What is the purpose and characteristics of the Islamic lifestyle?‎

This article is part of a series on the Islamic lifestyle. Islam is a religion that covers all ‎aspects of life. It is a religion that has a plan for all periods of life and in all ‎circumstances. ‎

News ID: 450126

Date: 14 May 2020 - 15:28

RNA – In this article, we will explain the purpose and characteristics of the Islamic ‎lifestyle from the Holy Quran, supplications and narrations.‎

The purpose of the Islamic lifestyle

From the Islamic point of view, the ultimate goal of life is nearness to God, attainment ‎to God. Imam Ali prays to God Almighty in Du’a Kumayl: ‎

وَاجْعَلْنِي مِنْ أَحَسَنِ عَبِيدِكَ نَصِيباً عِنْدَكَ وَأَقْرَبِهِم مَّنْزِلَةً مِّنْكَ وَأَخَصِّهِمْ زُلْفَةً لَّديْكَ

‎“And make me one of the most excellent of Your slaves in Portion from You and ‎the nearest of them in station to You and the most elected of them in proximity to ‎You.”‎

Also, Imam Ali al-Sajjad (Zayn al-Abidin) asks God Almighty in Munajat al-Muftaqirin‏ ‏‎[The Whispered Prayer of the Utterly Poor]:‎

اِلهى‎ ‎كَسْرى‏ لا‏... ضُرِّي لا يَكْشِفُهُ غَيْرُ رَأْفَتِكَ وَ غُلَّتِي لا يُبَرِّدُهَا إِلا وَصْلُكَ وَ لَوْعَتِي لا ‏يُطْفِيهَا إِلا لِقَاؤُكَ وَ شَوْقِي إِلَيْكَ لا يَبُلُّهُ إِلا النَّظَرُ إِلَى وَجْهِكَ وَ قَرَارِي لا يَقِرُّ دُونَ دُنُوِّي ‏مِنْكَ

‎“My God, nothing will… cool my burning thirst but reaching Thee, quench my ‎ardour but meeting Thee, damp my yearning but gazing upon Thy face, settle my ‎settling place without closeness to Thee, allay my worry but Thy repose, cure my illness ‎but Thy medicine, eliminate my grief but Thy nearness.”‎

As it turns out, there is no higher purpose in life than nearness to God, because ‎approaching God is the attainment of all perfections, beauties, pleasures, and eternal ‎bliss. When a lifestyle is built on the foundation of God, life finds the taste of the ‎hayyat al-tayyibah, “the good life,” and becomes stable and immortal. Therefore, the ‎Muslim seeks to implement a lifestyle that is most in harmony with the attainment of ‎nearness to God in his personal and social life, and it is not a style other than the ‎Islamic lifestyle that is the true manifestation of attaining nearness to God. It is as if ‎the Islamic lifestyle is from God to God, which means that it originates from ‎monotheistic and divine principles and ends with monotheism and closeness to God.‎

It is clear that nearness to God and attainment of God is not of the type of spatial and ‎temporal approximations, because God Almighty does not have a material existence ‎with which to establish a spatial or temporal relationship. Also, closeness to God does ‎not mean credit, contractual and ceremonial closeness, but rather it is an existential ‎reality. Since God Almighty is absolute perfection, nearness to absolute perfection ‎means becoming more perfect, it means the breadth of human existence. By doing ‎good deeds, mankind reaches a level of perfection of existence, the existence of which ‎becomes a divine existence.‎

It is clear that nearness to God and attainment of God is not of the type of spatial and ‎temporal approximations, because God Almighty does not have a material existence ‎with which to establish a spatial or temporal relationship. Also, closeness to God does ‎not mean credit, contractual and ceremonial closeness, but an existential reality. Since ‎God Almighty is absolute perfection, nearness to absolute perfection means becoming ‎more perfect, it means the breadth of human existence; By doing good deeds, mankind ‎reaches a level of perfection of existence, the existence of which becomes a divine ‎existence.‎

