Complex question - Why are we here?

[illykitty]

One of the things I wonder, if Islam has an answer to, is why did Allah (swt) make us?

I hear the answer is to worship him... But Allah doesn't need worship, does he?

So... I don't know that kind of makes no sense to me.

Does someone have an answer, either from Qu'ran, Hadeeth or speculation (logic)?

 

[dynavert2012]

this is a complicated question and i think no body could answer it a perfect answer but only Allah but all who will answer are just doing efforts
in my opinion Allah doesn't need any thing even our worship, our worship only will benefit us, there's a hadith qudsi, do you know what's the meaning of hadith qudsi? if not here's the definition What is hadith qudsi? | Islamhelpline
back to our subject, the hadith qudsi i wish to say is ""'O My servants, I have forbidden oppression for Myself and have made it forbidden amongst you, so do not oppress one another. O My servants, all of you are astray except for those I have guided, so seek guidance of Me and I shall guide you. O My servants, all of you are hungry except for those I have fed, so seek food of Me and I shall feed you. O My servants, all of you are naked except for those I have clothed, so seek clothing of Me and I shall clothe you. O My servants, you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness of Me and I shall forgive you. O My servants, you will not attain harming Me so as to harm Me, and you will not attain benefiting Me so as to benefit Me. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as pious as the most pious heart of any one man of you, that would not increase My kingdom in anything. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as wicked as the most wicked heart of any one man of you, that would not decrease My kingdom in anything. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to rise up in one place and make a request of Me, and were I to give everyone what he requested, that would not decrease what I have, any more than a needle decreases the sea if put into it. O My servants, it is but your deeds that I reckon up for you and then recompense you for, so let him who finds good praise Allah and let him who finds other than that blame no one but himself.' Muslim

so our good/ bad deeds will not benefit / harm Allah, so he doesn't need any of it
so the worship will benefit us not him, so why he created us? to worship him why? to enter the paradise what he gains from that? only him knows but i can say let's think about parents, why they seek a baby? some people how has problem of Begetting they pay thousands of dollars just to be allowed to get a baby although they can adopt another of orphans but why they did that? why to get a baby and bear all of his troubles till s/he becomes adult and then s/he can be too aggressive to their parents and they knew that and when you told them that they tell you a smile of baby equals more than this whole life, it's something inside them which nobody could express this desire except it cause pleasure to them to have a son or daughter, just try to think why we pay lots of money to our kids to educate them to heal them, to.. to ...

for sure i'm not comparing Allah with his creatures subhan allah but our worship pleased Allah he likes to see us loving him, respecting him, worshiping him, fearing him, thinking about him, remembering him, scrifing for him,..
why i said that because of another hadith "Bukhari narrated in his book from Abu Huraira that the Prophet (s) said, "Allah, Almighty and Exalted, has angels who seek the people of Dhikr. If they find the people of Dhikr they encompass them until they reach the first heaven. And Allah asks his angels, 'What are my servants doing?' The angels say, 'O Allah, they are praising You and glorifying You and they are making Dhikr.' Allah says, 'Did they see Me?' The angels answer, 'No, they didn't see You.' Then Allah asks, 'How would it be if they were to see Me?' The angels reply, 'O Allah, if they were to see You, they would be making more praise of You and more glorification of You and more Dhikr of You.' And Allah asks 'What are they asking for?' The angels say, 'They are asking for Your Paradise.' Allah asks, 'Did they see My Paradise?' The angels answer, 'No, Our Lord.' Allah continues, 'How would it be if they saw My Paradise?' The angels reply, 'They would be more attracted and more eager to reach it.' Then Allah asks them, 'Of what are they afraid?' And the angels say, 'They are afraid of hellfire.' and Allah asks, 'How would it be if they saw my Hellfire?' and they reply, 'They would be running more and more away from it and asking more and more protection from it.' Then Allah said,' I am making you all My witnesses: that I am forgiving them of all their sins.' Then one angel asked, 'O our Lord, there is among these people one who is not from them, he came only to ask for something from one of them.' Allah said, 'Those are my beloved ones who are making My Dhikr. Anyone who comes into their circle will be forgiven, and I am forgiving him.''

also another hadith Verily Allah boasts of the people of Arafat before the people of Heaven (angels) saying: ‘Look to my servants who have come to Me disheveled and dusty.’”

hope this helps

and i believe the most correct answer is Allah knows the best

 

[Cordoba]

Hello and welcome to Islam DIR

You are right in saying that God does not need our worship

I would like to add that God created us for His Love and Mercy.

