Questioning Identity
March 30, 2026
“Who am I? What is my purpose in life?” These are questions that arise for many people when exploring their identity, self worth, and purpose.
To understand your humanity is to understand that you are an integration of the body and soul that creates balance. To know your identity you should know both your body and soul, as said by Al- Balkhi (Saeed et al., 2024). This is where, in terms of identity, Allah created us all to be diverse and unique. We all come from and have different cultures, ethnicities, and languages. “O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.”— Surah Al-Ḥujurāt (49:13).
Sincerity in your Journey
Everyone is unique in their journey and has a moral integrity to follow which is expressed in how sincere, humble, and respectful we are. “The servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk upon the earth humbly, and when the ignorant address them harshly, they say words of peace.”— Surah Al-Furqān (25:63).
An individual’s purpose in life is to worship and connect to something in their life; centralizing worship, while doing things with sincerity in hopes of reward, such as through giving in charity or volunteering at a seniors home. Every action comes with a responsibility. With the varying responsibilities you have at the different stages in life, you may experience events that can disorient your nafs, causing you to possibly be hard on yourself and others. But its important to always remember, everyone has a personal responsibility to themselves, has moral accountability and duty towards their own actions.
It’s important to know that while you might have your life planned out, you will always have to learn to adapt. Allah (swt) created a path for each person since the breath of life was placed within them. “Indeed, all things We created with predestination.” — Surah Al-Qamar (54:49).
You Belong and have Purpose
As someone goes through major changes in the different stages of life such as, childhood, the teenage years, and adulthood, we all experience things that support the understanding of morality. Our moral compass or understanding of judgments and decisions in life adapt as we experience more things that shape our purpose (van den Enden et al., 2018).
For many people this topic of purpose isn’t really something that they think about on a daily basis, and for others, it can be something that takes over their entire life–causing them to fall into an existential crisis. An existential crisis is when you are questioning difficult concepts in your life such as, the meaning of life, and your individual purpose that can be triggered through events you’ve experienced, or the realization that life is finite (Schnipke & MacKay, 2023).
We are all very different as people and may encounter individuals where their purpose is not yet found but it isn’t your responsibility to facilitate this. There are always external influences that shape a person, such as their education, upbringing, and current environment. But for every person that Allah (swt) created, there is a balance in every soul and there is spiritual equality. “….for every good man there is a good woman…”- Surah Al Ahzab 33:35.
References
Arweck, E. (2024). Across the worlds of Islam: Muslim identities, beliefs, and practices from Asia to America. Journal of Contemporary Religion, 39(3), 592–594. https://doi.org/10.1080/13537903.2024.2444806
Saeed, S. I., Ahmed, J. O., Kakamad, K., & Najmadden, Z. (2024). Abu Zayd Ahmed ibn Sahl Al-Balkhi (850–934): A pioneer in the field of psychotherapy and mental health. Cureus, 16(8), e67998. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.67998