Author: M. Akbar Omari
The importance of goal and goal setting in life (Part 6)
Golden Models for the Modern Muslim
At the very beginning, without any preface, I sincerely advise you, dear reader, to manage your day wisely. Divide your hours, make use of your minutes, and take advantage of your seconds. Along this path, seek forgiveness for your sins and remember Allah. Prepare yourself for the journey that happens only once.
Live today with joy, pleasure, safety, and peace. Be content with your livelihood, your spouse, your children, your job, your home, your knowledge, and even your social status and position.
(فَخُذْ مَا آتَيْتَكَ وَكُنْ مِنَ الشَّاكِرِينَ) Translation: “Take what Allah has given you and be among the grateful.”
You can spend this very day free of sorrow, grief, dissatisfaction, hatred, and envy.
Write a simple phrase on the page of your heart, and also record it in the notebook of your life: “Your day is your day.”
If you have eaten warm and delicious bread today, will the stale bread of yesterday or the bread that has not yet come tomorrow harm you?
If you have drunk sweet water today, why should the salty or bitter water of yesterday—or the unpleasant, warm water of tomorrow—sadden you?
Goal-oriented people possess great thoughts—thoughts capable of turning the darkness of the world into light. They have practical and effective plans for their goals and desires; in other words, they strive and work hard.
From the perspective of Islamic teachings, truly goal-oriented people are those who never live a single moment without a plan and never waste their time. Our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Wise people hold themselves accountable and work for their eternal life, but foolish people make themselves slaves to their desires and hopes, having no plan or effort for their lives.”
Examples of Truly Goal-Oriented Individuals
If you wish to seek inspiration and achieve great goals, studying the lives of people whose likes history has rarely witnessed can be of great benefit.
The influence of these personalities continues not only in their own time but also for generations thereafter.
Moreover, when you review today’s sciences and investigate their historical roots, you will realize that many of these sciences were either founded or developed by Muslim scholars. Here are some of them and the fields attributed to them:
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Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi – Algebra
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Jabir ibn Hayyan – Chemistry
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Ibn al-Baytar – Pharmacology
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Thabit ibn Qurrah – Differentiation and Integration
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Muslim ibn Hajjaj – Morphology (Sarf)
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Abu al-Aswad al-Du’ali – Grammar (Nahw)
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Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi – Prosody (‘Arud)
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Ibn al-Mu‘tazz – Rhetorical Ornamentation (Badi‘)
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Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah – Psychology
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Al-Kindi – Philosophy
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Ibn Khaldun – Sociology
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Thabit ibn Qurrah – Statistics (Hisā’)
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Al-Qazwini – Scientific methods of teaching meteorology
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Imam al-Shafi‘i – Principles of Jurisprudence (Usul al-Fiqh)
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Shu‘bah ibn al-Hajjaj or Yahya ibn Sa‘id al-Qattan – Criticism and Authentication of Narrators (Jarh wa Ta‘dil)
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Ibn al-Haytham – Optics
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Prophet Idris (peace be upon him) – Arithmetic
Know that the early tools and sciences of humanity were always accompanied by religious and spiritual understanding. For example, Prophet Dawud (peace be upon him) is regarded as the first to make armor; Prophet Nuh (peace be upon him) as the builder of the first ship; Prophet Idris (peace be upon him) as the inventor of sewing and writing with a pen.
These accounts are not only part of our religious heritage but also symbols of human creativity and innovation throughout history.
Each of us must see ourselves in a position where we gain a precise understanding of who we are and realize that as dependent beings, we are in constant need of knowledge and technology.
These needs include chemistry, arithmetic, pharmacology, morphology, grammar, rhetoric, philosophy, statistics, meteorology, sociology, medicine, electricity, tailoring, and other sciences and technologies essential for daily life.
The question is: Have we been able to meet all our needs? Have we remained steadfast in our efforts? And how many times have we recovered our strength and endurance after failure?
Setting goals can indeed be challenging. The Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), also faced numerous challenges in his mission of calling people to Islam.
He and his companions endured social and economic pressures and sanctions, preaching secretly for years until the divine command for open invitation was revealed.
Despite resistance and many obstacles, the Prophet steadfastly continued his mission with perseverance and faith.
Among the methods used by his people to oppose his message were:
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Mockery, humiliation, ridicule, and denial:
Before he openly began his mission, they called him by the most honorable titles such as As-Sadiq (the Truthful) and Al-Amin (the Trustworthy).
But once he started his mission, they began to label him as madman (majnun), sorcerer (sahir), and poet (sha‘ir)—even though the Messenger of Allah was unlettered and had never learned to read or write. Sometimes they even called him liar (kadhdhāb).
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Casting doubts into public minds:
They attempted, through foolish and childish tactics, to prevent people from embracing the new faith and from listening to the Word of Allah.
Such attempts could have limited influence, but never a decisive one—because how could they ever neutralize the divine words that descended from above the Throne?
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Torturing and persecuting new converts:
