Purpose

We did not create the heavens and the earth and everything in between without purpose.
–Quran 21:16

We continue our life analogy as a journey, with the body as the car that moves us forward, the mind as the dashboard showing us information and direction, the heart filled with faith as the guiding light that illuminates the path, and the soul as the driver, steering us with intention. But the question remains: where are we going?

This brings us to Purpose. Our destination is not random; it’s carefully set. We are on a path that leads us back to Allah, toward the ultimate meeting with our Creator. Every part of us—the body, mind, heart, and soul—works together to reach this divine destination, a journey of meaning, growth, and preparation for the eternal life beyond.

Blessed are those who discover their Purpose lives and live it with Passion in Prosperity. Research on purpose-driven living shows that only a small percentage of people truly live with a clear sense of purpose, passion, and prosperity. Various studies estimate that about 10% of the population actively pursue life with a strong sense of purpose, aligning their passions with meaningful goals. Out of this group, an even smaller subset—perhaps around 1%—experience true prosperity as they define it, which includes both financial stability and emotional fulfillment.

Many people may feel passionate about certain aspects of their lives but lack a clear, unified purpose, and fewer still are able to align that purpose with a lifestyle that feels prosperous in a holistic sense. This underscores the rarity and value of aligning purpose, passion, and prosperity in one’s life.

One of our my purpose of writing this book is to help you among this 1%. Because, if you reach this goal, you will enter a state of flow and bliss by Allah SWT so you don’t have to escape your reality to games, drugs, alcohol, smoking or any other drugs or addictions. You will play the Infinite Game of Life as you are created for. Live your life to the fullest. In this chapter, we will cover Purpose. Passion and Prosperity will come later. If you are ready for the journey, let’s start.

What would your answer be if I asked you a simple question “How is your life?”? Usually, there tend to be two different types of answers. Some of you say, “Life is tough. Life is unfair. Life is cruel.” Others say, “Life is beautiful. Life is amazing. Life is the best gift.”

Most of the time, the only difference between these groups of people is that the second group discovered their purpose in life and lived it.

“He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.”
– Nietzsche

I have been on both ends. Growing up, life was tough. Later on, I studied and got a job. Life got easier in a materialistic sense. However, until I found out my why and followed that path, I was not truly experiencing life to the fullest.

Why am I here?

Have you ever wondered: Who am I? Why am I here? What’s the purpose of life? What am I supposed to do here? Is there a life after death? Why is there so much suffering in this world?

The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.
– Mark Twain

In this book, I will share my journey of how I discovered answers to these questions. Hopefully, you will benefit, inshaAllah.

I could have written this book in a way that proclaims, “This is the Truth. It’s my way or the highway!” But as I get older, I realize that we humans are not rational but rather emotional beings.

Universe is the greatest love poem ever being written…
What verse are you? What metaphor are you?
What do you mean?
– Amir Sulaiman

With that in mind, I have decided to write this book as if I am talking to a friend sharing my story instead of preaching. That’s how I’m most comfortable connecting with others anyway. So there will be more questions than answers. There will be dialogues. You are welcome to question everything you read on these pages. If you come across a better answer, please, share it with me.

Thank you for being here. Thank you for being open-minded and open-hearted.

Another rags-to-riches story?

I also could have framed this as a rags-to-riches story about yet another multi-millionaire (at least on paper). But it would be misleading. Now that I am in my 40s and looking back and connecting the dots, I clearly see The Guide guiding me all along the way, alhamdulillah.

So, in a way, this is His story–the one that Allah SWT wrote and that I am grateful to be a part of. That’s why I’m so excited about the story He is writing in your life too.

Now, let’s go back to the questions. Asking those questions mentioned above would be a luxury when I was growing up. I had more pressing matters, such as finding food to eat to survive daily life.

You see, I was born in 1983 in a small city called Qarshi in the southern part of Uzbekistan. For those who don’t know where this country is (trust me, many people don’t), it is in Central Asia where you find lots of other countries ending in “-istan.” When I usually say I am from Uzbekistan, people usually confuse it with Pakistan which is totally another country.

Out Of Comfort Zone

Depending on whom I am talking to, I came up with a different way to introduce my country. If they are Muslims, I say I am from the country of Imam al-Bukhari and Imam al-Tirmidhi. Alhamdulillah, these scholars are very well-known among Muslims. The hadith collection Sahih Bukhari is the second most popular and authentic book after the Quran.

If they are non-Muslims, I say I am from the country of al-Khorazmi–the guy who invented Algebra, and even the word algorithm is based on his name. Do you see what I did there? I just introduced where I am from with a little story. It will help you memorize better. Because numbers tell but stories sell. For now, just remember: redefine the situation you are in, just like I do when it comes to overcoming the hurdle of explaining where I’m from. Instead of feeling inferior and confused when you’re in a situation outside of your comfort zone, try to find a positive side and an advantage. Trust me, there is always at least one!

Bitter or Better?

Why was it a luxury for me to ask questions while growing up? Simply put, I had more existential questions to deal with. Often that question was just: How do I find food to eat today?

You see, I was raised in a single-parent family. It seems that our father left us for another family. My mom (may Allah (SWT) give her the best in both worlds) raised my sister and me on her own. My maternal grandmother also lived with us. My mom was a dressmaker and she did her best to provide for the family.

Bitter to Better

I clearly remember feeling that I didn’t have a father growing up. I watched my childhood friends get bikes, chocolates, gums, and many other cool things I wished I could have as a young boy, while our family barely survived. My mom did her best, but she could provide only for the basic needs of the family such as bread and milk. I wondered about our situation and wished that I could do something about it.

Now looking back, I can see that this experience was one of those deciding moments in life. I could have cursed and blamed life, or fate, or even questioned God. But I said, “Ok, I don’t have a father. It means I have to figure out how to get those things on my own if I want those things.” If you ask me why I took the path of responsibility instead of victimhood and blaming life, fate, or God, I don’t know what to say except, “The Guide guided me.”

We all struggle, and those struggles become our defining moments. In the end, it is your attitude that determines the decisions you will make. Your story includes challenges, problems, and calamities just like mine did. Ultimately, you can decide to be bitter or better. The choice is yours.

Cockroach Theory

Here is a story from Sundar Pichai – CEO of Google – on this point.

At a restaurant, a cockroach suddenly flew from somewhere and sat on a lady. She started screaming out of fear. With a panic-stricken face and trembling voice, she started jumping, with both her hands desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach. Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group also got panicky. The lady finally managed to push the cockroach away but it landed on another lady in the group. Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the drama. The waiter rushed forward to their rescue.

In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the waiter. The waiter stood firm, composed himself and observed the behaviour of the cockroach on his shirt. When he was confident enough, he grabbed it with his fingers and threw it out of the restaurant. Sipping my coffee and watching the amusement, the antenna of my mind picked up a few thoughts and started wondering, was the cockroach responsible for their histrionic behaviour? If so, then why was the waiter not disturbed?

