Is There
Meaning
to Life
By M. Dawud Alcox
“Hey everyone. I killed myself and
my family.” This was the shocking
introduction to a suicide note posted
by Farhan Towhid, a depressed American
who lost all meaning in life and
decided it wasn’t worth living.
As theists, believing in Allah and His
wisdom-laden plans, we know that
everything in His vast creation has
significance and purpose. This equips
the believers to be able to cope with
life’s various forms of suffering even
in extremely difficult situations. On
the other hand, those who claim
there is no meaning to life often hold
cynical world views and eventually
fall into escapism, pessimism, and
depression.
In this article, we will investigate the
effects that nihilism can have on our
lives and how it can lead to depression
and many times suicide. We
will also explore how belief in God
provides an ultimate underpinning
meaning to life and is conducive to
true contentment even in unfavorable
situations.
To discuss this topic, we will first
need a basic understanding of
‘meaning’ along with a few examples.
The basic dictionary definition
is “the thing one intends to convey
or a significant quality especially
the implication of a hidden or
special significance.” For example, if
we take the word ‘apple’, we will see
that its letters together signify the
concept of a specific type of fruit.
“Did you eat the apple?” The word
acts as a link between the specific
fruit and the perceiving mind. If the
very same letters are reversed and
someone asks about eating the elppa,
our minds would not be linked to
the intended meaning. The word is a
symbol for the meaning.
There is an interesting quote from
Zhuangzi, a famous Chinese philosopher,
explaining how words are
simply mediums: “The fish trap exists
because of the fish. Once you have
gotten the fish you can forget the
trap. The rabbit snare exists because
of the rabbit. Once you have gotten
the rabbit, you can forget the snare.
Words exist because of meaning.
Once you’ve gotten the meaning, you
can forget the words. Where can I find
a man, who has forgotten words so I
can talk to him?”
Symbols, however, are not always
16 July – August 2021 | AL-MADINAH