Why Did God Create Us? The Real Purpose of Human Life in Islam
Introduction
Skeptics allege that God created humanity out of boredom, loneliness, or a selfish need for mechanical praise. This claim is completely false and contradicts Islamic theology. Allah is Self-Sufficient; human creation exists solely for man’s own spiritual enlightenment, divine communion, and eternal perfection. Opponents possess zero Quranic verses and zero Hadith proving God derives any benefit from human worship.
The following text contains the complete, unabridged verbatim theological treatises from the chapters “Only the Creator Can Enjoin the Purpose of Life”, “The Three Objects of Life”, and “The Purpose of Religion”.
Only the Creator Can Enjoin the Purpose of Life
The fundamental question of human purpose cannot be answered by mortal speculation. Because man does not generate his own existence, he cannot determine his own existential objective. In Islami Usul ki Philosophy (The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam), Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS), the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, elucidated this foundational reality:
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Though different people, on account of their shortsightedness or lack of courage, appoint various types of objectives for their lives and stop short at worldly purposes and desires, yet the purpose that God Almighty has specified in His Holy Word is: وَمَا خَلَقۡتُ ٱلۡجِنَّ وَٱلۡإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعۡبُدُونِ “And I have not created the Jinn and the men but that they may worship Me.” (Surah Al-Dhariyat, 51:57) I have created jinn and men so that they should recognize and worship Me. According to this verse the true purpose of human life is the worship and understanding of God Almighty and devotion to Him. It is obvious that it is not open to man that he should himself lay down the purpose of his life by his own authority inasmuch as man does not arrive in the world of his own will, nor will he depart from this world of his own will. He is a created being and He Who created him and bestowed upon him better and higher faculties than those bestowed upon other animates, has enjoined a purpose for his life. Whether anyone comprehends that purpose or not, without doubt the purpose of man’s creation is the worship and understanding of God Almighty and to lose himself in Him.
[Islami Usul ki Philosophy, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 10, p. 414]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2, p. 461]
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The Divine Trust: Why Man Undertook What Creation Feared
Every creation has a capacity proportionate to its nature. In Taudih-e-Maram, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS) expounded upon the Quranic concept of the Divine Trust (Al-Amanah) and why human beings were uniquely prepared to bear this responsibility:
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This means that the Divine Trust, by which is meant the love of God and complete obedience to Him even in the face of hardship, was offered to the angels and the whole of creation and the mountains, all apparently full of strength, but they all refused to undertake it, being afraid of its grandeur. But man undertook it for he possessed two qualities, that he could force himself in the cause of God Almighty and could advance so far in love of Him as to forget altogether everything else.
[Taudih-e-Maram, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 3, pp. 75-76]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2, p. 462]
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The Three Objects of Human Life
The purpose of any created entity is determined by its highest potential achievement. A beast of burden achieves its peak through physical labor, whereas the human soul is endowed with faculties capable of direct spiritual communion. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS) detailed the three supreme objects of human life:
- Spiritual Understanding (Ma’rifat): Developing deep, experiential insight into the Being, unity, and attributes of God Almighty.
- True Worship (‘Ibadat): Submitting every internal and external faculty entirely to the Divine Will in genuine obedience.
- Ardent Love and Union (Muhabbat and Liqa’): Advancing so far in love of Allah that the soul seeks nothing of its own, opening the window of the heart directly toward God.
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS) established this principle through logical induction:
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The real purpose of all the external and internal limbs and faculties that have been bestowed on man is understanding and worship and love of God. That is why, despite a thousand occupations, man does not find his true well-being except in God Almighty. Having acquired great wealth, or achieved high office, or having become a great merchant, or having acquired governing authority, or become a great philosopher, he departs in the end from these worldly involvements with a sense of frustration. His heart rebukes him all the time about his deep concern with the world and his conscience never approves his wiles and deceits and wrongful actions. This problem can be appreciated in another way. The purpose of the creation of a thing is determined by its highest achievement beyond which its faculties cannot rise. For instance, the highest a bullock is capable of is ploughing, or irrigation, or transportation, and therefore these are the purpose of its life and it cannot rise above them. But when we take stock of man’s faculties and powers to discover his highest capacity, we find that he is invested with the faculty of seeking after God so much so that he desires that he should become so devoted to God’s love that he should have nothing of his own and that everything should become God’s. He shares his natural needs like food and drink and rest with other animates, and in industry some animals are ahead of him; for instance, the bees produce such excellent honey from every type of flower that man has so far not been able to compete with them. It is clear, therefore, that the highest capacity of man is meeting with God Almighty and thus the true purpose of his life is that the window of his heart should open towards God.