He handled it near to perfection, without any chaos. It is not the cockroach, but the inability of the ladies to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach that disturbed the ladies.

I realized that, it is not the shouting of my father or my boss or my wife that disturbs me, but it’s my inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting that disturbs me.

It’s not the traffic jams on the road that disturb me, but my inability to handle the disturbance caused by the traffic jam that disturbs me. More than the problem, it’s my reaction to the problem that creates chaos in my life.

Lessons learnt from the story:

I understood that I should not react in life.
I should always respond.
The women reacted, whereas the waiter responded.

Reactions are always instinctive, whereas responses are always well thought of, just and right to save a situation from going out of hand, to avoid cracks in a relationship, to avoid taking decisions in anger, anxiety, stress or hurry. A beautiful way to understand…………LIFE.”

The HAPPY person is not because Everything is RIGHT in his Life.
He is HAPPY because his Attitude towards Everything in his Life is Right!

How could I do otherwise!?

Here is another story of twin brothers who were raised by an alcoholic father. One grew up to be an alcoholic. When asked what happened, he said, “Have you seen my father? How could I do otherwise!?”

The other grew up and never drank in his life. When he was asked what happened he said “Have you seen my father? How could I do otherwise!?” Two boys, the same dad, two different perspectives.

Your perspective in life will determine your destination. Below you will find yet another story about our inner dialogue, mindfulness and making the right choices.

The Wolf You Feed

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, “My son, the battle is between two “wolves” inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Balloon Entrepreneur at age 7

Necessity is the mother of all inventions.
—Proverb

I soon realized that to achieve what my friends had, I needed to take matters into my own hands. I knew there was no one else who could do it for me. With that in mind, I asked myself, “How can I get my hands on some candies, gum, balloons, and other cool stuff?” I also knew that whatever I did had to be enjoyable for me, not just a means to make money. I was, after all, just a child.

By some stroke of luck, I obtained one som (Uzbekistan’s national currency whose value has since significantly decreased). I was only seven years old at the time. I lived near an old bazaar where thousands of people walked by our streets every day. I had enough foot traffic; all I needed was something to offer them.

I went to the wholesale bazaar, which was much further away but offered much cheaper prices. After searching, I found a set of 100 balloons that caught my attention, so I bought it and headed home.

Upon arrival, I hung the balloon set on a metal bar that was part of the gas distribution system on every street. I had set up my booth, and the fascinating thing about this set was that it had a large balloon in the center. When someone bought a balloon, they could choose a number to win the big one. If they chose the right number, they would receive a huge balloon, but if not, they would still get another balloon from the set.

After doing some research, I discovered that the average balloon price was around one som. I was taken aback by the price difference between wholesale and retail, but it was a pleasant surprise. So, I set the price at one som per balloon and did some quick calculations. To my delight, I realized that if I sold all of my balloons, I would earn 100 soms, despite only spending one som.

I couldn’t believe it! I was eager to begin selling.

At age 7

My first customers

As soon as I hung up my balloon set, my friends from the street gathered around my booth. All I did was explain how it worked, and how they could win the big balloon. The game had started. My friends ran home and begged their moms and dads to win the big balloon.

Building on One Idea

In a mere matter of days, I had sold all of my balloons. I did earn 100 Uzbek Soms (national currency). Suddenly, I could afford chewing gums, candies, and whatever I thought was cool at that age just like everyone else. I couldn’t believe it at first. It felt like a true miracle. But as I sold more and more balloons, I became more and more confident. I realized that earning enough money for our family to be able to afford extra things was a real possibility. As I was busy selling the balloons, another idea came. Why not sell chewing gum and candies to my customer friends? I knew their parents were already buying these from somewhere every day. Why wouldn’t they buy from me?

Guess what I started selling next? 🙂

My First Employee

In September, summer ended and I had to go to school. Of course, when I was at school, no one would attend my booth, so no sales. After some thought, I asked my mom (the central figure in my 7-year-old social network) if she could attend my booth while I was gone. She agreed. From that day on, I would rush home and ask about how much we sold. Suddenly, I was making money even when I was learning at school. Without even knowing, it seems that I hired my own mother as my first employee!

Catch Me if You Can

As I reflected on my situation, I also realized that my only way out from my city to a larger world was education. This led me to study hard at school. The more I learned, the more I got curious about the things I learned about. In first grade, they teach the alphabet for six months. I asked my grandmother if she could teach me the letters and she did (she was my first teacher – may Allah (SWT) grant her Jannat al Firdaws). In a week or so, I learned all the letters and how to join them so I could read words. I enjoyed it so much that I started and finished the alphabet book we were supposed to complete in six months in only one month.

From that moment, I did the same with other subjects, such as math and others. Alhamdulillah, I started getting straight A’s. Soon my class teachers and other teachers at school started noticing. They started giving me extra homework. Since I already did my class homework, this extra work was not a big deal to me.

When I was in 5th grade, I became easily bored in class since I had already read and completed the books in advance. The school noticed and moved me from the second half of 5th grade to the second half of 6th grade. I had to catch up on a year’s worth of work, and I did. Later, they moved me again from the second half of 7th grade to the second half of 8th grade.

Believe it or not, I was on my way to finishing high school at the very young age of 12. But then something happened in the summer of 1996.

At this point, you might be thinking, “OK, Maruf was a straight-A student. But I wasn’t.” Bear with me–the point I am trying to share has very little to do with straight As.

Consider the 2002 movie “Catch Me If You Can.” At one point, the film’s main character Frank teaches as a professor at a university even though he never studied that subject. Later on, when the FBI interviews him and asks about this, he simply says that he only read one chapter ahead.

The lesson is: if you are proactive and do a bit more than others, you will go further faster. Now back to the story.

Crushing my Ego

In the summer of 1996, a friend told me that there was a new boys-only boarding school in town. The high school was known as the Uzbek Turk Anadolu Lisesi, and all subjects were only taught in English.

The school was inviting students to come to take exams. I followed my friend there and took the exam. I found the exam very strange and intriguing. It didn’t assess any of the knowledge I had learned in school but was instead a set of questions that didn’t require predefined knowledge. Later I found out that they were logical questions to find out my IQ.

After a week or so, the results came back. My score was one of the top three scores among the thousands of students who had participated. I was very surprised and happy. I knew I had made my mother and grandmother proud. But now I had to make a tough decision.

If I stayed in my public school, I would be on my way to graduating with honours and being one of the youngest in the whole country to do so. If I switched to this Turkish high school, I would lose all this progress and join my classmates at the same age and the same grade.

Little did I know that making these types of decisions would later become a recurring event in my life.

