Questionnaire about life (for academic purposes)

1. How would you define happiness?Be content with what Allah has blessed me with and live in peace knowing that Allah never abandons those who are devoted to Him.

2. What qualities make a person successful in life?Both life in this world and the hereafter, Righteousness and Piety. Jannah (paradise) is the ultimate success anyone can achieve. Someone may be rich and famous in this world, but if he ends up in Jahannam (hell) how can you say that person is successful?

Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds will have gardens beneath which rivers flow. That is the great attainment.(Al Buruj 11)

Complete surah https://quran.com/85

It was narrated from Anas bin Malik that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “On the Day of Resurrection the disbeliever who lived the most luxurious will be brought, and it will be said: ‘Dip him once in Hell.’ So he will be dipped in it, then it will be said to him: ‘O so- and-so, have you every enjoyed any pleasure?’ He will say: ‘No, I have never enjoyed any pleasure.’ Then the believer who suffered the most hardship and trouble will be brought and it will be said: ‘Dip him once in Paradise.’ So he will be dipped in it and it will be said to him: ‘O so-and-so, have you ever suffered any hardship or trouble?’ He will say: ‘I have never suffered any hardship or trouble.’” (Ibn Majah)

3. What qualities make a person a good person?Righteousness and Piety. Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allah , the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes prayer and gives zakah; [those who] fulfill their promise when they promise; and [those who] are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous. (Al Baqarah 177)

Complete surah https://quran.com/2

Their meat will not reach Allah , nor will their blood, but what reaches Him is piety from you. Thus have We subjected them to you that you may glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and give good tidings to the doers of good. (Al Hajj 37)

Complete surah https://quran.com/22

4. Are there any absolute or objective standards of right and wrong? If so, what are they?Yes. The standards are revealed by Allah Himself through His Prophets and Messengers.

5. At this point, what is the highest priority of your life?I focus on learning and applying more Islamic way of life, since I don't want to ruin my life in the hereafter.

6. If someone asked you to explain to them your philosophy of life (what you live by), what would you say? What reasons would you give to justify your answer?Islam is my way of life. Because it comes from Allah, the One and Only Creator.

7. What is your view concerning the existence of God or the nature of ultimate reality? What reasons would you give to justify your answer?I have never doubted the existence of God. If your mother gives birth of you, her mother gives birth of her and so on - hence all humans have one ancestor. That ancestor, is Adam 'alayhi salaam (the first human, and first prophet of Allah). How did Adam get here (earth) in the first place? How did earth come to being (so that Adam ends up here and not elsewhere)? Some people say we all evolve from single-cell being and the universe is created by a big explosion, big Bang. How did this single-cell come into being? How did the stars which then exploded, come into being? Did they all just pop out of nowhere? Either that, or they are created - which one makes more sense?I have always known that life in this world is temporary. I have seen many deaths in my family and the people I knew, so there is certainly an end to this life. I also have always known there is life after death. The belief about life after death is shared and documented across the globe from the ancient times to the current - regardless the tribes, religion/beliefs and geographical locations. Not everyone believes Paradise and Hell exist, but they do believe there is some kind of life after death. I didn't know why and how I knew, until Allah led me to Islam.

8. In your view, what is the most basic or fundamental human problem?9. Is there a solution to the most basic human problem? If so, what is it?
Many have forgotten our true purpose, that is the source of our problems. Many have forgotten that life in this world is temporary, although there have been deaths among themselves. Poor, rich, famous, unknown - we all die, so there is an end to this life. Many of us have placed values over things that don't last, and ignored the things that really matter. For the sake of temporary enjoyment such as fame, power, wealth - many of us have exchanged the hereafter for this world. The solution comes from Allah, and that is Islam as way of life.

10. What question do you most wish you could answer in your life?I want to know about my life in the hereafter, how will it be. But of course I will not know the answer in this life, only in the next.

I know it's a long answer, but I hope it will make you interested to know more about Islam. Allah has changed me and my life to the better through Islam.
May He guide you to Islam as well.