What we are going to talk about today is tragedy. We are going to talk about a subject that has been discussed by the greatest religious and philosophical minds of human history. Here is the question why do disastrous things occur to people who appear to be good. And let me give you a warning right away. We don't have a cute clever answer for this question so if you are currently on the receiving end of one of life's many disasters, our hearts go out for you but we don't have a cute little statement that's gonna make it all OK.
Few things annoy me more than people say well it must have happened for a reason. If you're talking to somebody whose child has just been run over by a car or whatever other analogy you're going to use that's not a very good analogy. In order to look at the situation you need to back up and look at a theological view of life. We are going to talk about this from the point of view of Islam but many aspects of this also relate to Christianity and other religions. In the case of Islam the purpose of life is defined by the obligation to serve God. You either agree to serve God or you don't you do as well as you can or as bad as you can. Then you are judged at judgment day for what you have done or not done. The concept of judgment day is very prevalent in world religions and we're certainly not going to get into a discussion of all different religions in this situation but let's just go back to you know you have a right to enter heaven insofar as you submit yourself self to the will of the almighty and carry out his commands. That's it.
Now unfortunately in the modern western world people have brought in issues that are not part of the Koran or even parts of the Bible. Part of them come from the utterly nonsensical statement in EU S Declaration of Independence that people have a right to pursue happiness a statement which was a basically political deal put in because they wanted to leave out property for fear that might give Native Americans and black some ideas they had rights in the new society. So this is a statement that was put in because of a political deal not inspiration from Jesus God whoever.
Now let's just back up a little bit here again you do not have a right to pursue happiness. It is utterly ludicrous and happiness pursued in the eyes of every great philosopher in the eyes of every great religious leader cannot be achieved. The pursuit of happiness is an exercise in futility and stupidity and can be extremely destructive insofar as people think they're supposed to be happy so they start taking large amounts of alcohol and other things like that so they can convince themselves they're happy. You have a right to enter paradise if you follow God cell it's beyond that you have no rights you don't have a right to this or a right to that there is no statement in the Quran that says if you serve Allah if you serve the almighty your life will be completely free from pain. No that is not in there that is not in there.
Now a newsflash to people I don't pretend to be God and I don't pretend to know exactly why this or that tragedy occurred to this or that person. I don't know we don't know and we're not going to presume to claim we do know. Ultimately you see part of this is the toxic after effects and we're not against rational thought and stuff like that but the more nonsensical aspects of the so-called enlightenment the so-called age of reason which really wasn't all that reasonable but the assumption was you were going replace religion with reason and so on. And again we're we're all in favor of people trying to be reasonable and scientific and not believing in nonsense but the issue is that there's a limit to what you can figure out by reason. That's a fact so the there's an element of the unknown. In other words you are here to serve God. Endure
Beyond that the details of what happens to you or what doesn't happen to you who knows but you don't have a right to pound on the table and tell God that you're somehow entitled to some kind of great life. No you don't. This is a illusion of modern politics it is not part of any serious religion It is not so you need to keep that in mind.. You are not promised a paradise here on earth. You are promised in both Christianity and Islam that a life focused on service to God is a life of purpose. Both the Koran and the Bible say that as tragedies occur, you will be given the spirit to keep yourself together emotionally and so on in the face of these disasters.
But in both religions there is the inevitability for many people of martyrdom If you are fighting an unjust government, you may end up being slaughtered. OK that's just a fact and or anything that you may be you may just you know expire from exhaustion trying to do good things whatever you can't. Martyrdom is a part of life and the message about Christianity and Islam is that the when you think about it death is millions of years. Life here is very short and that this is the reality of what you are offered.
We do not in conclusion want to in any way trivialize the appalling nature of suffering on this planet but it's important to put it in perspective and it's important to understand who you are and who God is. So you're going to question God you're going to shake your little fist at him and say that's not fair. Who are you who are you to say and why does your opinion matter? It doesn't. The only thing that matters is serving God. You look out into the night sky there are billions of stars out there that's the world of the master. It is an act of charity for God to even recognize that you exist and offer you the potential for paradise.
So you need to think clearly in terms of your real position and the real position of the universe. You're not here with all sorts of rights or right to this or right to a new car or right to whatever. Those are not real ideas. These are ideas put forth by politicians trying to get your support or brainwash you into accepting their tyrannical rule. These are not theological realities. You stand alone before God and he ultimately decides your future. That is the reality. It may not be in your case a very pleasant experience here but life is a test it is a test of endurance of doing what you were supposed to do under the commandment of the almighty and both Christianity and Islam unequivocally concur that you will be rewarded beyond anything you could ever imagine if you follow the orders that the almighty has given you.