A desire for the distant seas... (How to live a purposeful life)

Kemal TEKDEN

"Who is Khizr"?

“Khidr is whoever revitalize your dead soul.”[1]

A writer wrote, “Modern people are like key collectors. They have many keys, but they do not know which door to open.” These words are indeed thought-provoking because our affairs today are just as he stated. In today’s understanding of education, people are more or less “knowledge porters”. They are neither in cognizance of the benefit of the information they acquire nor could they figure out where to put them to use. Thus, a vein knowledge is enough to satisfy them.

In a study conducted at Johns Hopkins University, 7948 students were asked what they considered “very important to them”. While about 16% of the respondents said, “to make a lot of money”, 78% of them stated that “finding purpose and meaning in life” was most important. Thus, they considered this as their most significant shortcoming. A similar survey was conducted in France, and at this time, 89% of the students said that they wanted to have “an idea that they could live for and even die for”.

These thoughts alone portray these young people as excellent because this kind of ideal passion is a prerequisite for not losing faith in the future. These students might have attended some of the best universities in the world, but it is essential to know that whatever education one receives, he must have a cause that motivates him. Otherwise, a person who has no real expectation or purpose in life cannot understand why he is living, nor can he find the power to motivate himself. Just like we see lately, people with means but no goal.

And talking about goals, youth come to mind. Some studies have revealed that the generation born in the 2000s, or popular term, the generation Z is the most pessimistic and unhappy. The reason for is not farfetched. This generation has a severe problem of focus and consistency. They are also general insensitive towards religious values and uncertain about their life expectations and goals. This set of youth is mostly nonconforming individualists. Thus, since they lack rapport with others, they get little help or guidance. As the saying goes, “No wind favours him who has no destined port”.

Anyone conversant with this topic will agree that ideals about life do not just help maximize satisfaction in life. They also keep it dynamic and make it strong against all hurdles. In addition, plan and purpose elevate and strengthen people and add meaning to their lives. Therefore, people’s values are directly proportional to their ideals. Washington Irving was right when he said, “Great minds have purposes; others have wishes.” Because wishes are primarily personal and self-centred, thus, a person who strives only to satisfy his whims and desires can only get the reactions of others, not their appreciation. This is because people are valued and loved in proportion to their service to others. This desire for service should be evaluated within the ideal.

Ideals are spiritual dynamics, which make their possessors strong and resistant.  An Austrian psychiatrist and writer Victor Frankl describes his life and struggle in his book “Man’s Search for Meaning”. He fell into the Nazi camps, and the book he was writing was torn by the soldiers and thrown away. With the solid resolve to rewrite that book, he made it his life’s ideal. The conditions in the camp were unliveable. There was no limit to tortures and ill-treatment, which killed about 95% of the convicted people. However, Victor Frankl was among the few survivors. According to him, the idea of completing the book was the reason for his resilience.

            It is well known that young people, who idealist about education, display great dynamism in various subjects without any difficulty. This is because the passion for attainment lies in their idealism as an igniting factor that pushes them. Like a writer rightly said, “Don’t teach young people how to build ships. Give them the passion for the distant seas. They would build navies.” I have observed this in many young people. That passion is the ideal, the cause! We have a very wise ancestral saying: “learning cannot take place without passion”. Thus, love and passion should be the basis of the education and learning process. This brings about the enthusiasm needed, aids learning, and helps the learner put the information into practice.  

Service with this kind of love and passion will eventually make the service an “ibadah”. That is, he will engage in the service in question with the consciousness of service towards Allah. Perhaps this is what Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar meant when he said, “a Muslim artist does not build, he worships.” For example, the great Ottoman architect Koca Sinan while making his magnificent works, made them with the consciousness of worship. Thus, Suleymaniye Mosque and Selimiye Mosque are masterpieces born out of idealism and worship.

If a scientist considers Allah’s pleasure when he renders his knowledge to the benefit of humankind, then what he does will be regarded as an ibadah.  Thus, if a doctor approaches his patient with the same thought; or a teacher embraces his student with this understanding, his work will have the rulings of ibadah. This is what one can consider “living in worship 24 hours a day”.

Nuretin Topcu rightly said that “The teacher is the craftsman of ideal. This is because a proficient educator sparks up the ideal in many young people and help them grow up as wise figures who will pave the way for humanity. Such work will make both oneself and the recipient of his knowledge happy. A philosophy teacher who claimed to love philosophy so much once said, “I teach in a field that I love very much. But then, they pay me a salary.” Every work done with the thought of love and worship opens the horizons of humanity. In fact, all the great people who paved the way for humankind also had this love, idealism, and cause.

History has often witnessed how the national, religious, and humanitarian ideals instilled into children with much love and passion spur them on. This kind of mind cannot be brainwashed nor deceived by others. They are individuals who can remain independent and free. That’s why they are never liked by the imperialists who want to shape the world, but they are the most important figures of their country. Over the years, I have observed that entrepreneurial young people work tirelessly when they are idealists. Thus, I have insisted on supporting this cause!

I often travel to different cities for foundation work and conferences between my busy schedule in our hospitals and schools. I am frequently asked, “Why are you running around so much?”. I will also answer that it seems that someone put a DYNAMO inside me. If I slow down a bit, it makes me move again.” Yes, that dynamo in me is my ideals. How well the poet (Mehmet Çınarlı) describes my situation:

                        “The flying steed beneath you, no matter how much restraint it, will not stop.”

            I have always thought that I have got a lot to do for my country and my beliefs in my short life. Thus, I can’t pray enough for those who put this dynamo inside me. They have indeed added significant meaning to my life.

Some intellectuals say that it is more challenging to live for the cause than to die for it. Although I realize this difficulty, I must admit that the love and excitement at the core of the ideal made me forget my tiredness and gave me happiness. Objectives have nothing to do with personal and worldly interests. Therefore, even losing like an ant for a lofty purpose should be seen as a victory because even defeat is a victory for this cause. Consequently, I am trying to explain to young people how important it is to wear this dynamo that gives meaning to their lives. Ideals pave the way for the mind. When there is no ideal, the mind keeps dealing with fleeting whims. Therefore, the purpose makes us feel how meaningful our lives are.           

In the light of all these, if I am asked, what is your purpose? I would say “immortality”. “I have found the secret of immortality”, I claim. There is a hadith that I value so much. I termed it the hadith of immortality: “When a man dies, the rewards of his deeds come to an end, but the rewards of three deeds continue: recurring charity, knowledge from which people benefit, and a pious child who prays for him.”  (Muslim, Wasiyah 14; Abu Dawud, Wasaya 14; Tirmidhi, Ahkam 36). I would like to say that I aspire to all three of them. In other words, even if a person dies and he has these, he will still earn as if he is alive. Thus, immortality! The subject of work and knowledge in this hadith is known. As for the righteous child, in my opinion, this is not limited to the child at home. The number of these sons varies in proportion to their power and authority.