A DISTINCTION IS MADE BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE; THIS IS WHAT WE CALL THE SCIENTIFIC APPROACH. WE ARE LIVING IN THE AGE OF THE MEDIA. BEFORE THE ADVENT OF THE MODERN MEDIA THERE WERE LARGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE IN THE WORLD WHO KNEW NOTHING. WITH THE INVENTION OF THE PRINTING PRESS AND NOW THE ELECTRONIC MEDIA IT IS DIFFICULT TO FIND TODAY A SINGLE PERSON WHO IS UNAWARE OF IT.
BUT THERE IS A CLEAR-CUT DIFFERENCE.THERE IS A FURTHER AND MORE SEVERE PROBLEM THAT OF SELECTIVE REPORTING. ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN CRITERIA THE MEDIA IS INTERESTED ONLY IN 'HOT' NEWS, ALTHOUGH SO MUCH 'SOFT' NEWS IS AVAILABLE. SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH FOR MAN IS BORN A SEEKER OF A VERITABLE TRUTH-SEEKING ANIMAL. EVERY HUMAN BEING REGARDS HIMSELF AS INCOMPLETE UNTIL HE HAS FOUND THAT SUPREME PRINCIPLE BY WHICH HE CAN EXPLAIN HIS EXISTENCE IN THIS WORLD AND DISCOVER THE PURPOSE AND MEANING OF HIS LIFE.
EVERYONE IS A SEEKER. TRUE. BUT FEW ARE FINDERS. WHY? BECAUSE, WHERE SEEKING IS INSTINCTIVE, FINDING IS THE OUTCOME OF ONE'S OWN CONSCIOUS EFFORT.
IN THE PRE-ISLAMIC PERIOD, THERE WERE CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS IN ARABIA, CALLED HUNAFA. THEY WERE ALL TRUTH SEEKERS. CONFINING THEMSELVES TO SOLITARY PLACES, THEY WOULD REMEMBER GOD AND SAY: "O GOD IF WE HAD KNOWN HOW TO WORSHIP YOU, WE WOULD HAVE WORSHIPED YOU ACCORDINGLY."
THIS WAS DUE TO THEIR URGE TO COME TO GRIPS WITH REALITY - AN URGE SUCH AS IS FOUND IN EVERY HUMAN BEING, THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ONE INDIVIDUAL AND ANOTHER BEING ONLY ONE OF DEGREE: IN SOME, THE URGE IS WEAK, IN OTHERS IT IS STRONG. THAT IS WHY TODAY WE FIND MORE THAN ONE BILLION MUSLIMS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. STRANGELY ENOUGH THE PRESENT DAY PUBLICITY GIVEN TO ISLAM HAS PRODUCED ONLY A NEGATIVE EFFECT. PEOPLE ARE NOW GENERALLY ALLERGIC TO ISLAM RATHER THAN BEING INTERESTED IN IT DUE TO PREVIOUS AGES IT HAPPENED THAT WHEREVER ISLAM SPREAD PEOPLE WERE SO IMPRESSED WITH IT MOST OF THEM ACCEPT IT AS THEIR RELIGION.
THEN, THERE ARE SOME DEVIATIONS. SOME PEOPLE CERTAIN MATERIAL OBJECTS TO BE THEIR GOAL IN LIFE AND DO THEIR UTMOST TO OBTAIN THEM. BUT THERE IS AN INTERVAL EVIDENCE THAT THEY DO SO MISTAKENLY. BEFORE OBTAINING THESE MATERIAL OBJECTS, THEY ARE HIGHLY ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THEM. BUT AS SOON AS THEY HAVE THEM IN THEIR POSSESSION THEIR ENTHUSIASM TURNS TO FRUSTRATION FOR, WITH EXPERIENCE, THEY INVARIABLY FIND THAT WHAT THEY HAVE STRUGGLED FOR SO HARD, HAS FAILED TO GIVE THEM THE DESIRED SENSE OF FULFILLMENT. ALL THESE MATERIAL THINGS IN THIS WORLD ARE MEANT TO FULFILL ONLY OUR PHYSICAL NEEDS. THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PURPOSE OF OUR LIVES. THIS PURPOSE CAN ONLY SPIRITUAL IN NATURE, AND NOT SOMETHING MATERIAL.
