The
Open
Road

Well, here we are again, back at a Thruway for the Open Road,

but this time we have landed at Level 3.

You see, the Open Road just keeps on going,

and we need to keep on learning more and more

because not only are we all different,

but we also change as we get older.

and as we grow we get interested in different things,

and as we learn more about things

we often change our minds.

We can be absolutely sure about something

at one time in our lives,

and then a little while later

decide we were wrong

and be absolutely sure about something different.

Until we change our minds about that.

Life is about learning,

and the important thing is to know

that no matter how clever we are

we can never be right about everything all the time

because even the brainiest person in the world

can never know more than just a tiny bit

of what God has created.

When we look into the sky with the strongest telescopes

we see millions of galaxies,

each containing millions of stars like our milky way,

for as far as the eye can see.

And when we use microscopes and atom-smashers

to look at the tiniest things that we can see,

as small as we go

things just seem to keep breaking into

smaller and smaller pieces.

So what we know about Creation seems to go on forever

in all directions.

We can never find out all there is to know

about what stuff is and how it works,

about what we can see,

hear, smell, touch, taste and measure.

But learning about what things are and how things work

doesn't tell us anything about why they are here.

Learning about the stuff that is around us

doesn't tell us anything about

why we should bother learning it in the first place.

To understand our lives

and why we are here,

we need to learn about our souls and our Creator.

To be happy we need to know the reason for our lives.

We need to know why we are here.

And when we know why we are here we can find out

how to be, how to act, and how to live together.

We can find the best way to behave.

We can find out about that Way of Life we call the Deen.

How should we feel about the way that we look?

Is there anything wrong with being lazy?

What is the point of being honest?

Do we have to keep our promises?

What should we do when people hurt us?

Does it matter if we hurt other people?

Is there anything we can do that doesn't matter?

How important is it to learn stuff?

What about dressing up? Are there different ways to follow the Shari'ah?