتِي الْحِكْمَةَ مَن يَشَاء وَمَن يُؤْتَ الْحِكْمَةَ فَقَدْ أُوتِيَ خَيْرًا كَثِيراً وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلاَّ أُوْلُواْ الأَلْبَابِ

Surah Al-Baqara 2:269
He granteth wisdom to whom He pleaseth; and he to whom wisdom is granted receiveth indeed a benefit overflowing; but none will grasp the Message but men of understanding.

I will share the aya I shared in the beginning of this input again… think about what it says, then I ask you to connect it with the aya shared below it… unite the meaning…

سورة العنكبوت ٦٤
وَمَا هَـٰذِهِ الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا لَهْوٌ وَلَعِبٌ ۚ وَإِنَّ الدَّارَ الْآخِرَةَ لَهِيَ الْحَيَوَانُ ۚ لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ

Surah Al-Ankaboot 29:64
What is the life of this world but amusement and play? but verily the Home in the Hereafter,- that is life indeed, if they but knew.

سورة طه ١٥
إِنَّ السَّاعَةَ آتِيَةٌ أَكَادُ أُخْفِيهَا لِتُجْزَىٰ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا تَسْعَىٰ

Surah Taa-Haa 20:15
“Verily the Hour is coming – My design is to keep it hidden – for every soul to receive its reward by the measure of its Endeavour.

I guess we can say that life is like a dream, and then we wake up to face reality. Dreams are usually obscure. The point to consider here is that our life needs focus… for each step we take we need to ask ourselves why, in order to make the best of it.


I hope you found this an inspiring input that brought something to consider.

The best of times to you all inshallah.
Peace, happiness, and stay faithful.