TO ACHIEVE THIS PURPOSE IS THE GREATEST QUEST IN LIFE. EVERYONE IS MOTIVATED, CONSCIOUSLY OR UNCONSCIOUSLY, BY THIS DEMAND OF HUMAN NATURE, EVERYONE AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER SUFFERS FROM A SENSE OF FRUSTRATION, WITH OR WITHOUT SAD EXPERIENCES. TO MAKE ONE'S LIFE MEANINGFUL, THEREFORE ONE HAS TO DISCOVER ITS PURPOSE. ONE SHOULD BE EXTREMELY SINCERELY SINCERE AND HONEST IN THIS RESPECT. SINCERITY AND HONESTY ARE AN ASSURANCE OF ENGAGING ONESELF UNREMITTINGLY IN THIS PURSUIT, AND NEVER GIVING-UP, UNTILL ONE HAS DISCOVERED THE REAL PURPOSE OF HUMAN EXISTENCE.
WHEN A MAN SUCCEEDS IN DISCOVERING THIS IDEAL, HE BECOMES A PERSON WHO IS FIT TO BE CALLED A COMPLETE MAN, ONE WHO HAS SUCCEEDED IN MAKING HIS LIFEPURPOSEFUL, IN THE REAL SENSE OF THE WORD.
THIS WILL TO SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH IS IMPLANTED IN EVERYONE. BUT IT DEPENDS UPON EVERY INDIVIDUAL HIMSELF, WHETHER OR NOT BE PURSUES THIS NATURAL URGE. ONLY THROUGH SINCERE PURSUIT WILL HE DISCOVER THE TRUTH AND THUS MAKE HIS LIFE MEANINGFUL. FOR ANY KIND OF NEGLIGENCE OR APATHY IN THIS REGARD, THERE IS NO EXCUSE, WHATEVER THE CIRCUMSTANCES.
BUT THERE IS A CLEAR-CUT DIFFERENCE.THERE IS A FURTHER AND MORE SEVERE PROBLEM THAT OF SELECTIVE REPORTING. ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN CRITERIA THE MEDIA IS INTERESTED ONLY IN 'HOT' NEWS, ALTHOUGH SO MUCH 'SOFT' NEWS IS AVAILABLE. SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH FOR MAN IS BORN A SEEKER OF A VERITABLE TRUTH-SEEKING ANIMAL. EVERY HUMAN BEING REGARDS HIMSELF AS INCOMPLETE UNTIL HE HAS FOUND THAT SUPREME PRINCIPLE BY WHICH HE CAN EXPLAIN HIS EXISTENCE IN THIS WORLD AND DISCOVER THE PURPOSE AND MEANING OF HIS LIFE.
EVERYONE IS A SEEKER. TRUE. BUT FEW ARE FINDERS. WHY? BECAUSE, WHERE SEEKING IS INSTINCTIVE, FINDING IS THE OUTCOME OF ONE'S OWN CONSCIOUS EFFORT.
IN THE PRE-ISLAMIC PERIOD, THERE WERE CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS IN ARABIA, CALLED HUNAFA. THEY WERE ALL TRUTH SEEKERS. CONFINING THEMSELVES TO SOLITARY PLACES, THEY WOULD REMEMBER GOD AND SAY: "O GOD IF WE HAD KNOWN HOW TO WORSHIP YOU, WE WOULD HAVE WORSHIPED YOU ACCORDINGLY."
