If Allah created mankind only to worship him, why did he give them freewill?

Question

If the only purpose for mankind was to worship Allah, then why was mankind given freewill? Freewill gives man a chance to disobey and not worship Allah. Why would Allah allow that chance to exist if he knew that men who choose to not worship will have grave suffering?

Update: The answers seem to miss the question. The question is more about the reasoning behind giving freewill to the creation if the only purpose for mankind was to worship Allah.

Think about this. Let's say my wife and I have a choice to give birth to a robot or a human child. If my only purpose for having a child was for it to become a rich superstar then I would have a robot child which I can program to follow my orders. However, that's usually not the purpose of having a child. Parents usually want more from their children. One of their wants is for the child to love and respect them voluntarily.. Now, in that case, having a child with freewill makes sense! Why? Because if I'm a parent and I know that my child was programmed to love me it would not the same as if my child loved me voluntarily...

Answer 1

Man is given an opportunity to demonstrate his willingness to worship Allah:

[He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed - and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving
_{Qur'an 67:2}

And it is He who created the heavens and the earth in six days - and His Throne had been upon water - that He might test you as to which of you is best in deed. But if you say, "Indeed, you are resurrected after death," those who disbelieve will surely say, "This is not but obvious magic."
_{Qur'an 11:7}

(See Bilal Philips for what "worship" means in Islam.)

It wouldn't be much of a test if Allah took it for us by controlling our actions. Sayyid Mujtaba Musavi Lari in God and His Attributes (Al Islam) discusses this topic, and writes:

Man deserves blame or merits praise only when he is able to decide and to act freely; otherwise, there can be no question of blame or of praise.

Being punished for things like murder, theft, etc., is probably uncontroversial; man-made laws also tend to punish for such crimes. Disbelief, on the other hand, is a kind of "thought crime" against Allah, and man-made laws don't usually punish for thought crimes. Mankind generally treats disbelief as far less serious than Allah.

Allah has taken steps to inform mankind of the seriousness of disbelief, such as the Qur'an and the prophets and messengers of Islam. Disbelievers are informed of the seriousness of disbelief, but nevertheless reject it (And never would We punish until We sent a messenger Qur'an 17:15). Allah seems to consider the information available to man as sufficient guidance (We guided him to the way, be he grateful or be he ungrateful Qur'an 76:3), and considers sinners to be transgressing against themselves (Qur'an 39:53).

Answer 2

Your reference to Quranic verse that Allah made humanity and Jinns to worship him is a commandment, a duty. That's what they're supposed to do.

Now, free will? That's because for one he has already said what he made us to do, it's upto us now whether we obey him or not. And that's the test and comes heaven and hell. Hope I helped

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