Why Was I Created?
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Why Was I Created? The Truth of your existence! By K. Sherman Book description After discovering the purpose of her own life, this author takes readers down the same spiritual path she took, in hopes that they may discover theirs. In this eye-opening book, readers can judge for themselves whether her thought process was correct, and whether or not she came to the right conclusions. Her first reaction, upon discovering the truth, was outrage. How could no one have told her this? Anger then gave way to solid determination that what happened to her would happen to no one else. About the author: The author is a mother of five, originally from New Jersey. She left the States in her third year of college. She used to ponder over the meaning of life while strolling through the beautiful campus of her small town university. She would often wonder who put us here and why. These thoughts gave her no rest. When a fellow student postulated, "if God is real, then we are probably all doomed for hell", she took the comment seriously, and went looking for answers. Her findings have opened up a whole new world for her. She hopes that the fruit of her labors, detailed in this book, can do the same for scores of others. To my brethren in humanity- this is for you! Author K. Sherman Contents 1. Introduction 2. Islamic solutions Obesity …………………………………………………………………….21 Athlete's foot and other skin maladies ………………………………… 22 Fighting plagues and epidemics ……………………………………….. 23 Trauma of being teased, ridiculed, and otherwise made fun of …….. 24 Abandonment and neglect ……………………………………………….28 A parent's rights Orphans' rights Household quarrels/ spits and spats……………………………………32 Laziness and procrastination ……………………………………………33 Domestic violence…………………………………………………………34 Problems related to free-mixing………………………………………….35 Divorce ……………………………………………………………………. 37 Keeping the peace/ preventing emotional upset ……………………….40 The fruits of good conduct The oppression of women ……………………………………………… 43 Sibling rivalry …………………………………………………………… 45 Drug, alcohol, cigarette, gambling abuse/ addictions ………………..46 Dating dilemmas …………………………………………………………47 Time management ……………………………………………………… 48 Pessimism ………………………………………………………………. 49 Disparity in the distribution of wealth ………………………………… 51 Lying, cheating, and other forms of deception …………………………55 Feeling empty, as if life has no purpose or meaning ………………….59 Fighting boredom and restlessness…………………………………… 60 Stress ………………………………………………………………………62 Crime ……………………………………………………………………… 65 Racism ……………………………………………………………………. 68 Indecision ………………………………………………………………… 69 Economic woes ………………………………………………………….. 69 Anger management ………………………………………………………70 Nightmares ………………………………………………………………..72 The danger of belief in superstitions …………………………………… 73 Inferiority complexes ……………………………………………………. 76 Obsessive compulsive disorder……………………………………… 78 Vanity and conceit………………………………………………………. 79 Depression………………………………………………………………. 83 A guilty conscience……………………………………………………… 86 Excessive love of wealth……………………………………………… .87 Contents Cont. Bad company……………………………………………………………… 90 Peer pressure……………………………………………………………… 91 Physical exhaustion……………………………………………………….. 91 Suicide………………………………………………………………………. 93 Lack of proper role models…………………………………………………94 Unruly children……………………………………………………………… 97 Dangers of unabated technological advance……………………………. 99 A message to the youth…………………………………………………… 101 3. We were created… to be strict monotheists…………………………………………………… 105 to be God's deputies, or vicegerents, on earth……………………………108 to fear God…………………………………………………………………….111 to be tested……………………………………………………………………113 to ponder the wonders of creation………………………………………….118 to love………………………………………………………………………… 120 to be abstemious (partake little of this world)……………………………..123 to be mindful of God………………………………………………………….126 to live like brothers………………………………………………………… 129 to prepare for an afterlife…………………………………………………….131 to fulfill our purpose in life……………………………………………………135 to be united, not divided into sects………………………………………….137 to repent, and seek God's forgiveness……………………………………..138 to be rejoined in Paradise……………………………………………………141 to be rewarded with Paradise, the ultimate success…………………… 141 to be selfless well-wishers…………………………………………………. 143 to populate the land, creating ties of kinship………………………………147 to become enlightened by seeking knowledge……………………………149 to depend on God…………………………………………………………….153 to promote peace, by enjoining goodness and forbidding evil…………..156 to strive for excellence……………………………………………………….158 to make the world a better place……………………………………………160 to respond to the call…………………………………………………………161 to find our way home…………………………………………………………162 4. Appendix Here and Now…………………………………………………………………164 Did you know………………………………………………………………….166 The real thing………………………………………………………………….169 From Darkness into the Light, a personal take…………………………….172 5. