What an exciting time in your life to be a young man or women, as you are reaching your prime in health, strength, high level of energy, with much hope and dreams for your future.
Perhaps you are getting plenty of advice about the importance of education, to work hard, make lots of money, and to be somebody. These are all good advices, but you may wonder why those who are giving you this feedback may not be happy in their lives. In fact, the national level of divorce rate is 50%. The rate of child birth out of wedlock has now reached 37% and continuously raising. More than two million people are incarcerated in our US prisons, and so many people around you are having real challenges with alcohol and drug abuse among many other social crisis. These are the same people who are telling you all about how to achieve success and happiness.
We wish to share with you a different type of advice that you may not have heard, and may save you decades while pursuing success and happiness.
Take care of your soul. Just like your body has rights (eating good, resting well, exercising, cleaning, ...). Your soul also has rights. Most people go on doing everything they can to satisfy their body, but starve their souls. As you may believe, God created Adam from clay from this earth, and when we die; our bodies go back and get buried in this earth. God also gave Adam his soul, which is a spiritual entity that each of us received while in the womb of our mothers before birth. When we die, our souls return back to God.
As Muslims, we believe in the hereafter and in the Judgment Day, both our souls and body will be reunited as we receive our judgment, either to enter heaven, or hell based on our deeds while alive. What our souls need is continued connection with God, and prayers are the food for our souls. That is why Muslims performs the prayers five times a day to maintain healthy souls and strong connection with God.
Recognize, understand, and research the purpose of your life. It is reported that most average people only use a very small fraction of their brain power. God has blessed us with the ability to think, reason, and an automatic sense of seeking Him.
This will help you to put things in perspective, remove the concept that the world may revolve around you, and recognize the temporary satisfaction for material objects, versus the permanent success and happiness for entering paradise.
As you do more research, and increase your knowledge of God, you will see positive changes (see "Learning Bridge" on top bar). You will smile more at people (Islam teaches us that even a smile is a charity). You will be more kind to your parents. You will speak less negative of others. You will offer help to your neighbors and friends, You will place less importance on showing off your beautiful body in public, and you will have far better relationship with your future spouses and children when the time comes, but best of all, you will be collecting many good deeds that will help tip your scale when you are judged.
"None of you will enter paradise unless you believe and none of you truly believe unless you love one another" Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
All humans are dead except those who have knowledge; and all those who have knowledge are asleep, except those who do good deeds; and those who do good deeds are deceived, except those who are sincere.[Imam Shaf'i]
What an exciting time in your life to be a young man or women, as you are reaching your prime in health, strength, high level of energy, with much hope and dreams for your future.
As Muslims, we believe in the hereafter and in the Judgment Day, both our souls and body will be reunited as we receive our judgment, either to enter heaven, or hell based on our deeds while alive. What our souls need is continued connection with God, and prayers are the food for our souls. That is why Muslims performs the prayers five times a day to maintain healthy souls and strong connection with God.