After giving it some thought, I knew that mastering English could help me in my future education and career. I also considered that if this new school’s exams were different, their teaching must be different as well. I ultimately decided to go with the Turkish gymnasium.

Oh, boy! What a difference! The school started in September. I went in thinking that I was at the top. Soon I realized that I was at the bottom of the class. You see, at this new school, they mainly taught English for 20 hours every week for the first year. It was called the Preparation class. While my English was considered good at the public school, I barely knew only a few words, such as “apple,” “red,” “table,” and the like.

For my first year, Mr. Selim Vural was my English teacher. He was one of the first truly passionate teachers that I witnessed in my life. One of the most admirable things about him was his passion to teach English not only to skilled students but also to struggling students as well, which is much more challenging.

At the end of each week, he would test all of us. The test would show each of us where we were. Lo and behold, I was at the bottom. It crushed my ego. One moment I was seemingly at the top, and the next I was at the bottom of the class getting low marks on tests.

Turkish High School class photo. Mr. Vural is sitting in the first front row. Can you find me in this photo?

At this moment, I could have gone back to my old school where I was at the top. But I knew deep in my heart it was not the right path. Instead, I decided to stay and take on this challenge as a game. I had to get better every week, even if just by one point on the test.

Because it was a boarding school, my classmates from outside the city could stay in the dormitory while the students from the city could go home. Most of my city classmates went back home every day. But I decided to stay.

First, I thought it would be fun for me to spend time with my classmates outside school as well. Most of them were smarter than me. I knew I could learn a thing or two. I knew they studied together, so I joined them.

Secondly, I would save so much time by avoiding the traffic involved in going home and coming back.

Last, but not the least, I would also save my family my travel costs and daily food. So I only visited my family during the weekends.

Dorm life was fun. My new friends and I played soccer and basketball together, but we also studied hard. As we spent day and night together, over the years we developed an extremely strong bond of friendship. I am still friends and in touch with most of them from that period until now, alhamdulillah.

Staying at the dorm with smarter friends and studying hard started showing results. I started climbing up the ranks in our weekly English tests. By the end of that first year, I would be among the best in the class, alhamdulillah. Even Mr. Vural would ask me and other top students to teach and help some of our classmates.

Looking back, I can now connect the dots and see how pivotal that first year, my teachers, my friends at the dorm, and the whole environment at the Turkish gymnasium were in my life journey. The whole experience, especially embracing English, opened many new doors in the future. Even this book you are holding now would not be a possibility if it weren’t for that experience.

Peer Pressure

My next target was the university. Everyone was trying to enroll in the most popular and prestigious one: The University of World Economy and Diplomacy. I said to myself: “This is where I am going then.”

Now the competition was even higher. You had to aim to be among the top 1,000 students in the country, otherwise, you had to pay an arm and a leg to attend, which I simply couldn’t afford.

There was only one problem.

Mastering Math

To enroll in this university, students had to master English, Uzbek, and Math. While I was good in English and Uzbek, I had to master math which I didn’t like. At least, I didn’t like how it was taught to me at that time.

Yet another teacher, Ulugbek Ustaz (Ustaz means master or teacher in Uzbek), introduced me to Advanced Math and Geometry on another level. I started finally understanding and slowly began to like and eventually love math. Unfortunately, he passed away suddenly in his 40s which was a great loss for our community. May Allah grant him the best in the next life.

What I learned from my time with him is that you can learn anything. Right now, you may have subjects you were not good at and hated at school. If you had a great teacher who could actually teach you that subject with passion, you would be hooked. Because there is really no boring subject, especially at school. It just takes the right teacher to illuminate that subject and bring it to life.

What’s Best for Others May Not Be Best for You

After mastering math, Allah (SWT) graced me with admission into the most prestigious university in Uzbekistan. I started learning about the International Economy.

But soon I found out that what is best for others may not be the best for me. Learning about the economy was too much theory for me. Besides, I couldn’t see myself using this knowledge after my graduation in a newly independent Uzbekistan. My country had been ruled under a planned economy, rather than a market economy, with tremendous corruption during the last 100-year reign of the Soviet Union. I was interested in other things.

Love at First Sight

I showed up to class mainly to make an appearance, but the class ended up being the place where I was introduced to personal computers for the first time. Don’t get me wrong–we had computers at boarding school. But we had almost no access. Computer classes were mainly about some gibberish commands on a blue screen to copy and paste files from one location to another without really knowing why.

While in university, I suddenly had access to Pentium III computers with colourful displays where you could drag and drop. I was hooked. It was love at first sight.

I knew I had to get one of these. But how? One of my roommates knew how to assemble computers. I started offering that service to my fellow students; I was no stranger to hard work and earning an income in creative ways. Soon, we found a few students who needed help setting up their computers. After setting up just two or three computers, I had saved up enough to buy one for myself.

As soon as I had my hands on the computer, I started clicking and checking out each application on it, and following each link and where it leads. Meanwhile, I was thinking about how I could make a living out of this field.

There were many assignments from the university. Each student had to prepare short papers on different topics. The students had to type those on the computers and print them out. They had to cross the street to print them out. It was a bit of a burden.

Just like my childhood balloon shop, I soon realized that all I needed was to buy a printer to make my dorm into a print shop! I got a printer and just like that, my investment started paying off. My service soon got so much demand that students wanted to use my printing services 24/7. I had to hire my roommate so he could take care of it when I couldn’t.

I knew then that computers were the future. I told myself that I had to do something with this. I didn’t know what exactly yet. I also knew that Uzbekistan was way behind in Information Technology. If I really wanted to learn and master this, I had to go abroad. My first goal was to go to America. For whatever reason, it never really worked out. It was not written for me.

Deciding on Denmark

One day a friend suggested that interviews were being held for students to receive full scholarships to study in Denmark. The program was related to computers, especially multimedia design. I said to myself, “Why not?”

My strategy was simple, straightforward, and honest. I said in the interview with full confidence: “Thank you for this opportunity. I admit I don’t know much about computers. I recently got one and I am obsessed with it. I really want to learn IT. I realize that I need to go abroad to do this. If you give me this chance, I will do my best to study Multimedia Design.” I got a call after a few days that I was granted the full scholarship.

Now I had to make another decision.

Was I willing to leave the most prestigious university in Uzbekistan and let go of two years of study, to start over at a college in Denmark? By now, it was clear to me which way to go. I knew going abroad was the only way to advance in my desired field of computers and technology. Still, many of my friends told me I was crazy to drop out of the university which was a dream place to study for hundreds of thousands of people.

On January 20th, 2003, I landed in Denmark with $7 in my pocket. I spent all the money I had to buy a one-way ticket to Denmark. On one hand, I had tremendous joy. I felt like I had made it. I was finally abroad where I could learn what I loved. On the other hand, I only had $7 and knew I had to find a job to survive.

It was a mixed feeling. Somehow, overall I felt good, alhamdulillah.

