University Study on Purpose in Life

[Adam1]

Hi all.

This is my first time on this forum, so just to introduce myself...

My name is Adam. I'm studying a masters degree in psychology at Macquarie University in Australia. As part of my studies, I am undertaking research on what atheists and theists consider to be their purpose in life. Purpose in life is a very interesting topic because it is obviously a major driver of people's behaviour, and I am interested in exploring how the two groups may differ on the topic or how they might in fact be similar.

To get some answers to the question, I was wondering if some people out there might be prepared to write a paragraph or two on what they consider to be their purpose in life.

Because this is a Islamic forum, I am going to assume most responses will be from theists. However, if you do happen to be an atheist, then please state this so that I can group the responses accordingly.

Once I have got a series of responses from both groups, I'll go away and analyze the data, then I'll come back here and report the results in a few weeks time. In addition, I will report some results from the scientific literature - in particular, research from the area of positive psychology which is starting to investigate these kinds of big-picture questions in earnest.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[S_87]

Hi and welcome

Hopefully you will get what you need, i will pm you my paragraph later :)

[witness]

Hi,

I hope this helps...

By choosing to be a muslim... my purpose in life is already defined.

ie. To worship and gain the pleasure of our Creator ....in the way He has instructed us to do so.

Any issues i have with my purpose in life will depend on how well (or not) I carry out the task.

All the best.

[Thinker]

You appear to have identified that the theists will simply repeat what their scriptures say as an answer to that question.

I am agnostic. I am sure that if there is a God he would want us to utilise every gift that life gives us to the fullest extent and if there is not a God it would be wasteful, at the least, to not utilise what we have. History clearly sets out our destiny which is to strive forward in a quest to discover the unknown, to improve our quality of life yes but also simply for the thrill of discovery. Some (perhaps all) theists deny that historical evidence of our destiny believing that life is nothing more than a period of time in which they can prove themselves worthy of a place in heaven.

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[witness]

Some (perhaps all) theists deny that historical evidence of our destiny believing that life is nothing more than a period of time in which they can prove themselves worthy of a place in heaven.

Looking further into...

'in the way He has instructed to do so' will actually show (contrary to above posters view) that life is a lot more than a period of time in which to prove oneself of a worthy place in heaven.

It is a time given to recognise The Creator by using all the gifts given by Him...
and if done sincerely this in turn will lead to worshipping Him and gaining His pleasure.

[Thinker]

Come on guys help Adam1 out here, surely your life has a purpose, what is it?

[Karina]

Hi all.

This is my first time on this forum, so just to introduce myself...

My name is Adam. I'm studying a masters degree in psychology at Macquarie University in Australia. As part of my studies, I am undertaking research on what atheists and theists consider to be their purpose in life. Purpose in life is a very interesting topic because it is obviously a major driver of people's behaviour, and I am interested in exploring how the two groups may differ on the topic or how they might in fact be similar.

To get some answers to the question, I was wondering if some people out there might be prepared to write a paragraph or two on what they consider to be their purpose in life.

Because this is a Islamic forum, I am going to assume most responses will be from theists. However, if you do happen to be an atheist, then please state this so that I can group the responses accordingly.

Once I have got a series of responses from both groups, I'll go away and analyze the data, then I'll come back here and report the results in a few weeks time. In addition, I will report some results from the scientific literature - in particular, research from the area of positive psychology which is starting to investigate these kinds of big-picture questions in earnest.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Hi Adam1!

I'm also studying Psychology at uni...Love it! and I'm ALWAYS pondering the subject matter you've posted and I was thinking about making this part of my final year's research topic too. I find it fascinating. :)

I've posted stuff on this before too, you might be able to find some of the threads through my profile.

As you can see I'm an agnostic so may not be too useful or relevent to your research, but if there's anything you want to ask, sure!

Hope you uncover some interesting findings...
K

:)

[جوري]

Allah (SWT) created humans solely that they may worship him.
'I have created jinns and men, only that they may serve me'

Given that food, water, shelter, reproduction and thousands of other matters are inextricably tied to human survival, Islam has transformed all of these into acts of worship, so long as the intention behind them is to better serve God.

Within mankind, God instilled a nature that leads instinctively to his worship alone, provided there is no external interference. This is clear from the hadith " there is none born but is created to his true nature [Islam]. It is his parents that make him a Jew, or a Christian or a Magian...." Muslim Sahih, rendered into English by Abdul-Hamid Siddiqi Hadith no. 6423 . He dispatched messengers from time to time, to displace the webs of idolatry and supersition and guide people to the proper way of worship.
"nor would we send down our wrath until we had sent a messenger to give warning' Quran 17:15

that is it in a nutshell
excerptedby me from ' A history of Quranic text' pg 43, 44


all the best with your project

[Adam1]

thanks for the responses. I have collected the data, and will report back with the results in a few weeks.

[جوري]

Good luck.. wish you an A or its Australian equivalent on your project!

peace