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There is a verse in Quran saying God created humans to worship Him.
But, God does not need our worship. Does it mean worship is a middle goal to humans so that they be trained for a higher goal?
What is the final goal of creating humans and nature and all things?
The verse is:
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.
Zariyat 56 (51/56)
Sufis Perspective
According to a hadith, Allah said He was a hidden treasure and He wanted to be known. As a result, He created the universe.
The final servant created in the creation stage of the universe was man. As a matter of fact, creation of man was the purpose of creation of the universe. This is because man was the only servant that was capable of being His khalifa. According to another hadith, this khalifa was created in His form. Thus represented His authority over all things. There had been no creature before him that was capable of knowing all known Divine Names on its own.
Allah wants us to get closer to Him and know Himself better. As long as we lack knowledge (regarding the manifestation of His names), we won't accomplish this and stay as animal-humans. This is why Sufis add nafilahs to the obligatory religious practices. And most importantly, they aim to learn more and more of Him everyday.
Sufis realized we are not only created to serve Him, but all our actions serve Him on its own. That means we are servants not because Allah wanted us to be, but we are servants because indeed we are. The universe as we call it is where His names manifest themselves and all consciousness is synced to Him. And thus as the hadith says: "He who knows himself, knows His Lord."
Note: Before downvoting, if you're not a Suffi, just scroll down, don't just down vote if you disagree with it. This is the currently accepted answer by the questioner.
Allah said He was a hidden treasure and He **wanted** to be known, but in the quran (35:15) it says O ye men! It is ye that have need of Allah: but Allah is the One **Free of all wants**, worthy of all praise. So how can Allah want to be known? When clearly Allah is free from all wants?
Sep 12, 2012 at 10:08
Allah almighty very clearly says in the Qur'an:
And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me. Surah Ad-Dhaariyaat, verse 56
Therefore, Allah created us to worship Him, and Him alone. Allah does not need our worship:
Say, "He is Allah , [who is] One, Allah , the Eternal Refuge.
Surah Ikhlaas, verses 1-2. The meaning of "As-Samad" in the second ayah means the one whom everyone and everything needs, but whom needs no one. That is, "The ultimately Self-Sufficient."
Then if Allah does not need us, why create us? Out of His infinite mercy. We don't need to exist. But now that we exist, we have a shot at attaining Al-Jannah, ultimate paradise, for ever and ever and ever.
God also created us without requiring us, as Nerrve quoted correctly, and if God was to choose what to create and in what order and what quality to create things it was certainly Zolm (anyone then was able to debate why you have created me this way!), and he created without even requiring to think (thinking is a weak point for God and he is just perfect with no weakness) what and with what quality to create! He creates anything which creatable in any sense that it is creatable, just when the necessary conditions for its creations are all already available and existed! So to give an answer to the original question, the way God has created us has been the only way that we have been creatable! That he has created us to worship him is nothing but an illustration of the Fitrat (the most basic creation of every species, special to that species, made by Faater, the creator) he has given to us as a part of our creation, that's what we have created based upon.
He is Hagh (sometimes translated as truth!), means the only real existence which is Motehaghigh, and we can get more real existed and better qualified by getting closer and closer to him which is to be by training his names on our own place, that is, trying to become similar to him in the sense of his (Hosna) names, all of them but two (motekabbir, jabbar) or four(?sorry, I can't just remember?). That is, we should try to be rahman, rahim, ghafoor, shakoor, karim, saboor, ghahhar, montaghem and etc. each in its right place (like: اشداء علی الکفار، رحماء بین انفسهم). The Prophet Muhammad (S.A.) did that the best, he got just closest possible to Allah, a khalifeh for Allah for all his creatures from top of the earth to below the thara. It is him who says I got such smaller and smaller in front of Allah that I found myself like a point mass or even smaller in front of him. What does that mean? First he did all the Vajib's and avoid doing any Haram's, then he did all the Mustahab's and avoid every Makrouh's, then even in Mobah's he chose what was better in the eyes of Allah, from the colors of clothing to the way to walk or speak or sleep or etc. . He just reached a place that he did want nothing but what was God's will; this is the point that God wants whatever that he choose and he choose whatever that God wants, he dislikes whatever that God dislikes and God dislikes whatever that he dislikes and etc. . This is the potential of every human and is reached through worshiping God only, that is, living by Quran and Sunnah (both best illustrated, explained and interpreted by his Ahl-ul-beit, A.S.).