Looking back, I don’t know what I was thinking. How could I relocate to another country with only $7 in hand? On the other hand, I had nothing to lose. I didn’t have a wife or kids. I had to figure out how to survive in the new place.

Delivering Newspapers at 5 a.m.

Finding a job was much easier than I thought. A gentleman named Jim visited our dormitory and offered a job to deliver newspapers and earn 50 cents per delivery. I couldn’t believe my ears. I did some quick math: If I could deliver 300 papers a day, I could earn $150 per day. That was a month’s salary back home! I signed up for that job right there and then without much hesitation.

I soon realized I had to deliver these papers early in the morning around 5 a.m., no matter the wind, rain, or snow. Sometimes I had to go up and down four to five stories or flights of stairs just to deliver one paper. Moreover, Denmark was one of the highest tax-paying countries, and my salary was taxed at 47% or more.

But I had no other choices. It was still better than any job I could imagine back in Uzbekistan.

Over the years until I finished my studies, newspaper delivery turned into cleaning toilets, cleaning office buildings, assembling furniture, washing restaurant dishes, and so many others.

My experience is not unique. Anyone who has to establish themselves on their own goes through a similar journey. What is great about this journey is that it will teach you to be humble and grateful for what you already have. During those times, the only thing that kept me going was that it was temporary. I kept my sights set on my goal: I would finish my studies and finally get a job I would like, inshaAllah.

Climbing The Career Ladder

Finally, that day came. I got a web designer position in a small web design agency. I started designing beautiful web pages that would be delivered to the client, and then we would move on. However, I began to notice that most of these sites were not visited often. I started learning web analytics, information architecture, search engine optimization, marketing, and whatever I could find to learn not only how to make websites look good, but to make them useful to many people.

Over the next 10 years, I changed companies every two to three years in order to take on an even bigger challenge. I was advancing and climbing my career ladder fast.

My last corporate job was at Vestas, the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer, where I was a part of the team responsible for the intranet and website. The job was great. The team was great. The salary was great.

By that time, I got married and had two beautiful children. I had a house and a car. It seems that I have finally checked all the items on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. I was, by many standards, a “success.”

Yet something, or more accurately Someone, was missing. Later I found out that Maslow wrote one more step on his pyramid which is called Transcendence but never published it. I won’t describe this here because I feel I have found an even better module that is Allah-centric, but it is worth looking into.

Identity Crisis

Parallel to climbing the career ladder, I had been asking myself the same existential questions shared at the beginning of this chapter. Who am I? Why am I here? What is the purpose of life? In the beginning, it was from time to time. The more time passed, the more frequently I kept asking these questions.

Just to give you context, let me explain. I knew very little about Islam. Most of what I knew was hearsay and I probably didn’t understand why I did what I did. I arrived in Denmark two years after 9/11 – September 11, 2001. Danish TV channels kept showing long-bearded guys shouting and blowing up stuff. Little did I know that it was propaganda showing only one side of the story.

On the other hand, a young man who leaves his sunshine country for cold, windy, and gloomy weather without seeing the sun for weeks at a time naturally begins to ask some existential questions. Why do I wake up every morning? What am I doing here? Who am I? Am I really a part of a religion that hates these people and blows them up? It was a classic identity crisis. I didn’t know these fancy terms back then. But that’s what it was.

Straight to Science

Some people believe in things without question. I am not one of them. I need to check and verify. So when I wanted to know our origin as human beings and the origin of the universe, I didn’t want to go to religion but straight to science. Science at least provides some evidence, I thought.

So I started with the theory of evolution. While it explained how living things might have evolved, the theory had many missing elements. I am not going into a long debate on this. If you do a bit of research on the internet, you will find the missing parts.

I wanted to go even further, so I dived into Cosmology. That path takes us to the Big Bang. Beyond the Big Bang, it is all assumptions, even in science.

Later I would discover the Kalam cosmological argument originated by Imam Al Ghazali as the following:

Everything that begins to exist has a cause.
The universe began to exist.
Therefore, the universe has a cause.

This Cause must be a Powerful Creator, uncaused, outside time-space, eternal – beginningless, immaterial among other things.

“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.”
—Albert Einstein

Comparative Religion

I once read somewhere that science studies how, while religion studies why. So I started looking into different world religions. Before I dove into thousands of world religions, I established some criteria:

Religion must have a God because otherwise, it is just a set of man-made rules and values (even the Big Bang was started by something or by someone!).
Religion must have a scripture that I can read and verify to my satisfaction.

By applying these rules, there were not many religions to examine. I was looking into Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. I thought I knew Islam so I disregarded it easily. I also noticed a pattern: one God kept sending messengers with a similar message. When looking into Judaism, I found out that I can’t join simply because it is complicated or you must ethnically be a Jew. I thought to myself “If there is a God, that God must be just. Judaism can’t be a global religion since I have no control over which race I am born. It is not fair or just.” So, Judaism was not a choice for me.

Second, I looked into Christianity. I read the Bible. I liked many of the teachings and stories. However, I was really surprised how prophets – special people God chose – could do such sins as sleeping with their own daughters, etc. Moreover, since I was exposed to One God in Islam, I couldn’t understand or accept Trinity. It just didn’t make sense to me.

When it came to Islam, as I said before, I thought I knew it. It is ironic that when you know very little, you think you know so much. Besides, Soviet propaganda about Islam as a backward religion in Uzbekistan really worked well on our people, including me.

I thought I was at a dead end. I almost gave up. And then I came across an e-book entitled “Scientific Miracles in the Quran.”

Quran Rediscovered

This book describes the scientific miracles in the Quran such as the expanding universe, the rotation of the planets, the development of the human embryo, and so much more. I started cross-checking each claim in the Quran with English translation. It was right there.

Then it hit me.

I had actually never read the Quran with the proper translation and understanding until then. I assumed it was an old book with some stories and commandments on how to behave. It began to seem to me that it was perhaps more than that. So I picked up the Quran and started reading, to understand.

I was reading the Quran to answer my questions. The first one was…

So Why Are We Here?

My first question was: Why am I here on this planet? What is my purpose? This is what I found in the Quran:

I (Allah) did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me.
Quran, 51:56

When I read or hear the word worship, the only thing that comes to my mind is someone performing salah – the five daily prayers or prostrating in sajdah. I thought, “If this is the only reason for human creation, then we are failing greatly at that!” Then I came across “Even Angels Ask,” a book authored by an American convert to Islam and math professor Dr. Jeffrey Lang. He asks similar questions in his book and explains that even the angels would ask Allah SWT in the Quran about the purpose of man’s existence.

