What does the Islamic religion mean to you? - Questions [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

What does the Islamic religion mean to you?

How does your religion
help you find meaning in life? I look to it as my teacher in every aspect of life - as a means of guidance in everything
I do. And it is a teacher that constantly urges its students (Muslims) to better
themselves and the world around them.

It provides a cohesive worldview - one with limitless depth and that provides for
the short term (my lifetime), the long term (future generations), and the very long
term (afterlife). It acts as a balance between the extremes we often see enacted
in the world and operates on the twin principles of justice and mercy. Through asking
me to submit to God, it teaches me to not fear or submit to anything or anyone else
- to put aside all fears and fetters that inhibit good actions. In other words it
provides a very potent kind of freedom to my life - a freedom fused with responsibility,
not the kind of freedom that is divorced from responsibility and is in fact a kind
of vagrancy (that kind of freedom always leads to a dead end and ends up imprisoning
or shackling you).