Materialism is at an all-time high. The intellectual minds of today have produced solutions to so many problems that had been faced since time immemorial that man rarely feels the need to ask the help of fellow humans, let alone a supreme being.
Religion is considered a farce. Very few need the satisfaction of confiding in their creator for whatever good or bad may be occurring in their lives. Humans are considered mostly self-dependant and seem to be getting on just fine with the challenges of day-to-day lives. “Service providers” seem to offer help in every matter and we tend to take up their services. The need for a supernatural being is rarely ever felt by the modern mind.
Those who follow a religion are frequently informed of the plight of “the material world” where man has drifted so far away from his Creator that it would be a miracle to bring them to worshipping a god again.
If we, as Ahmadi Muslims, take a glance at the world, much of the above appears to be true. The subject of religion very rarely falls on ears yearning for some form of spiritual experience.
While it is true that the world seems to be drifting further and further away from religion and God, what is also true is that man has naturally developed a tendency to ask questions relating to his own existence, purpose and a superior motive for living life. “Why am I here?”, “How can I be at peace with myself?”, “What happens to me after death?” are all questions that are usually on people’s minds.
So what does this show? Are people moving away from God or hoping to come closer to Him?
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, the Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi, said that he came at the most apt time to resolve man’s conflict with his inner self and lead him to the path of developing a firm relationship with his Lord. To date, the Jamaat has spread over 200 countries and territories of the world with millions of adherents of the Promised Messiahas. However, the majority of the world still awaits the message of God’s final Jamaat.
The world asks questions, not for the sake of asking, but for some clarity in what religion has to offer. The Promised Messiahas claimed to provide that clarity through the religion of Prophet Muhammadsa.
The minds of humans have evolved to such a stage where, without the true insight of religion and Islam, as provided by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas and his Khulafa, nothing makes sense any more. Currently, irreligiousness and religion seem to be the only two ways about life, and none of them seem to be making any sense for many.
As Ahmadi Muslims, it is our foremost duty to understand what we believe in. We must accept that we were born in a time like no other. Having accepted this, we must then look to the world and see what it is desperately in need of. Though the world may not express it always, people are uncontrollably in need for a more superior purpose in life. We, Ahmadi Muslims, have that superior purpose! But before we can deliver it to others, we must discover it first.
Although it may seem a negative trait, but a quality among the youth of today is that the youth asks questions and needs to know everything in detail before making any decision. To find God and discover our superior motives in life, we must follow a simple condition that the Promised Messiahas outlined for us:
صدق سے میری طرف آؤ اسى میں خیر ہے
(Come to me with full sincerity for herein lies the best option)
Once we search for God and the truth with full sincerity of heart, we can be sure that we are not far from discovering a superior purpose in life. Until we disregard all modes of Shirk (associating any partners with God) – as Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa often tells us in his Friday Sermons – and unless we attempt to tread this path with pure intentions, we cannot be successful.