The Search for Meaning in Modern Life
In light of the philosophical history that man has gone through in the search for the meaning of life in the modern world, and how this life has been shaped and the history of the influences and historical ideas that have transformed through the past times to what we are now, we seek the “question of meaning” from its modernist perspective and the extent of its need and nature, and we also discuss the crisis of the contemporary self and its existential disorientation and the centralization of the existential value of personal emotions in a sacred narcissistic framework that has received great popularity today. And we conclude with the true believer’s meaning and the location of true love and its doctrinal position within the believer’s soul.
When we look at the simple daily life that any human being enjoys, from (eating, drinking, sports, sleep, writing, reading, etc.), we find that he has the ability to persuade others with convincing arguments to prove the benefit of these actions, their meaning and importance, but the contemporary man faces a great difficulty when he contemplates this benefit and the meaning of this meaning and the general framework of this life through which these actions appear reasonable and meaningful.
Man is born into a life that is not of his choice, and with the growth of his awareness, he faces the questions of life and its basic questions (where did I come from? What should I do? And where is destiny?), No matter how he ignores these major questions or invents false answers for them, he will stand and must be confused before death, and this panic and fear is what drives the modern man to consider all contemplation of death trivial and even pathological. On the other hand, all religions are interested in preparing people for death, because it is considered the best answer to the importance of the question of meaning. The soul always seeks what is desired, and when it gets it, it soon gets bored and then seeks another desired, and so on in a constant swing.
Now, we are witnessing an unprecedented increase in the search for meaning in contemporary life, especially with the emergence of secularization, and this problem is exacerbated the closer we get to the present moment. What is clearly shown to us now is the increase in complaints about (loss of the self) or the feeling of emptiness or the lack of a goal or the loss of self-esteem.
Contemporary relationships, as noted by “Brooks”, are obsessed with reconciling everything, between everything in life, educating children and caring for them, achieving social and professional success, and above all, stabilizing these equations over the long term, and all of this has a crueler and more painful face, which is loss and death, which makes man the fuel of life. And in fact, by thinking, searching and looking at the true meaning, we find that death is the main reason for life and the main reason for the search for the meaning of life.
Islam emphasizes that affection and mercy are what lasts, especially between spouses (and this is the opposite of what we are now broadcasting from the foundations of marriage that contradict the healthy foundations of Islam), and the Muslim is obligated to pray, and one of its goals is to remember death and empty the negative charge that fills the life of the human soul, and thus the clear and large gaps of this fragility that we suffer from in this age, an age characterized by abundance, and it is what makes us unable to even look at the main goal of life. When examining the Islamic narrative, we find that the goal and the end is God, and this is an existential foundation that is capable of establishing a solid infrastructure for true knowledge, virtuous ethics, and a coherent system for a mature society. “This is the opposite of what we live in our time.” It defines the meaning of human existence (And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship) and its relationship with the universe and its destiny (Indeed, all that is in the heavens and the earth will come to the Most Merciful as a servant).
