I am not a Muslim myself, but I have meditated for many years. It does help one discover a purpose, but doesn't have to. Simply because there is no explicit theology involved in meditation for Westerners does not mean there is nothing spiritual about it, or that what we call the "divine" by many names finds its way to us whether by prayer, meditation or anything else. It is also important to recognize meditation, like prayer, are sustained acts of concentration. In Christianity, it is called "contemplative prayer." See The Cloud of Unknowing for a good example.

Also, popularized meditation is often divorced or extracted from its religious context, so it's important to remember meditation is not by itself. It is used in many Eastern religions, such as Zen, Theravada, Vajryana. There are also forms of heart-based meditation as well as prayer.

My girlfriend is a Muslim and a sufi. In her opinion (paraphrasing), is that what is most important in prayer is our relationship with God. This is more important than any theology. It is a living relationship with the divine. Anything that cultivates that is priority for a Sufi. For her, she was prescribed from young to do prayers called zhikr, along with the traditional salah five times a day. She felt extreme joy in both, but she actually was instructed that zhikr is more important because it is a direct communion with God. She now does traditional Buddhist meditation as well as zhikr, and she finds similarities between the two. Another form of concentration is a silent meditation, or prayer, which we both practice. There are many forms of prayer and meditation, and one may elevate you while another does not, but it doesn't mean that other methods are to be disrespected or dismissed before practicing them.

Elevating prayer above other methods is fine for your personal practice, but not as an over-arching claim. Hindu mystics are able to enter into ecstatic states, some called samadhi, through their techniques. Meanwhile, the whirling dervishes may enter into a similar state of union with God through their own techniques of dance. It's just not so simple. And that is a good thing. God is mysterious and ineffable. We should be humble and respectful of the ways God allows others to come to him.