What is the main purpose of life?

The main purpose of life is not to enjoy a transient feeling of happiness; rather, it is to attain inner and profound peace by knowing and worshiping Allah.

Fulfilling this divine purpose will lead to eternal bliss and true happiness. Therefore, if this becomes our main target, it will be easier for us to confront any problem or trouble for the sake of reaching this target.

Let us imagine a person who has never experienced any suffering or pain. Owing to his luxurious life, he will forget Allah and will, thus, fail in carrying out the mission that he has been created for. Then, compare this person to another whose hard and painful experiences have led him to Allah and to accomplishing his mission in life. According to the Islamic teachings, the one whose sufferings have led him to Allah is better than the one who has never suffered and whose pleasures led him far away from Him.

In this life, everyone works on achieving a certain goal or purpose, which is mostly based on his beliefs. The thing that we can find in religion, but cannot find in science, is the cause or justification for which man strives.

The religion clarifies the cause behind creating man and life, whereas science is a means and it possesses no definition for the intention or purpose.

The thing that man fears most when approaching religion is being deprived of the worldly pleasures. It is commonly believed that religion necessarily means isolation, and that everything is prohibited except what the religion permits.

This is the mistake that was committed by many and that caused them to have an aversion to religion. However, the Islamic religion came to correct this concept showing that permissibility is the basic rule while the prohibitions and limits are only few and incontrovertible.

It throws light on the fact that religion invites man to merge with other individuals in the society and calls for achieving balance between the requirements of the soul, body, and others' rights.

One of the biggest challenges that confront the irreligious communities is how to deal with evil and with man's bad acts, as they could find nothing but imposing the most severe punishments to deter the deviants.

{Who created death and life to test you as to which of you is best in deeds, and He is the All-Mighty, the Most Forgiving...} [87] Surat al-Mulk: 2.