˹Remember˺ when your Lord said to the angels, “I am going to place a successive ˹human˺ representative on earth.” They asked ˹Allah˺, “Will You place in it someone who will spread corruption there and shed blood while we glorify Your praises and proclaim Your holiness?” Allah responded, “I know what you do not know.”
Quran, 2:30

From Worship to Service

Later I would discover that the same Arabic word, ‘ibadah, expands in meaning from not only worship but to serve God as well. I also would find out that Allah doesn’t need any serving or my prayers. As humans, we serve Allah (SWT) by serving His creation as His representative on Earth.

The way we serve is to show mercy because we are the servants of The Most Merciful. We act kindly because we are the servants of the Most Kind. We act justly because we are the servants of The Most Just. This service would include not only our five daily prayers or remembrance of God (dhikr), but any action done with a sincere intention to please Him and serve Him and Him alone.

The Prophet (SAW) said: “When one of you has sexual intercourse with his wife, he receives the reward of sadaqah.”

They said, “O Messenger of Allah! Will he still receive the reward when he satisfies his lust?”

He answered: “Would it not be haram if he satisfied his lust through haram ways? When he satisfies his lust through halal (legitimate) ways, he will receive rewards.”

Sahih Muslim 1006

For example, even sleeping could be your way of serving Him if you make a sincere du‘a that you are resting in order to wake up tomorrow and be able to serve Him.

Say, “Surely my prayer, my worship, my life, and my death are all for Allah—Lord of all worlds.”
Quran, 6:162

I came to the incredible realization that true Islam–true submission to God–was about being God-conscious in every step you take and every move you make.

This totally changed how I perceived Islam. The more I learned about Islam from the sources, the more new things I discovered. I asked myself “What if I misunderstood even the basics such as the five pillars of Islam?” So I started to examine everything I knew about Islam.

There is no God but Allah?

Growing up, I used to think that if I believed (like I believe that it may rain today) that there is a God, I am good. I might decide to do some prayers later when I get old because this is what I saw in my country. To be honest, I was often told that God is free of all needs. So I thought, “He doesn’t need my prayers anyway. I may do some good here and there in my life, but the rest of it I can enjoy as I want.”

Then I came across a video by Shaykh Yasir Qadhi (may Allah (SWT) reward him) on YouTube where he explains the meaning of “la ilaha illa Allah.” Usually, it is translated as “There is no god except Allah.” But who is God? I mean, what does the word God mean? Because I knew that the Arabs of old times were wrong to worship many idols as gods, I figured that as long as I believed that one God existed, I was safe. But I was struck by how Sh. Yasir explained that the concept of god extends beyond this literal meaning into anything or anyone you put in the center of your life. The same meaning is found in the following ayah from the Quran as well:

Have you seen ˹O Prophet˺ those who have taken their own desires as their god? ˹And so˺ Allah left them to stray knowingly, sealed their hearing and hearts, and placed a cover on their sight. Who then can guide them after Allah? Will you ˹all˺ not then be mindful?
Quran, 45:23

I began to realize that a “god” could be someone or something you place in the center of your life as the main goal. Anyone or anything you chase and your primary focus in your life. It could be money. It could be fame. It could be power. It could literally be anything. When I looked into my life and examined it, I witnessed that at the center of my life was dunya – material wealth.

What is at the center of your everyday life?

Struggling to Surrender

Once I understood the true meaning of the first pillar of Islam–to submit yourself, your desires, your life, your work, and your everything to Allah and Allah alone–I experienced a period where there was internal conflict and struggle to submit.

It is like having your first child. Up until that moment, you are the center of your universe. Then after the birth of your child, he or she becomes the center of your universe. That same experience was happening again, but this time the transition was how to willingly submit myself to Allah (SWT).

One of the best things that helped me is to get to Allah (SWT) by His Beautiful Names. One of His names is Al Warith – The Inheritor. As I told myself that I needed to submit to God, I soon saw how many tricks my ego played. Remembering Allah’s name Al Warith helped to reorient me. I owned nothing, really. In reality, He is the Owner. I didn’t own this body. It was from Him. It will return to Him. I was temporarily renting this shell. Slowly but surely, I was surrendering bit by bit, alhamdulillah.

There is a famous saying in the Islamic tradition: “Die before you die.” While it’s not clear if this was originally stated by the Prophet Muhammad (SAW), there is another close statement by Umar ibn al-Kttab (RA): “Take yourself into account before you are taken into account…” in Muhasabat al-Nafs 2.

I bear witness that there is no god (nothing or no one to put in the center of my life) except Allah (SWT) and I bear witness that Muhammad (SAW) is His servant and messenger.

This is the statement I have been slowly and gradually embracing in the last 10 years. Maybe that’s something you’ve struggled with, or are still struggling with, as well.

But why did it take me so long to reach that point?

Islam & Secularism

Over the last decade, I have talked to over 1,000 Muslim Entrepreneurs and Professionals one on one. The recurring theme was that they were not happy where they were in life. They wanted to live a life with meaning and purpose. At first, I thought the concern of each person was just related to their personal path in life. But then I saw a pattern that was too repetitive to ignore.

I recognized what was going on after reading the book “Islam & Secularism” by Syed Muhammad Naquib Al Attas. To understand the concept in this book, we need to go back to Europe’s Dark Ages, which was the same time as the Golden Ages in Islamic civilization. During the Golden Ages, Muslim scholars and scientists were leading science and invention. “1001 Inventions” by National Geographic is a good book to look into if you are interested in more about this Muslim legacy.

For example, Muslims invented many things. Fatima Al Firhi founded the first university in 859. Muhammad Al Khwarizmi invented Algebra and even the term algorithm is based on his name. Around the year 1000 Ibn al-Haitham proved that humans see objects by light reflecting off of them and entering the eye, dismissing Euclid and Ptolemy’s theories that light was emitted from the eye itself. The first hospital was the Ahmad ibn Tulun Hospital, founded in 872 in Cairo. Ibn Al Haytham (965–1039) was a polymath and he is considered to be the father of modern scientific methodology due to his emphasis on experimental data and the reproducibility of its results.

Muslim scholars and scientists saw their work as their service to Allah (SWT). They were looking into the sky and into themselves, upwards and inwards, and anywhere in between, all with wonder and hope of seeing the signs of Allah (SWT) as is encouraged in the Quran.

While in Europe, the situation was different. The church suffocated science if it was going against what the church believed. Galileo’s story is a good example: his belief that the earth moved and revolved around the sun led the Catholic church to deem him a heretic. The church believed the earth did not move and was the center of the universe. From that moment on, religion and science started to go their own ways.

It was the start of secularism. Here is the definition from Wikipedia: Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened to a similar position seeking to remove or minimize the role of religion in any public sphere.

From the past until the present day, secularism spread everywhere. They have removed God from almost any book we read, and any media we consume. Unfortunately, it has also affected how most of us understand and practice Islam. We have limited Islam to masjids or our five daily prayers–or even less.

Muslims read these secular books, watch secular movies, and listen to songs. We are building our business based on these secular ideas. We are pursuing careers based on these secular ideas of success. I know this firsthand because I experienced it myself.