THIS WAS DUE TO THEIR URGE TO COME TO GRIPS WITH REALITY - AN URGE SUCH AS IS FOUND IN EVERY HUMAN BEING, THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ONE INDIVIDUAL AND ANOTHER BEING ONLY ONE OF DEGREE: IN SOME, THE URGE IS WEAK, IN OTHERS IT IS STRONG. THAT IS WHY TODAY WE FIND MORE THAN ONE BILLION MUSLIMS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. STRANGELY ENOUGH THE PRESENT DAY PUBLICITY GIVEN TO ISLAM HAS PRODUCED ONLY A NEGATIVE EFFECT. PEOPLE ARE NOW GENERALLY ALLERGIC TO ISLAM RATHER THAN BEING INTERESTED IN IT DUE TO PREVIOUS AGES IT HAPPENED THAT WHEREVER ISLAM SPREAD PEOPLE WERE SO IMPRESSED WITH IT MOST OF THEM ACCEPT IT AS THEIR RELIGION.
THEN, THERE ARE SOME DEVIATIONS. SOME PEOPLE CERTAIN MATERIAL OBJECTS TO BE THEIR GOAL IN LIFE AND DO THEIR UTMOST TO OBTAIN THEM. BUT THERE IS AN INTERVAL EVIDENCE THAT THEY DO SO MISTAKENLY. BEFORE OBTAINING THESE MATERIAL OBJECTS, THEY ARE HIGHLY ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THEM. BUT AS SOON AS THEY HAVE THEM IN THEIR POSSESSION THEIR ENTHUSIASM TURNS TO FRUSTRATION FOR, WITH EXPERIENCE, THEY INVARIABLY FIND THAT WHAT THEY HAVE STRUGGLED FOR SO HARD, HAS FAILED TO GIVE THEM THE DESIRED SENSE OF FULFILLMENT. ALL THESE MATERIAL THINGS IN THIS WORLD ARE MEANT TO FULFILL ONLY OUR PHYSICAL NEEDS. THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PURPOSE OF OUR LIVES. THIS PURPOSE CAN ONLY SPIRITUAL IN NATURE, AND NOT SOMETHING MATERIAL.
TO ACHIEVE THIS PURPOSE IS THE GREATEST QUEST IN LIFE. EVERYONE IS MOTIVATED, CONSCIOUSLY OR UNCONSCIOUSLY, BY THIS DEMAND OF HUMAN NATURE, EVERYONE AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER SUFFERS FROM A SENSE OF FRUSTRATION, WITH OR WITHOUT SAD EXPERIENCES. TO MAKE ONE'S LIFE MEANINGFUL, THEREFORE ONE HAS TO DISCOVER ITS PURPOSE. ONE SHOULD BE EXTREMELY SINCERELY SINCERE AND HONEST IN THIS RESPECT. SINCERITY AND HONESTY ARE AN ASSURANCE OF ENGAGING ONESELF UNREMITTINGLY IN THIS PURSUIT, AND NEVER GIVING-UP, UNTILL ONE HAS DISCOVERED THE REAL PURPOSE OF HUMAN EXISTENCE.
WHEN A MAN SUCCEEDS IN DISCOVERING THIS IDEAL, HE BECOMES A PERSON WHO IS FIT TO BE CALLED A COMPLETE MAN, ONE WHO HAS SUCCEEDED IN MAKING HIS LIFEPURPOSEFUL, IN THE REAL SENSE OF THE WORD.
THIS WILL TO SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH IS IMPLANTED IN EVERYONE. BUT IT DEPENDS UPON EVERY INDIVIDUAL HIMSELF, WHETHER OR NOT BE PURSUES THIS NATURAL URGE. ONLY THROUGH SINCERE PURSUIT WILL HE DISCOVER THE TRUTH AND THUS MAKE HIS LIFE MEANINGFUL. FOR ANY KIND OF NEGLIGENCE OR APATHY IN THIS REGARD, THERE IS NO EXCUSE, WHATEVER THE CIRCUMSTANCES.