To summarize, yes God doesn't need anything of his own creation, all being created from nothingness, but worshiping God is for us getting closer and closer to the only Hagh, which is the best place for us ourselves. The rules of Sharia'at is for taking us through the way and Sallat is the jewelry in the ring of all sort of praying, the direct communication with Allah...
I quote from Ayatullah Mahdi Hadavi Tehrani's book, Faith and Reason, A Compendium of Fifty Questions and Answers Related to Islamic Theology, Jurisprudence and Other Themes,
Chapter 24, Purpose of Creation.
Allah (awj) is an unlimited being who holds all perfections. Creating (bringing to existence) is munificence (jamal) and Allah (awj) is munificent. His munificence necessitates that He grant existence to anything worthy of creation
O mankind! it is you who stand in need of Allah, but Allah is Rich (Free of all wants and needs), Worthy of all praise.
Sep 12, 2012 at 10:56
Allah Subhanahu wt'ala said in the Al-Baqarah Sura (2nd Chapter of Holly Quran):
{وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً ۖ قَالُوا أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَاءَ وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ ۖ قَالَ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ(30)}
In this Ayah, Allah narrates when He told the angles that He was going to appoint a Khalifa (vicegerent, means human, starting with Adam) on the Earth. They, the angels, asked Him if He were going to appoint such a one as will cause disorder and shed blood on it (they mean the Earth) when they were already engaged in hymning His praise, and hallowing Him! He told them that He know what they did not know.
So we learn from this Ayah that Allah created us due to something we may not already be able to understand it.
Allah Subhanahu wta'la said in Al-Anbya' Sura (21th Chapter of Holly Quran):
{لَا يُسْأَلُ عَمَّا يَفْعَلُ وَهُمْ يُسْأَلُونَ(23)}
In this Ayah Allah says that He is accountable to none for what He does, but all others are accountable (to Him).
So we learn from this Ayah we shouldn't be impolite with Allah and ask "Why He did...?" We already know that Allah is All-Wise.
And Allah knows best.
You have lot of good answers. Basically all of the answers tells you two things:
What I want to tell you is why you and many others keep on having the same question in mind - "Why we should worship God when he doesn't need our worship?". This shows the limited thinking capacity of the human brain. I am not saying you are dumb not to accept the facts as it is.
Let me try to explain. Allah has made our brain in such a way that it has an unquenchable thirst to know the "Why" for everything. We also believe we can understand everything that is happening in the universe. Sadly, we can't. It is a tough thing to accept.
What has happened here is that you have unintentionally attached human-like attributes to Allah. Basically when a man creates/invents something, say a car; the man needs the car to make his transportation easier and the car needs the man (It is not like apes are going to drive the car around!). So since Allah created man, Allah must need us for something. You see the thinking process. This is why I said you made an unintentional comparison. Many of us get caught up in such questions and eventually might even end up going back to square one - "Is Islam the right religion?". Many things will stop making sense. Most of these doubts arise due to our bounded thinking capacity and the blind belief that we are capable of understanding everything. And bear in mind that Satan exploits them whenever he gets the chance. So be on your guard.
You are created to worship God for your own sake. Worship draws us closer to God and gives us a sense of belonging, I am a Christian, in worship it’s where God speaks to me about what I should do for my life on earth, he tells me and warns me on wrong things I do and if I listen, I am the one thus saved from evil. When we fellowship with Him down here on earth, we are sure to spend eternity with Him
In the name of Allah the Most Gracious the Most Merciful. In my opinion I believe Allah created us because He loves us. When Adam was created, he was placed in Jannah and because Allah loved Adam a.s he created for him Hawaa(adam's wife). Allah placed Adam in Jannah. Jannah is a magnificent place to be placed in. This therefore means to me that Allah intended for us to be happy always, because the first thing He did when He created Adam is place him in Jannah. Allah gave Adam a free will that he did not give the angels, so Adam would do as he wished when in Jannah, and he gave Adam knowledge. That shows you how much Allah loved Adam, he therefore also loves adam's descendants very much.
