Why join the Rat race?

I asked myself this question as I stood at the peak point of azhar garden. Since childhood I used to think that life was just a straight line. I had made a clear plan to how I wanted to live. Finish higher secondary by 18, finish degree by 21, finish masters by 23, finish PhD by 25, get settled by 26, work on establishing my personal projects by 27, publish post doctoral research by 29...I had spent years in a rigidly structured and precisely defined system of education that a life beyond its line seemed unimaginable. But the most overlooked point was that this structure is not determined by you, but determined by the society or media or the main power structures that rule the social narratives. Your direction in life is nothing but a pre-determined line somebody drew out for you.After finishing my degree, I was directly planning to go to UK for my masters. But I thought what's more important for me is to study my deen. Coming to Egypt gave me a lot of time to think. The education here was not under an institute. It was independent. I travelled a lot. Transversed villages and towns. I travelled deep into the deserts and high into the hills. Met hundreds of people with thousands of stories. These experiences gave me deeper insights into life. I have met people who lived lives that were unimaginable to me. Unthinkable and unfathomable.

Life was not a straight line for them. Since childhood, I always found fascination with geographical locations that are at a higher landscape from the sea level as those places gave the best view. I found great joy in tranversing the slops and steeps to reach and conquer the peak point. It feels like an adventurous activity and fills me with adrenaline. It reminds me of what the Prophet (S) did while he was climbing the mountain of hira. As I sat in the peak point of azhar park alone at night, I could see the Cairo city beaming bright with its majestic might. I saw thousands of people walking, running, talking, smiling, driving and working. People with families and relatives. People with emotions and visions. What are they doing? Why are they doing? How are they doing? These questions found an unjustly vast space in my thoughts as I looked upon the city standing on the peak point. 
It was a meta cognitive plane of thinking in which i felt disconnected from human instincts and inhibitions. As if Looking at the human world as an outside observer even though I was a part and parcel of the human physical reality yearning to transverse it's physical limits.

I saw people unconscious of the fact that they will soon be buried six feet deep under the soil. I saw people who were working really hard to earn money.

I also saw a lot of injustice. On one side of the city, I saw people who were literally breaking their back to earn a few pounds to feed their families while in the other side I saw people who spent millions of designer clothing and luxury cars. They lived in luxury apartments with all modern facilities. Both these people will finally return to Qabr which is nothing but soil. It was a human rat race. People unconscious of reality. Stuck in the matrix of hedonistic pursuits. Running behind material success in hopes it will quench their hedonistic aspirations immortalize their ephemeral existence.

I had a lot of thoughts running in my mind. We all live life subscribing to social narratives and standards. Living upto the expectations of society. Running on a preset clock.

Why pursue this materialistic lifestyle only to leave everything we have worked really hard for when we die? What is the use of having millions of dollars not spending it on any charity when you deeply know it's all useless the day you die?

What is the use of pursuing something that is bound to leave you?

What is the use of spending your entire life trying to fit into a communal tune while Allah made you unique and gave you the freedom to traverse the world? I write this down here to let you know that your life is unique. Don't be a robot living a 24/7 predetermined program. Don't compare your life to other people's success that they flaunt on social media. You are on a totally different journey than them. This is not a liberal utopian idea, but a lesson I learned while learning about the history of scholars who left indelible marks on human history.