While this path may or may not result in material wealth, it will not fulfill you as a human being. Why? For that, we need to look into ourselves and examine ourselves better. Who are we? Are we bodies with souls? Or are we souls with bodies?

Soul Searching

In order to practice what I preach, I wanted to really understand science-based approaches to how human beings achieve success. That’s what led me to become a certified life coach by Tony Robbins. I am also a habits coach by B.J. Fogg, who holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from Stanford University. I learned so much about human psychology and why we do what we do from these programs. They helped me to create new good habits and get rid of bad ones.

However, I was still not satisfied. I realized the same thing. They did their best but God was out of the equation.

This is when I looked into Islam to see if it offered a similar approach. I came across the following Islamic Psycho-Spiritual Model by Dr. Abdallah Rothman on a Productive Muslim blog.

Whoever knows himself, knows his Lord.
Source: Hilyat al-Awliyā’ 10/208

Alhamdulillah, Islam has such a huge treasure of knowledge we don’t appreciate. Unfortunately, most of this is still in Arabic. Even this work is built upon the Muslim scholars of the past such as Imam al-Ghazali and others. It is also based on the Quran and Hadith. Let me share what I learned from this.

Fitrah

Basically, we as humans are in one of these two states: Fitrah or Ghaflah.

Fitrah is our natural disposition and our awake state. It is the soul’s true identity. This is the state where we see reality as it is without any blinds. It should be our goal to be in this state. This is the state mentioned in the following hadith:

Abu Huraira reported: The Prophet (SAW) said, “No child is born but that he is upon natural instinct – fitrah. His parents make him a Jew, or a Christian, or Magian… ”.
Sahih Al-Bukhārī 1292

Ghaflah

Then there is another state: Ghaflah. This is the state of being spiritually asleep or involved in the forgetfulness of Allah. It is the state we keep straying to without course correcting. We don’t care. We are indifferent. We don’t come back to Allah. If we keep doing this consistently, Allah eventually seals our hearts, minds, eyes, and hearing. We may see the signs, but we don’t realize them. There is a covering.

Allah has sealed their hearts and their hearing, and their sight is covered. They will suffer mighty punishment.
Quran, 2:7

Mindset, Bodyset, Heartset, Soulset

According to this model, we not only have a body that makes us a physical entity, but we also have a mind, heart, and soul that make us rational, emotional, and spiritual entities as well.

Recently, the term mindset became so popular that everyone seems to know what it is and how we can benefit from it. While it is true that how we think has a huge impact on our daily lives, so do the other parts.

I first heard the terms “bodyset,” “heartset,” and “soulset” from Canadian writer and leadership expert Robin Sharma. I think he is onto something. We should be taking care of not only our mindset (how we think), but also our bodyset (how we move), heartset (how we feel), and soulset (how we get to know the One).

Three Types of Souls

If only it were that easy to have our bodies, minds, hearts, and souls all aligned in perfect health and balance! There’s just one problem: our Self (ego or nafs). While our soul is called the Upper Self, our lower base ego self is called the Lower Self, since it is driven by worldly desires such as food, shelter, intercourse, and other base drives.

In fact, the Qur’an and Islamic tradition describe three types of selves:

Nafs al-Mutma’innah – Content Soul at Peace
Nafs al-Lawwamah – Self-Reproaching Soul
Nafs al-Ammarah – Evil-Commanding Self

The battlegrounds of our lives are such that we will have the opportunity, and challenge, to experience and choose between these three states. When there is a covering on our hearts by Allah SWT because we don’t care and are in a state of Nafs al-Ammarah, we manifest character qualities that are destructive, such as anger, jealousy, and envy; these are called destroyers.

When we are engaged in struggling against our lower selves (jihad al-nafs), attempting to reign in our lower tendencies toward individuation and self-direction, we are in a state of Nafs al-Lawwamah, where we take ourselves to account and make an effort to do the work of turning our hearts toward God.

The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said, “there is a piece of flesh in the body, and when it is sound the whole body is sound, and when it is corrupt the whole body is corrupt and indeed that is the heart.”
Sahih Al Bukhari

When we have moments of success in this process we can experience the soul in a state of peace and rest, the state of Nafs al-Mutma’innah. While it is rare to fully achieve this state, out of His mercy God provides us glimpses of it that keep us motivated to do the work of striving toward that next best version of ourselves, having more frequent experiences of that state of the soul.

Freedom

One of the takeaways from all of this for me was about true freedom. Our capitalistic society in which we live tells us that it is all about freedom. But the kind of freedom offered is the freedom of worldly desires that feels good to our lower ego selves.

Contrary to this notion, the Islamic paradigm is also about freedom– not freedom of the ego, but freedom of the soul from the ego. When we tame and control our egos, we free our souls. When the soul is polished and purified, it is a guiding light by Allah that will help us come closer to the Source in every step we take.

Making Sense All of These

So how do we make sense of this? After learning all of this knowledge, I just wanted to connect the dots and make meaning. The ideas we just covered are life-changing! They change your perspective and how you look at the world. They take you to a different dimension.

As Muslims, we believe that this world is a temporary place, a simulation or test. If you’re a movie buff, you can call it something like a matrix.

As I considered all of this, I wanted to know if I had missed something. I went back to the origin story of human life in the Quran, which begins in Surah al-Baqara, verse 30, where Allah (SWT) says, “I’m creating a representative on Earth.” But the angels ask, “Why would you create something that sheds blood and does bad things, while we glorify your name?” Allah (SWT) says, “I know something which you do not know.” Then He teaches Adam (AS) the names of things, which symbolize knowledge. This indicates that we humans have the capacity to learn new things.

So when I have fashioned him and had a spirit of My Own breathed into him, fall down in prostration to him.
Quran, 15:29

Another verse in the Quran mentions that Allah (SWT) breathed out of His Spirit into Adam (AS), which is the soul that we discussed above. Then, as the story goes, Adam (AS) is given free will.

So the initial elements of man’s creation are knowledge, soul, and free will. As I pondered these verses, I noticed that the real conflict emerges when Allah (SWT) asks the angels and Iblis to prostrate to Adam (AS). All of the angels do so, except Iblis, who says, “I am better than him.”

Who is this human being? Who is this immensely valuable creation to whom Allah (SWT) asked all his angels to prostrate, despite the human being’s shortcomings? Who is this human being that even Iblis (Satan) became an outcast for in an attempt to lead him astray?

Allah (SWT), in His ultimate wisdom, knew all the pluses and minuses of creating human beings. Yet He wanted and created us. We are here, even as the innocent angels perfectly glorify His name in His presence. Still, Allah (SWT) asked the angels to bow down to man, symbolizing he is better. So what does this really mean to us? What does this say about who we really are, in the sight of God?