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2, p. 462]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2, p. 462]
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This intrinsic longing for the Divine is rooted in the very soul of humanity, as affirmed in the Holy Quran:
وَإِذۡ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِنۢ بَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمۡ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمۡ وَأَشۡهَدَهُمۡ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمۡ أَلَسۡتُ بِرَبِّكُمۡۖ قَالُواْ بَلَىٰ شَهِدۡنَآۚ أَن تَقُولُواْ يَوۡمَ ٱلۡقِيَـٰمَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنۡ هَـٰذَا غَـٰفِلِينَ
“And when thy Lord brings forth from the children of Adam, from their loins, their seeds, and makes them testify regarding themselves, ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They say, ‘Yea, we do bear witness.’ Lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, ‘We were indeed unaware of this.’” (Surah Al-A’raf, 7:173)
How to Achieve the Purpose of Life
Recognizing the purpose of life is only the initial step; the vital task is mastering the practical means to attain it. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS) explained that the first and most critical prerequisite is having a correct conception of the True God:
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The question is how and through what means can man achieve this purpose? Let it be clear that the principal means for achieving this purpose is the correct recognition of and faith in the True God. If this first step is wrongly taken and a person sets up a bird, or an animal, or any of the elements, or a human being as his god, it cannot be expected that his subsequent steps would be taken along the straight path. The True God helps His seekers; but that which is dead cannot help the dead.
[Islami Usul ki Philosophy, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 10, p. 415]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2, p. 463]
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Without the true recognition of God, human devotion becomes misguided and lifeless. The Holy Quran calls humanity directly to this foundational principle:
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ٱعۡبُدُواْ رَبَّكُمُ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَكُمۡ وَٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبۡلِكُمۡ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تَتَّقُونَ
“O ye people! worship your Lord Who created you and those who were before you, that you may become righteous;” (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:22)
The Purpose of Religion: Living Certainty Over Dead Dogma
Human beings cannot fulfill their purpose of creation through empty rituals or dry intellectual theories. Religion is not designed for philosophical entertainment; it is designed to grant living certainty (Yaqin) that rescues man from sin.
In Nasim-e-Da’wat, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS) articulated why true faith requires direct experience:
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The true purpose of adopting a faith is that one should acquire such certainty concerning God, Who is the fountainhead of salvation, as if one can see Him with one’s eyes. The wicked spirit of sin seeks to destroy a man and a person cannot escape the fatal poison of sin till he believes with full certainty in the Perfect and Living God and till he knows for certain that God exists, Who punishes the offender and bestows upon the righteous everlasting joy. It is a common experience that when one believes in the fatal effects of anything one does not have recourse to it. For instance, no one swallows poison consciously. No one deliberately stands in front of a wild tiger. No one deliberately thrusts his hand into the hole of a serpent. Then why does a person commit sin deliberately? The reason is that he has not that certainty in this matter as he has in other matters of the kind that we have mentioned. The first duty of a person, therefore, is to acquire certainty with regard to the existence of God, and to adopt a religion through which this certainty can be acquired so that he should fear God and shun sin. How can such certainty be acquired? It cannot be acquired through mere stories. It cannot be acquired through mere arguments. The only way of acquiring certainty is to experience God repeatedly through converse with Him or through witnessing His extraordinary signs, or by keeping company with someone who has that experience.
