6.4.1 DEFINITION OF THE MISSION, mafhuum risaalat al insaan

‘Ibadat is the purpose of creation. It in turn defines the mission of humans on earth. The mission of the human is therefore to undertake ‘ibadat. A human who establishes ‘ibadat is successful in the mission. The concept of ‘ibadat in Islam is very wide. It includes virtually all human endeavor and all human activities. Closely related to ‘ibadat is the concepts of istikhlaf (vicegerancy of the human on earth) and and isti’imar (building of a material civilization on earth). Both istikhlaf and isti’mar are part of the mission of humans on earth.

6.4.2 SCOPE OF THE MISSION, huduud al risaalat

The scope of the human mission is as wide as the scope of ‘ibadat. ‘Ibadat in Islam is comprehensive embracing all human endeavors done in sincerity and without disobeying any of Allah’s commands. Although every human endeavor can be ‘ibadat, only those undertaken with the correct intention, niyyat, are rewarded as ‘ibadat. An act of ‘ibadat can therefore not be accidental. It must be a consequence of a deliberate choice and intention. The human mission covers responsibility in the family, in the community, and in the eco-system.

6.4.3 DURATION OF THE MISSION

The duration of human responsibility covers the present and the future. It does not include the past, no human can be held accountable for actions that they were not a party to. While humans undertake work to build and maintain a civilization today they must have a sense of responsibility for generations to come. The benefits of today must be balanced against the harm of tomorrow. The continuity of the mission requires that a human is engaged in a continuous way in fulfilling the mission. Since the mission is of finite duration, humans must be aware that there is accountability, hisaab, at the end with rewards and punishments. The nature and level of responsibility for the mission varies with time in two ways: chronological age and calendar time. Children, adults, and the elderly have different responsibilities. Different epochs in human history have posed different challenges and hence different levels of responsibility. With passage of time, humans tend to forget or neglect the mission. The constant challenge before humans is to resist forces of evil that take them away from their mission.

6.4.4 SUCCESS, falah

The Qur’an has used the word falah to refer to the success of humans in their mission. Success can be on earth or in the hereafter.  Complete success must be both on earth and the hereafter. Success on earth is a pre-requisite for success in the hereafter. However it is possible to succeed on earth but commit mistakes towards the end of earthly life that lead to failure and regret in the hereafter. Falah includes material success on earth and spiritual success. Both types of success depend on human effort on earth. It is a unique feature of Islam that all human endeavors that are good contribute to both types of success at the same time. Falah can be achieved by having a strong iman, tazkiyat, taqwat, ta’at, dhikr Allah, ‘amal salih, amr al ma'aruf, nahy al munkar, infaq, tawbat, and jihad.

6.4.5 FAILURE, khaibat

Failure at the individual level is not worshipping Allah as was enjoined. A community can fail if it does not follow and uphold the laws of Allah that are needed to guide human action. The failure of the human in his mission manifests as transgression dhulm, kufr, and ma’asiyat. Humans can fail in their mission as a result of internal motivation or external motivation. Internal motivation is due to innate evil promptings in the person that predispose to sinning or neglect of duty. External motivation is due to shaitan who presenting in the form of a human or jinn misleads the human and leads him or her to err. Most cases of human failure are due to the work of shaitan.