Life is a Precious Gift

Let’s recap. We, humans, were given the gift of life, including the capacity for knowledge, a soul, and free will.

This is a human experiment. The test of life is tough. Yes, there will be those who don’t care. There will be those who are distracted by dunya – all materialistic things or destructive desires. Many will fail.

Yet against all odds even in these conditions, there will be those who sincerely want to know and get closer to their Creator and strive in His path. Those are the successful ones. Those are even better than the angels.

This is the moral of the Grand Life Story. Once you realize that, you appreciate your life. Because it is such a beautiful gift. It’s such a beautiful opportunity. It’s such a beautiful invitation to live up to that status, inshallah. We ask Allah (SWT) to make us among those beautiful souls. Ameen.

Islam, Iman, Ihsan

That invitation is Islam. That path is Islam. Islam is not simply a set of rules and beliefs, but also the path of constant self-improvement. Our purpose is to come closer and closer to the Creator, to become excellent servants and moral leaders, to the point that our individual will and the eternal Will of the Creator become perfectly aligned. It is the moment when we join all of creation and fulfill our created purpose. It is the moment we get into what psychologists describe as “a state of flow.”

But Islam is in levels. The three levels of our deen were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in the famous hadith about his encounter with the Angel Gabriel (AS). Gabriel came to the Prophet (SAW) while he was surrounded by his companions and he said, “O Muhammad, tell me about Islam.”

The Prophet (SAW) said: “Islam is

to testify that there is no true god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,
to establish (5 daily) prayers,
to give charity,
to fast the month of Ramadan,
and to perform the Hajj pilgrimage to the House if one can find a way.”

Gabriel (AS) said, “You have spoken truthfully,” and then he said, “Tell me about faith/iman.”

The Prophet (SAW) said: “Iman is to believe in

Allah,
His angels,
His books,
His messengers,
the Last Day,
and to believe in the Divine Decree (al-qadar), both it’s good and it’s evil.”

Gabriel (AS) said, “You have spoken truthfully, so tell me about excellence (Ihsan).”

The Prophet (SAW) said: “Ihsan is to worship Allah as if you see Him. Even though you do not see Him, He surely sees you.”

This hadith describes our journey before us, from religious infancy to spiritual maturity: surrender (Islam), faith (Iman), and excellence (Ihsan).

Imam Ibn Taymiyyah explains the hadith, writing:

“The hadith of Gabriel clarifies that Islam is built upon five pillars, which is Islam itself. It is not based upon anything other than its foundation. Rather, the Prophet (SAW) designated three degrees of religion. The pinnacle is excellence (Ihsan), its middle is faith (Iman), and its base is Islam.”

Solving for Firdaus

The Prophet (SAW) said, “… if you ask Allah for anything, ask Him for the Firdaus, for it is the last part of Paradise and the highest part of Paradise, and at its top, there is the Throne of Beneficent, and from it gush forth the rivers of Paradise.”
Sahih al-Bukhari 7423

The Prophet (SAW) encourages us to ask for the best. For us to get there, we should also aim for the best: the pinnacle of our deen which is Ihsan. After all, the best reward is given for the best effort.

Imagine being one of these blessed people on the day of Judgement:

As for those given their book (of deeds) in their right hand, they will cry (happily), “Here (everyone)! Read my book! I surely knew I would face my reckoning.” They will be in a life of bliss…
Quran, 69:19-21

Our journey is to Allah (SWT). Our destination is Allah (SWT). We belong to Him. Surely, our return is also to Him. We have nowhere else to go. He has also given us so much that we can’t even imagine or count our blessings. What is the best gift we can present to be thankful?

We should pay close attention to this example of such a blissful life that Allah (SWT) shows us in this verse. How do we solve for that person and their book? Imagine this is your book. What would it say inside?

Do you think that there will be some good things you did here and there happening haphazardly? Or do you think this book will be about you and your beautiful life story and how you lived your life on your journey to Allah in a way that is planned with a purpose, in a way where you are the main hero?

Have you ever wondered why we love stories? Especially those stories and movies where the main hero overcomes a challenge that seems impossible. I sincerely believe it is in our fitrah– our natural disposition or DNA or whatever you call it–that we as humans are born to overcome challenges against all odds.

If we are overcoming challenges because we believe in a higher cause with meaning and we are on the right path, we feel alive and awake and in a state of flow. Not because we are powerful on our own. But because we are backed by the Most Powerful if we seek His help.

At times, it may seem too much. We hope and intend to do better. But we fail. We fail again. When we fail, we should remember the following hadith:

Aisha (RA) reported: The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said, “Follow the right course, be devoted, and give glad tidings. Verily, none of you will enter Paradise by his deeds alone.”

They said, “Not even you, O Messenger of Allah?”

The Prophet said, “Not even me unless Allah grants me His mercy. Know that the most beloved deed to Allah is that which is done regularly, even if it is small.”
Sahih al-Bukhari 6467

If I understand the hadith above properly, it means even the Prophet (SAW) can’t enter the final destination by his deeds alone. It gives hope to you and me. So if we are not judged by our deeds alone, then how are we evaluated?

In Islam, what matters is not the result but rather our sincere intentions and consistent actions and efforts. In other words, you do your best and Allah does the rest. You know and Allah (SWT) knows what that best is.

Journey vs. Destination

So what is the best way to live? Shall we just focus on the Destination? Or shall we just focus on Journey – how we live here? In other words: Deen or Dunya? This is a delusion that leads us to analysis paralysis. It is a trick by Satan, the outcasted one, to put us in a never-ending debate.

Here are some undeniable facts we all agree on: We are here only for a while until death catches upon us. We don’t know when. As Muslims, we believe we are on our way to Our Creator. We live only once, and not in the sense that we can do whatever we want because we know we will be held to account. So, how can we live this life to the fullest that will be best here and hereafter?

What is required from us to succeed?

Sincere Intention (ikhlas and niyyah for His sake)
Consistent Action

Remember: we should not be bound to the outcome. Because we have to remember Who is in control.

We as Muslims have to remember that Allah (SWT) is in charge and every step we take and every move we make is recorded. They will never go to waste.

So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it.
Quran, 99:7

We have to trust in Allah (SWT) that He will deliver His promise either in this world or the next, as long as our intentions are sincere and we sincerely do our best.

In the end, it is about our intention and attitude. We can decide to be bitter or better. We can be either Human Seeings or Human Beings. We can stay where we are and barely survive, or we can do our best to thrive. We can ask Allah (SWT) to help us to live our lives in the best way so we can prepare this life as our gift in the book of our life story, inshaAllah.

Blue Pill or Red Pill

I now present you with two options. In the movie “The Matrix,” Morpheus presents Neo with two pills: blue and red. If he takes the blue pill, he will wake up in the world he used to know as if nothing happened. Or if he takes the red pill, Morpheus promises him to show another reality.