Before the creation of Adam, God created angels in a way that they can only obey God

He created human beings with a free will, as they can choose to believe or disbelieve, and if they believe they have the free will to obey or disobey God's Guidance

It's a different relation with God from that of angels, as it is a voluntary relation of love and obedience, not an obligatory relation of obedience

So to summarize, one of God's attributes is that He is The Most Merciful, and He created us for His Mercy

 

[Gharib]

One of the things I wonder, if Islam has an answer to, is why did Allah (swt) make us?

I hear the answer is to worship him... But Allah doesn't need worship, does he?

So... I don't know that kind of makes no sense to me.

Does someone have an answer, either from Qu'ran, Hadeeth or speculation (logic)?

Allah was an unknown treasure and he wanted to be known so he created his creation.

Hadith Qudsi - “I was a Treasure unknown then I desired to be known so I created a creation to which I made Myself known; then they knew Me.”

The above Hadith does not contradict with Quranic verses and other Ahadith and its meanings are true (ma‘nahu Sahih) and is in total agreement from the following Quranic verse.

Quran - I created the Jinns and humankind only that they may worship Me (51:56).

Ibn Abbas (RA) explained the meaning of the above verse as " I created the Jinns and humankind only that 'they may know me' (meaning when we know about our Creator, then only we will worship him in a manner explained by his Prophets).

 

[FearGod]

One of the things I wonder, if Islam has an answer to, is why did Allah (swt) make us?

I hear the answer is to worship him... But Allah doesn't need worship, does he?

So... I don't know that kind of makes no sense to me.

Does someone have an answer, either from Qu'ran, Hadeeth or speculation (logic)?

Good question illykitty.

Your question why we are here is different than why we have been created ?

God created everything as to be under his control.
First we have to know that worship doesn't mean praying,otherwise there is no need for the word praying"salat",but worship is complete obedience to god and our act of asking god for help sometimes or to pray is showing that we are obedients and worshippers.

As brother Cordoba explained that the angels were created with no "free will",so they are obedients to god.

Jinns and humans were created with "free will" as to obey or disobey.

Iblis was the father of Jinns as Adam is the father of humans,so when god asked Iblis to prostrate for Adam,Iblis refused to obey.

Adam did the same thing when god tested him and Eve as not to approach one tree,they did disobey and god decided to send Adam and Eve to earth to test each soul as well as Jinns,some Jinns are obedients and others are disobedients similar to humans souls there is good soul (obedient)and a bad soul(disobedient).

God make his test for obedience on earth,such as don't drink wine,don't eat pork,don't commit an adultery,don't murder etc,so who obey is worshipping god.

Also god asked us to obey our parents as they did care about us till we grow up

“And We have enjoined upon man [care] for his parents. His mother carried him, [increasing her] in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning is in two years. Be grateful to Me and to your parents; to Me is the [final] destination.”[Quran 31:14]

God may guide whom he loves,such as the merciful ones.

i'll show 2 examples of 2 persons that god had guided and you can realize by yourself that they are so kind persons and desrved his guidance.

[youtube]7492jQ_Agyg[/youtube]
Dr. Laurence Brown - How I Came To Islam - Interfaith Issues - YouTube

[youtube]K-2LhltFzaU[/youtube]
convert to islam story...funny yet amazing - YouTube

 

[Rational_Mind]

One of the things I wonder, if Islam has an answer to, is why did Allah (swt) make us?

I hear the answer is to worship him... But Allah doesn't need worship, does he?

So... I don't know that kind of makes no sense to me.

Does someone have an answer, either from Qu'ran, Hadeeth or speculation (logic)?

In 1892 a Conference of Great Religions was held in which learned people of Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, and Aryas were invited to present the excellences of a true religion to share their teachings with everyone. The objective was that a true religion would be able to best answer the deepest questions of mankind's heart.