Therefore, it should be noted that the Islamic lifestyle pursues a sublime goal, which is ‎to reach God. Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammad-Baqer Mostafavi says in this regard: “Life is ‎for a person to do something that he will become a servant of God, otherwise what is ‎with mankind will end. Therefore, if one connects himself to God and the everlasting ‎goal which is the Living One who does not die, and dies connected to the truth, this is ‎where life finds meaning.” ‎

Characteristics of the Islamic lifestyle

In general, it can be said that the Islamic lifestyle has features that distinguish it from ‎other styles. The following is a summary of a number of them: ‎

‎1) The main source of the Islamic lifestyle is the divine book, in such a way that Islamic ‎life makes sense in Quranic life.‎

Other sources of the Islamic lifestyle include the sunnah (tradition) and sirah (lifestyle) ‎of the Infallibles, human reason and experience, which we should refer to in any field, ‎including the Islamic lifestyle. ‎

The lifestyle in Islamic culture is derived from monotheistic, Quranic thought and the ‎practical system of life is also based on the shari’ah and the tradition of the Imams.‎

‎2) As we previously stated, the Islamic lifestyle is a concept that can be examined at ‎three levels, these levels are: insight, action and tendencies. ‎
A) Insight means the same knowledge, knowledge, beliefs and intellectual foundations ‎of the person that causes the emergence, behaviour and action in the person.‎
B) Action also includes deeds, behaviours, and speech. In other words, whatever is in ‎the realm of one’s activities is called action and is the result of one’s insight.‎
C) Tendencies. Man tends to do certain acts over time and abandons certain actions ‎over time, and because his actions are the result of his insight, he tends to them in ‎such a way that it is difficult for him to change those actions or it is impossible and ‎causes him dissatisfaction.‎

‎3) The most important insight and belief in the Islamic lifestyle is monotheism and ‎knowing God. In other words, looking at life through the lens of faith in God and God’s ‎presence in all stages of human life and other beliefs in the shadow of this belief. ‎Beliefs such as belief in prophethood and imamate, belief in life after death, etc. ‎

‎4) Since the Islamic lifestyle relies on God, it is not devoid of purpose. The life of the ‎Muslim has been based on a specific goal, which is closeness to God and attainment to ‎God. The Islamic lifestyle is from God toward God. ‎

‎5) The basic criterion of the Islamic lifestyle and the attainment of the hayat al-‎tayyibah (the good life) is faith and righteous deeds. God says in the Holy Quran:‎

مَنْ عَمِلَ صَالِحًا مِّن ذَكَرٍ أَوْ أُنثَىٰ وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَلَنُحْيِيَنَّهُ حَيَاةً طَيِّبَةً ۖ وَلَنَجْزِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْرَهُم ‏بِأَحْسَنِ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ

‎“Whoever acts righteously, [whether] male or female, should he be faithful, ‎We shall revive him with a good life and pay them their reward by the best ‎of what they used to do.” [16:97] ‎

‎6) In the Islamic lifestyle, even the smallest of life situations are planned. For example, ‎it is not the case that religion has a general recommendation that the family ‎environment should be warm and that there is nothing wrong with how to warm the ‎family environment, but that religion is also involved in the smallest issues of life and ‎expresses ahkam (religious rulings) and guidelines. It can be said that the only lifestyle ‎that guides human beings in all walks of life and all its dimensions and areas is the ‎Islamic lifestyle, which has not neglected anything, whether partial or general, ‎individual or social, intellectual or practical, and so on. It has always led mankind to ‎true happiness in the temporal world and the hereafter.‎

‎7) The Islamic lifestyle is manifested in the divine lifestyle, which can be examined ‎from two perspectives: one from the perspective of creating its institutionalization in ‎society, because the Islamic lifestyle is constructive and not acquirable, the second from ‎the perspective of assessing the current situation and determining the distance to the ‎desired situation, extracting the characteristics of the Islamic lifestyle will provide both ‎purposes because the characteristics in a way, reflect the desired situation and in ‎another way indicate the distance between the current situation and the desired ‎situation. ‎

‎8) The characteristics of the Islamic lifestyle can be examined in three categories on ‎how to interact and communicate with God, with oneself and with others. With this ‎classification, the boundaries of the Islamic lifestyle can be determined in a better ‎manner.‎

Rasa News Agency