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Fatwas / Fatawa from America / What is the purpose of creation?

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What is the purpose of creation? ما هي الغاية من الخلق؟

Answer

Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions.

 As to what follows:

In response to your question, we say, and with Allah Almighty lies all success:

You should know – may Allah bless you – that Allah, the Exalted and Almighty, only created the creation of jinn and mankind for His worship:

 “And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.” [Al-Dhariyat 51:56]

 This worship that they were created for is His tawhid, which consists of knowing Him, loving Him, turning to Him in repentance, devotion to Him and turning away from everything besides Him. It also consists of carrying out what He commanded and refraining from what He prohibited. It is for this reason that Allah Almighty sent all the messengers. He Almighty said:

“And We did not send any messenger before you except that We revealed to him that, ‘There is no deity except Me, so worship Me.’” [Al-Anbiya’ 21:25]

The more a slave increases in knowledge of his Lord, the more he increases in tawhid, worship, turning in repentance, love and veneration of Him. Moreover, the knowledge and tawhid of Allah, the Exalted and Almighty, consist of three fundamental issues:

 The first: Knowledge of Him that He is the Creator, Sovereign, Controller of affairs and Provider. He Almighty said:

“Unquestionably, His is the creation and the command; blessed is Allah, Lord of the worlds.” [Al-A`raf 7:54]

“To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and all that us therein, and He is Able to do all things.” [Al-Ma’idah 5:120]

 “Indeed, it is Allah who is the All-Provider, Owner of Power, the Most Strong.” [Al-Dhariyat 51:58]

 The scholars call this kind of knowledge Tawhid of Lordship, which is firmly settled and clear in the minds of creation. All civilizations have unanimously agreed on acknowledging it, and whoever denied it, it was only out of their arrogance and haughtiness. Allah Almighty said:

  “And they rejected them, while their own selves were convinced thereof, out of injustice and haughtiness.” [Al-Naml 27:14]

 The second: Knowledge of Him, the Exalted, that there is nothing deserving of worship besides Him, which is done by singling Him out in worship. So nothing is worshiped besides Him. Prostration, slaughtering and swearing are not done except for Him. None is invoked upon besides Him. None is asked for help or appealed for aid besides Him. Nothing is ruled by besides His legislation and nothing is obeyed except His command. This is the very implication of His statement:

  “It is You we worship and You we ask for help.” [Al-Fatihah 1:5]

 “And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him.” [Al-Isra’ 17:23]

  “And associate none as a partner in the worship of his Lord.” [Al-Kahf 18:110]

  “And He makes none to share in His legislation.” [Al-Kahf 26:110]

 Furthermore, it is this that Allah sent the messengers with. Allah Almighty said:

  “And We did not send any messenger before you except that We revealed to him that, ‘There is no deity except Me, so worship Me.’” [Al-Anbiya’ 21:25]

 And it was over this that the dispute between the messengers and their nations took place.

 The third: Knowledge of Him, the Exalted, through His names and attributes. That is by affirming for Him, the Exalted, what He affirmed for Himself of names and attributes, and what His Messenger (peace be upon him) affirmed for Him; without drawing resemblance, explaining how, figuratively interpreting, or rejecting:

  “There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.” [Al-Shura 42:11]

 Reflect upon the meaning of this noble verse; in the beginning He established that there is nothing similar to Him at all, then He affirmed for Himself hearing and seeing. Thus, He is All-Hearing and All-Seeing. Furthermore, we know the meaning of the All-Hearing and the All-Seeing, and that is why we affirm their meaning as Allah informed about Himself. As for the question of how His hearing is and whether affirmation of that necessitates that He has an ear to hear with, this is something we do not get into. Rather, we say: He is the All-Hearing and the All-Seeing as He informed about Himself, without explaining how these attributes are.

 We further say as Imam Malik said when asked about the attribute of istiwa’ (settling above), i.e. Allah settling above His Throne, “Settling above is known,” meaning that we know its meaning linguistically, as Allah addressed us with speech and words that we know. However, he went on to say, “The how is incomprehensible,” meaning that He did not mention an explanation of how this settling above takes place. Then he said, “And questioning about it is an innovation.” That is because the companions heard these words from the Prophet (peace be upon him) and recited it in the Qur’an, and they did not ask about it. Rather, they affirmed it as Allah affirmed it for Himself, without explaining how, drawing resemblance, figuratively interpreting, or rejecting.

 So if the slave knows Allah, the Exalted and Almighty, by these various kinds of knowledge, he is pulled toward Him in worship, turning in repentance, love, sublimity and veneration. Acquiring these various kinds of knowledge is the very purpose of creation. Allah Almighty said:

  “And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.” [Al-Dhariyat 51:56]

 As for other than that of created beings, there is no created being except that behind its creation is a wisdom; whoever has knowledge of it knows it and whoever does not is ignorant of it. Allah, the Exalted and Almighty, said:

  “We did not create the heavens and the earth and all that is between them for mere play. Had We intended to take a pastime, We could have taken it from [what is] with Us – if indeed We were to do so. Rather, We dash the truth upon falsehood, thus destroying it, and thereupon vanishing it. And for you is destruction from that which you describe [to Us].” [Al-Anbiya’ 21:16-18]

 Shaykh Sa`di said in his tafsir of this verse, “Allah Almighty informs that He did not create the heavens and the earth uselessly or for mere play, without any benefit. Rather, He created it in truth and for the truth, so that the slaves use it as evidence that He is the Creator, the Magnificent, the Controller of affairs, the Wise, the Most Beneficent and the Most Merciful; the One whom all perfection belongs to, all praise is due to and all honor belongs to.” [Taysir al-Karim al-Rahman, vol. 5, p. 217]

 Furthermore, everything in this universe is from what Allah, the Exalted and Almighty, has made of use and subjugated for man and his service. He Almighty said:

  “And He has subjugated for you all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth – all from Him.” [Al-Jathiyah 45:13]

 And also to use it as evidence for the power and greatness of Allah, for everything that is in it was created to achieve the purpose mentioned in His statement:

  “And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.” [Al-Dhariyat 51:56]


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