To ask yourself why did Allah create me and place me on earth and put all these negative feelings in me and obligations, is human but comes from the shaitan. You ask, why did Allah create me? Why didn’t I get to have a say on whether I should be created or not, what use is there for my creation, when Allah has no need of my worship, that’s true. Allah has no need. PERIOD!!!, but let’s go back to the beginning of creation.
Say when Adam was created, and was placed in Jannah with his wife, he didn't disobey Allah, and shaitan also did not disobey. We wouldn't be discussing this because we would be busy in all the delights in Jannah. Imagine being brought to existence just so that you are put in pure bliss and happiness. Adam was tricked and disobeyed and as Allah's will, because Allah wills what He wants to will and it isn't for us to question Allah, He willed we come down to earth. And because He loves us, he created a world for us and senses and knowledge to utilize and comprehend this world. And gave us guidance by sending prophets to remind us of our origin, this too is an assistance and mercy from Allah cause when He told us to descend He would have left us without guidance and prophets and thus all of us would live in a chaotic world that has no good in it, a world that is a literal hell, because man is like an animal and worse without guidance, if you don't trust me go to Somalia or countries with collapsed governments and when you're violated go to the lawless government to help you. I think you get my point.!
Now this world in itself is Jannah but we are the ones that made it hell. The guidance He sent us is to guide the soul back to bliss, back to happiness when the souls was with its lord, because just as our physical body needs food, the soul needs its Creator because it originated from Him. So this guidance is in form of dikr and prayer and good deeds, how else would we know about this without Allah, subhanallah.when adam was in Jannah he was sinless and the soul was near its Lord so there wasn't these acts of worship, but now that the soul has descended, its still need to be near its Lord, thus these acts become necessary, not because Allah will benefit(a'udubilah) but because the soul will benefit, it is its nature to crave for nearness to its lord and without Allah the soul will die.
So when Allah s.w.t, all praises and thanks be to him says in His Most noble Qur’an, that He did not create man and jinn except that they may worship him. This is so, and Allah knows best, for our sake, because He loves us He wants life for our souls. If we go against the souls true need for Allah, we bring about unhappiness. So why DID Allah create us? He created us because He wanted to create us. He brought us from nothingness and elevated man to high level. He is Great and infinite and to ask that will cause doubt in our hearts and to question Allah which is un-Islamic and ingratitude. We do not ask why Allah did something, we believe in him and His infinite knowledge and Allah is All Good and Merciful and Oft forgiving. If you ask me, asking such questions makes us ever more ungrateful, and we do not deserve to be existent if we result to questioning Allah. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our own souls. May He guide as and give us life, And May He forgive us our endless countless sins. ameen
All the answers I read above are of two kinds:
1) Trying to justify why Allah does not need our worship, or
2) Trying to make the question look bad and questioner feel bad for asking the question. None of these really helps.
Both are result of not understanding what the verse really says. Ibada is not 'worship', it is 'slavery'. Allah created Men and Jinn so that they only enslave themselves to Him alone and to no one else.
What is slavery? Slavery means you obey your master in every decision you make. If you pray five times and then take riba from Bank, take mortgage to buy lavish house and take car finance to buy latest model Sedan then you aren't doing Ibada and thus you aren't Abd of Allah.
This verse is very clear. Allah created Men and Jinn so that they only enslave themselves to Him. It is not just worship. Worship is part of Slavery. The ask here is not to perform ritual prayer only. The ask here is that Men and Jinn must not become slave of Shaitan, Materialistic desire, this world or anything else.
Thus the proper translation is:
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
And I have not created Jinn and Men except they enslave themselves to Me.
Hope this helps.
It is simple. For sure He didn't need our worship but we are the one who need to worship Him. For our own good. It's a science stuff. We will know it later.
He tell us to "worship Him" instead of "we are the one who need that worshipping activity" because He know we (human) will be ignorance enough to deny that statement. That's because we never know what will be in the future and we don't even know what is good for us. That's why we like to try and error to discover what is good for us. That habit might cause self-destruct action on ourselves. Allah didn't want that to happen to us (His creation).
That's why Allah is good enough to tell us a "little bit" about ourselves. One of them is the fact that "we need to worship Him for our own good" by using the verse that you've stated before.
Salam.
Sorry for my bad English.