1. The physical, moral and spiritual states of man.
2. What is the state of man after death, i.e. the hereafter?
3. What is the true purpose of man’s existence on earth and how can it be achieved?
4. What are the affects of one’s deeds in this life and the afterlife?
5. What are the sources of divine knowledge?

The Promised Messiah (as) answered wrote a speech to be delivered on this occasion. After receiving prophetic revelation from God, on the 21st of December 1896, a few days before the conference, the founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement publicly declared that his essay would be the most overpowering one. The revelation was "God is with you, and God stands where you stand. This is a metaphor conveying the assurances of Divine support.”

Below is an excerpt in in regards to your question.

The Object of Man’s Life and the Means of its Attainment

Different people, being short-sighted and lacking high resolve, appoint different purposes for their lives and limit themselves to worldly goals and ambitions. But the purpose that God Almighty has appointed for man in His Holy Word is as follows:

That is, I have created men and jinn so that they may know Me and worship Me. Thus the true purpose of man’s life is the worship of God, His understanding and complete devotion to Him. It is obvious that man is not in a position to appoint the purpose of his own life, for he does not come into the world of his own accord, nor will he depart therefrom of his own will. He is a creature and the One Who created him and invested him with better and higher faculties than those of all other animals, has also appointed a purpose for his life.

Whether anyone penetrates to it or not, the purpose of man’s creation without a doubt is the worship and the understanding of God and complete devotion to Him. At another place God Almighty has said in the Holy Quran:

That is, the religion which provides true understanding of God and prescribes His true worship is Islam. Islam is inherent in man’s nature and man has been created in accord with Islam. That is the everlasting faith. This means that God has desired that man should devote himself to His worship and obedience and love with all his faculties. That is why He has bestowed on man all the faculties that are appropriate for Islam.

These verses have very wide meaning, a part of which we have set out in the third part of the answer to the first question. Here we wish to state briefly that the true purpose of the internal and external limbs and faculties that have been bestowed on man is the understanding of God and His worship and His love. That is why, despite occupying himself with diverse projects in this life, man does not find his true welfare except in God. Having had great wealth, having held high office, having become a great merchant, having ruled a great kingdom, having been known as a great philosopher, in the end he departs from all these involvements with great regret. His heart constantly rebukes him on his total preoccupation with worldly affairs and his conscience never approves his cunning and deceit and illicit activities. An intelligent person can appreciate this problem in this way also, that the purpose of everything is to be determined by its highest performance beyond which its faculties cannot operate. For instance, the highest function of a bullock is ploughing or irrigation or transportation. Its faculties are not adapted to anything else.

Therefore, the purpose of a bullock’s life are just these three things. It has no power to do anything else. But when we look into the faculties of man and try to discover what is their highest reach, we find that he seeks after God, the Exalted. He desires to become so devoted to God that he should keep nothing as his own and all that is his should become God’s. He shares with the other animals his natural urge towards eating, sleeping etc. In industry some animals are far ahead of him. Indeed the bees extracting the essence of different types of flowers produce such excellent honey that man has not yet been able to match them. It is obvious, therefore, that the highest reach of man’s faculties is to meet God, the Exalted. Thus the true purpose of his life is that the window of his heart should open towards God.

Philosophy of Teachings of Islam

 

[John Martin]

Dear Sir, my own discovery so far is that the primary purpose of our life is to realize our unity with God, with creation and with one another; then to live that understanding in our relationships with God, with creation and with human beings.

 

[Union]

Dear Sir, my own discovery so far is that the primary purpose of our life is to realize our unity with God, with creation and with one another; then to live that understanding in our relationships with God, with creation and with human beings.

Well said . Make sense a lot .

 

[Union jack]

Dear Sir, my own discovery so far is that the primary purpose of our life is to realize our unity with God, with creation and with one another; then to live that understanding in our relationships with God, with creation and with human beings.

Perhaps this SWT suffix provides a clue to a conjugal creation:
SWT This is the Acronym for "Subhanahu wa ta'ala" meaning "Allah is pure of having partners and He is exalted from having a son."