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………… 175 6. Index……………………………………………………………………………… 177 1 CHAPTER ONE Introduction Introduction Foreword Note: (pbuh) means May peace be upon him, and is used when making mention of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). (raa) means "May God be pleased with him/ her" (in Arabic, RadiAllahu anuhu/ anuha), and is used when mentioning previous Prophets and the companions (i.e., early followers) and family members of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Dedication: To my brethren in humanity- this is for you! Foreword: A human being is a mix of both body and soul. We in the West are adept at catering to our body's physical needs, while we have become sorely neglectful of the soul. What does the soul need to thrive? How can we care for our hungry, aching souls? Let us consider the facts... Introduction Coming of age in the 1980's in the US, I was never given a satisfactory answer to the question: Why Was I Created? This put me in a terribly quandary. It made me extremely uneasy and always on edge. Neither I, nor my peers, knew exactly why we were here. What was expected of us? What should (and shouldn't) we be doing? What was our ultimate purpose in life or reason for being? Was it to party? Was it to play? Was it simply to procreate? Was it to pray? Who knew? Furthermore, who really cared? To some, it didn't seem to matter. But to me, it did. For most of us, as long as life was good, as long as there was plenty of food on the table, as long as there was money to spend, and enough diversions around for everyone to enjoy, most of us were quite content with the status quo. Not me. I tried to keep my inner disquiet a secret, by portraying a bold, unfazed exterior. This trick of sorts would go on for the better part of my adolescent years. Try as I might, I just could not go on like that forever. Reaching rock bottom by the time I was eighteen, haunted by years of living what I called 'the lie', I was finally forced into a mental institution for the severely depressed and inconsolable. What was wrong with me? How fast and far I had fallen in a few short years! Why had life become an endless tunnel of despair? I threw myself on the floor, in humble prostration. Then, raising my hands to the Heavens, in humble supplication, I asked my Creator for help. There was no immediate response. I didn't hear bells from heaven ringing, or see anything supernatural. I didn't even know if my prayer had been heard. I would remain in that same wretched emotional state for the better part of the following year. Towards the end of that grueling period, the answer did come, to my relief and surprise, in a rather unexpected way. When I was a sophomore in college, I was introduced to the most exquisite way of life, known as al-Islam, while searching day and night for the truth in my school's campus library. My efforts were finally bearing fruit. And the results were simply astonishing. I could not believe what I had come across. I had discovered the truth, as plain and simple as it was. There was no obscurity, no nonsense, no hogwash, just the truth, plain as could be. Amazing! Convinced of what I had discovered, I sat back, breathed a sigh of relief, and then wondered... How could so many of us be so deluded and so far off-track? How could there not have been one person to show me the way? How could I have been left in the dark for so long? How in the world could such basic, fundamental truths be lost on so many of us, generation after lost generation? I felt like a fool. I also felt betrayed. After all, I had a boyfriend from Palestine! I was apprised of the truth right there in the campus library of my small town university. The truth was Islam. No, not the violent, oppressive, backward, intolerant religion we have all heard about, but rather the peaceful, tolerant, lenient, exquisitely beautiful way of life of the same name. What attracted me to Islam, in particular, and ultimately made me reject everything else I had read about, is what attracts all sincere seekers of truth. Read on and you, too, shall see. As I pondered over the books in front of me, one recurring thought was... when a poor, illiterate, uneducated orphan from seventh century Arabia suddenly starts speaking words of truth, uttering words and expressing ideas he had never uttered before, truths comprising volumes and volumes, truths that would remain apt and ring true down the centuries, truths which contain the solution/ nay the pre-emptive strategy for dealing with every single potential problem or challenge human beings would face from then on, all the way down through time, you have to wonder... After researching the matter sincerely (as God only guides