In a similar way, there are two ways to read this book:

You can read this book for your entertainment. You are welcome. You may find some personal stories you can share with others later.
You can also read this book with the intention to discover your purpose, your why, your passion, and your superpower so that you can create the story of your journey to Him that will allow you to serve in the best way. In doing so, you will not only find prosperity, but you will also enter a state of flow and a different reality that you don’t have to escape any longer, inshaAllah.

One of my intentions in writing the book is not only to share my story and journey with you but to also help you discover your story for your life storybook to show on the day of judgment.

Imagine that we are holding our life story books in our right hands with joy on that Day. Is it not something worth living for?

If so, take this book as something not only you read, but also something you take action on.

I’ve provided your first action steps below. The first one is to do everything with sincere intention, followed by consistent action..

“..Allah does not change a people until they change what is in themselves”
Quran, 13:11

Daily Du‘a

Let’s start our journey with a prayer to The Responding One (Al Mujeeb). Please, add these du‘as to your daily prayers. If necessary, rephrase them as they sound natural to you but please keep their meanings intact:

I bear witness that there is nothing and no one worthy of worship/service to place in the center of my life except Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad (SAW) is his servant and messenger.

O, Allah! I ask you to help me to get to know him and his life so I can follow his example in the best possible way.

O, Allah! Give us the best in this world and the next and save us from the fire.

O, Allah! Please, open my heart, open my mind, and guide me so I will discover for what reason You created me, so I will discover what special gifts and superpowers You have granted me, so I will use these gifts to serve You and You alone.

O, Allah! You have given me the best gift–the gift of life–witnessing all around getting to know you and eventually loving you. While my good deeds will never be enough to enter your garden, I will ask for your mercy since you are The Most Merciful.

O, Allah! Guide me so that I live my life as You want me to live, so every step I take, and every move I make will be counted as my ‘ibadah/service/worship to You. Make my whole life my gift to you to bring on the Last Day.

O, Allah! Help me on my journey to You, because You are The Best Helper. You are the Most Caring. You are the Most Kind. You are the Most Loving. You are the Most Generous. You are the Best Giver of Gifts.

Daily Prayers

Ideally, you should make these du‘as after each of your five daily prayers. What if you don’t pray yet? I’m not here to judge you. I have been on the other side as well. There were times I didn’t pray too, because I didn’t really understand. I thought if Allah was not in need of anyone or anything, why did He need my prayers? Actually, He didn’t need my prayers. It was I who needed these daily prayers.

There are endless benefits of daily prayers. I will not count them all here. You can read about them on your own.

Which of the two choices did you choose? If you are just reading this book, then keep reading. Hopefully, you will gain some benefit.

On the other hand, if you are reading this book to implement these seven steps in order to change your life for the better, then starting on your daily prayers is a must. Treat the daily prayers as checkpoints. When we drive to a new location, we use GPS / Google Maps in our cars. One of the ways we make sure we reach our destination is to keep checking if we are following the map.

It is the same way on our spiritual life journeys. If you took Option 2, then you decided to implement these steps. The first one is to make a sincere intention to submit our life in full to serve Allah and Allah alone. Even without knowing the full details yet, you should be proud that you took the first step.

This is why we are asking those things in our du‘as. We will keep asking them every day. We may extend some of the du‘as, but we will keep asking.

The five daily prayers will be our checkpoints throughout the day, and they only take a few minutes. If you don’t pray at all, start praying once a day. Then twice a day. Until you start praying five times a day. The new way of life requires a new way of taking action. We will get there slowly.

If you are not already praying five times a day, then include this dua as well in your daily prayers:

O Allah! Thank You for guiding me to remember You every day. Please, keep me consistent in my daily prayers. Help me increase my daily prayers so I will pray at least five times a day as every Muslim should do.

Remember, your purpose in life is to serve/worship Allah not part-time but to willingly submit to serve Him full-time to fulfill your potential. You can do that if you live your life in a fully awake state (fitrah) where you are the Main Hero in your own story/life movie. Your story is that against all the odds through hardships in your life, you are on your way to Him, and to Him is your final return. As long as you are sincere in your intention and you walk toward Him, you will find Him running toward you.

What does it all mean? Spend some time thinking, contemplating, and reflecting (tafakkur) and doing the same in a way that encompasses your mind, heart, and soul (tadabbur). It is possible your mind may come up with hundreds of questions: “How do I do that? What do I do next?” Everything has its own timing. We will discuss those questions soon. For now, focus here and now. Allah (SWT) invited you to read this book. Now. You are here. This is what matters the most. Bismillah.

Service: The Essence of Purpose

The greatest minds have always said that the purpose of life is service—to serve others, to uplift our communities. Our purpose as human beings is to get to know and love Allah SWT, and to strive to embody His attributes in our actions. This isn’t just theoretical—it’s something we can experience and feel when we align our actions with divine guidance.

So, the question is: What is your specific purpose? What are you meant to do? What role do you play in this grand journey of life?

Finding Your Unique Purpose

Everyone’s journey is unique, and each one of us has distinct talents and skills. To find your purpose, you must reflect deeply. What are your gifts? What are the unique talents that Allah has blessed you with? And how can you use these talents to serve others, and in doing so, serve Allah?

It starts with asking yourself four important questions:

What are your beliefs about your purpose?
Do you think you can find your purpose, or do you believe it’s unattainable? Reflect on this honestly.
What are your goals for your purpose?
What do you want to do in life? Our goal is to discover our skills and use them in the service of others, which in turn becomes a service to Allah—full-time, not part-time.
Why does it matter?
A strong “why” drives you forward. When you have a clear reason, you can overcome any obstacle. As the saying goes, “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” Understanding your purpose gives you a strong reason to endure and persevere.
How are you going to get there?
What steps will you take to fulfill your purpose? Write down your goals, and envision the path forward. Don’t worry about having all the answers right away—just start with writing them down.

Moving Forward

Understanding your purpose is just the beginning. In the next chapter, we’ll explore how to connect this purpose with your passion—how to identify your skills and talents and use them to contribute to society meaningfully. Remember, this journey is about finding the path that aligns with who you are, so that you can serve in the best possible way.

Are you ready to take the next step?

Dua
O Allah, we ask You to guide us on this journey of discovering our purpose. Help us to align our talents and skills in a way that serves You and benefits humanity. Make us among those who fulfill their true potential and attain Your pleasure. Ameen.

Goals:
On a scale of 1 to 10, how you evaluate your Purpose?
What are your Purpose goals to achieve 10?

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Beliefs:
What are your beliefs about your Purpose?
What is holding you back to achieve 10 out of 10?

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Motivation:
Why does it matter to achieve these goals?
What happens if you do? What happens if you don’t?

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Methods:
What is your plan to achieve your Purpose goals?
What simple steps can you take today?

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