 

[Matemkar]

love

 

[illykitty]

Honestly, the answers given were good but I can't say that I quite understand still... Myabe it's something that I never will. But I liked the answer of love given by Matemkar.

It's just really hard to grasp, we only know of human concepts and to know why the all mighty (swt) would do the things he does is difficult. VERY difficult. I need to pray on this.

Thank you brothers.

 

[seeking4truth]

Allah has the attribute creator so He creates. It is not a 'sleeping' attribute.

I like to think along the lines of 'why does an artist create art, a musician write music etc. It is a quality that they have and they enjoy putting that artistic urge into practice.

 

[TashaN]

One of the things I wonder, if Islam has an answer to, is why did Allah (swt) make us?

I hear the answer is to worship him... But Allah doesn't need worship, does he?

So... I don't know that kind of makes no sense to me.

Does someone have an answer, either from Qu'ran, Hadeeth or speculation (logic)?

And [mention, O Muhammad], when your Lord said to the angels, "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority." They said, "Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we declare Your praise and sanctify You?" Allah said, "Indeed, I know that which you do not know." (Quran 2:30)

Ofcourse mere worship as you might precieve it doesn't make sense at all since God doesn't need mere human beings to worship him, angels is quiet suffiecient for that matter, and they don't even sin like us.

Worship is more than simply doing rituals or prayers. Worship in Islam is an umbrella for everything we do in our life, even going for work, eating food, having sex, because we are doing all of this to be successors for God on this planet--because he WANTED us to be here.

To put it in a simple way, God want to see what we are capable of doing after acquiring intellect which separate us from animals and other beings.

 

[illykitty]

Sorry to revive this thread, but I just came upon a video lecture that is mind blowing. I understand this topic so much better now (not perfectly, of course, but it's clear now).

[youtube]wjnTngSxlXo[/youtube]

I thought I'd put the video up for everyone to see, especially if someone is exploring Islam and the Qur'an and has similar questions and thoughts, I think this answers a lot.

 

[TashaN]

Sorry to revive this thread, but I just came upon a video lecture that is mind blowing. I understand this topic so much better now (not perfectly, of course, but it's clear now).

[youtube]wjnTngSxlXo[/youtube]

I thought I'd put the video up for everyone to see, especially if someone is exploring Islam and the Qur'an and has similar questions and thoughts, I think this answers a lot.

I'm glad you found this on your own. Although i was born a Muslim but i re-discovered Islam when i found Dr. Lang's books. His views had a great impact on how i view Islam and how i view my life. I recommend that you buy all the three books. You will definitely enjoy them. You can start by his most important book imho, Even Angels Ask. All the best.


Peace.

 

[ametist]

Hello and welcome to Islam DIR

You are right in saying that God does not need our worship

I would like to add that God created us for His Love and Mercy.

Before the creation of Adam, God created angels in a way that they can only obey God

He created human beings with a free will, as they can choose to believe or disbelieve, and if they believe they have the free will to obey or disobey God's Guidance

It's a different relation with God from that of angels, as it is a voluntary relation of love and obedience, not an obligatory relation of obedience

So to summarize, one of God's attributes is that He is The Most Merciful, and He created us for His Mercy

Yes. I agree with the explanation above. Nice, short way to compile the answer to this question. Thanks.

 

[Pastek]

Sorry to revive this thread, but I just came upon a video lecture that is mind blowing. I understand this topic so much better now (not perfectly, of course, but it's clear now).

[youtube]wjnTngSxlXo[/youtube]

I thought I'd put the video up for everyone to see, especially if someone is exploring Islam and the Qur'an and has similar questions and thoughts, I think this answers a lot.

He seems to be a nice person, talking with his heart.
The beginning when he talked about his father and the suffering in general was sad, feels like he almost cry (and me with him)

 

[illykitty]

He seems to be a nice person, talking with his heart.
The beginning when he talked about his father and the suffering in general was sad, feels like he almost cry (and me with him)

Yes, he sounds very nice and sincere, one of the reasons I like this video. Also, he thought many things I thought too and asked the same questions. Talking from the heart does wonders. More people need to do this.

I felt like crying too. I don't know domestic violence but had many hardships so empathise with his pain.