[Nasim-e-Da’wat, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 19, pp. 447-448]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 1, p. 3]
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In Chashma-e-Masihi, the Promised Messiah (AS) underscored that true love of God constitutes the reality of Paradise itself:
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The purpose of religion is that man should obtain deliverance from his passions and should develop personal love for God Almighty through certain faith in His existence and His perfect attributes. Such love of God is the paradise, which will appear in diverse shapes in the hereafter. To be unaware of the True God, to keep away from Him, and not to have any love for Him, is the hell which will appear in diverse shapes in the hereafter. Thus, the true purpose is to have full faith in Him. Now the question is which religion and which book can fulfil this need. The Bible tells us that the door of converse with God is closed and that the ways of obtaining certainty are sealed. Whatever was to happen, happened in the past and there is nothing in the future….. Of what use then is a religion that is dead? What benefit can we derive from a book that is dead? What grace can be bestowed by a god who is dead?
[Chashma-e-Masihi, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 20, pp. 352-353]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 1, p. 4]
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In Surmah Chashm Arya, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS) clarified that God is completely free from any personal need for worship:
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The purpose of accepting a religion is that God, Who is Self-Sufficient and is in no need of His creation or its worship, may be pleased with us, and that we should experience such grace and mercy as should wipe out our inner stains and rusts so that our breasts may be filled with certainty and understanding. This is not possible for a man to achieve through his own devices. Therefore, God the Glorious, keeping hidden mainly His own Being and the wonders of His creation, for instance, souls, bodies, angels, heaven, hell, resurrection, prophethood, etc. and yet disclosing them partially through reason, appointed his servants to believe in all these mysteries.
[Surmah Chashm Arya, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 2, p. 81]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 1, p. 4]
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Does God Need Our Worship? Refuting the Neediness Allegation
A persistent misconception raised by materialists and polemicists is that if God demands worship, He must possess a narcissistic desire for praise. Islam rejects this notion entirely:
- God is Al-Ghani (The Self-Sufficient): Allah possesses all perfection inherently. The collective worship of all creation does not augment His majesty by a single atom, nor does global disobedience diminish His sovereignty.
- Worship benefits man exclusively: Just as light is essential for the eye and oxygen for the lungs, communion with God is the vital nutrient required for the human soul to avoid spiritual death.
- The Divine attribute of Rububiyyat (Lordship): While worship benefits human beings, God’s nature as the Sustainer and Fosterer of creation demands that righteousness prevail over corruption. A loving physician insists that a sick patient take life-saving medicine, not because the physician benefits from the pill, but because true benevolence cannot tolerate preventable destruction.
There exists zero evidence in the Holy Quran or Hadith suggesting God created humanity out of personal vulnerability or emotional need. Creation is the natural manifestation of Divine benevolence, designed so mortal beings may inherit immortal spiritual bliss.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did God create human beings according to Islam?
God created human beings so they may recognize their Creator, understand His divine attributes, and attain spiritual perfection through voluntary worship and ardent love. As stated in Surah Al-Dhariyat (51:57), the primary purpose of humanity is the worship (‘Ibadat) and deep spiritual recognition (Ma’rifat) of Allah.
Does God need human worship in Islam?
No. Allah is Al-Ghani (The Completely Self-Sufficient) and requires nothing from His creation. Worship is an exclusive necessity for human beings. Just as physical eyes need sunlight to see, human souls require worship to achieve purity, moral elevation, and salvation from spiritual ruin.
What are the three primary objects of human life in Islam?
According to Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS), the three objects of human existence are: (1) acquiring true knowledge and understanding of God (Ma’rifat), (2) offering genuine devotion and worship (‘Ibadat), and (3) experiencing ardent love and direct union with God (Muhabbat and Liqa’), where the soul loses itself entirely in Divine love.
Why cannot human beings invent their own purpose of life?
Human beings do not arrive in this world by their own power, nor can they depart by their own choice. A created being cannot dictate its own ultimate purpose; only the Creator who endowed humanity with higher cognitive and spiritual faculties can designate its purpose. Man’s highest capacity is experiencing the Living God.
How can a person gain certainty in God’s existence today?
Islam teaches that certainty in God cannot be gained through ancient folklore or dry philosophical debates alone. True certainty requires living experience, which is achieved through direct communion with God, experiencing His extraordinary signs, and keeping company with the truthful (Sadiqin) who have experienced the Living God.