The Purpose Of Creation الغرض من الخلق [ English

the purpose of creation الغرض من الخلق [ english - إنجليزي ] www.islamreligion.com website موقع دين الإسلام 201

The Purpose of Creation
الغرض من الخلق
[ English - إنجليزي ]
www.islamreligion.com website
موقع دين الإسلام
2013 - 1434


Introduction
------------
The purpose of creation is a topic that puzzles every human being at
some point in his or her lifetime. Everybody at some time or another
asks themselves the question “Why do I exist?” or “For what purpose am
I here on earth?”
The variety and complexity of the intricate systems which constitute
the fabric of both human beings and the world in which they exist
indicate that there must have been a Supreme Being who created them.
Design indicates a designer. When human beings come across footprints
on a beach, they immediately conclude that a human being had walked by
there some time previously. No one imagines that the waves from the
sea settled in the sand and by chance produced a depression looking
exactly like human footprints. Nor do humans instinctively conclude
that they were brought into existence without a purpose. Since
purposeful action is a natural product of human intelligence, humans
conclude that the Supreme Intelligent Being who created them must have
done so for a specific purpose. Therefore, human beings need to know
the purpose for their existence in order to make sense of this life
and to do what is ultimately beneficial for them.
Throughout the ages, however, there has been a minority among humans
who have denied the existence of God. Matter, in their opinion, is
eternal and mankind is merely a chance product of accidental
combinations of its elements. Consequently, to them, the question “Why
did God create man?” had and still has no answer. According to them,
there simply is no purpose to existence. However, the vast majority of
humankind over the ages have believed and continue to believe in the
existence of a Supreme Being who created this world with a purpose.
For them it was, and still is, important to know about the Creator and
the purpose for which He created human beings.
The Answer
----------
To answer the question “Why did God create man?” it must first be
determined from which perspective the question is being asked. From
the point of view of God it would mean, “What caused God to create
human beings?” while from the human point of view it would mean “For
what purpose did God create humans?” Both points of view represent
aspects of the intriguing question “Why do I exist?” ...both aspects
of the question will be explored based on the clear picture painted by
divine revelation. This is not a topic for human speculation, because
human guesswork cannot possibly produce the whole truth in this
matter. How can human beings intellectually deduce the reality of
their existence when they can hardly understand how their own brain or
its higher entity, the mind, functions? Consequently, the many
philosophers who have speculated on this question down through the
ages have come up with innumerable answers, all of which are based on
assumptions which cannot be proven. Questions on this topic have even
led a number of philosophers to claim that we do not really exist and
that the whole world is imaginary. For example, the Greek philosopher
Plato (428-348 BC) argued that the everyday world of changeable
things, which man comes to know by the use of his senses, is not the
primary reality, but is a shadow world of appearances. Many others, as
was previously mentioned, claimed and continue to claim that there is
no purpose for the creation of humans at all. According to them, human
existence is merely a product of chance. There can be no purpose if
life evolved from inanimate matter which only became animate by pure
luck. Humankind’s supposed ‘cousins,’ the monkey and apes are not
bothered with questions of existence, so why should human beings be
bothered with them?
Although most people put the question of why we are created aside
after occasional brief reflection, it is extremely critical for human
beings to know the answer. Without knowledge of the correct answer,
human beings become indistinguishable from the other animals around
them. The animal necessities and desires of eating, drinking and
procreating become the purpose of human existence by default, and
human effort is then focused in this limited sphere. When material
satisfaction develops into the most important goal in life, human
existence becomes even more degraded than that of the lowest of
animals. Human beings will consistently misuse their God-given
intelligence when they lack knowledge of their purpose of existence.
The degraded human mind uses its abilities to create drugs and bombs
and becomes engrossed in fornication, pornography, homosexuality,
fortunetelling, suicide, etc. Without knowledge of the purpose of
life, human existence loses all meaning and is consequently wasted,
and the reward of an eternal life of happiness in the hereafter is
completely destroyed. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that
human beings correctly answer the question “Why are we here?”
Humans most often turn to other human beings like themselves for the
answers. However, the only place that clear and precise answers to
these questions can be found is in the books of divine revelation. It
was necessary that God reveal the purpose to man through His prophets,
because human beings are incapable of arriving at the correct answers
by themselves. All of the prophets of God taught their followers the
answers to the question “Why did God create man?”
Judeo-Christian Scriptures
--------------------------
A survey of the Bible leaves the honest seeker of truth lost. The Old
Testament seems more concerned with laws and the history of early man
and the Jewish people than with answering the vital question
concerning humanity’s creation. In Genesis, God creates the world and
Adam and Eve in six days and ‘rests’ from His work on the seventh.
Adam and Eve disobey God and are punished and their son Cain kills
their other son Abel and goes to live in the land of Nod. And God was
‘sorry’ that he had made man! Why are the answers not there in clear
and unmistakable terms? Why is so much of the language symbolic,
leaving the reader to guess at its meanings? For example, in Genesis
6:6 it is stated:
“When men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters
were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were
fair; and they took to wife such of them as they chose.”
Who are these ‘sons of God?’ Each Jewish sect and each of the many
Christian sects who followed them have their own explanations. Which
is the correct interpretation? The truth is that the purpose of man’s
creation was taught by the prophets of old, however, some of their
followers - in collusion with the devils - later changed the
scriptures. The answers became vague and much of the revelation was
hidden in symbolic language. When God sent Jesus Christ to the Jews,
he overturned the tables of those merchants who had set up businesses
inside the temple, and he preached against the ritualistic
interpretation of the law practiced by the Jewish rabbis. He
reaffirmed the law of Prophet Moses and revived it. He taught the
purpose of life to his disciples and demonstrated how to fulfill it
until his last moments in this world. However, after his departure
from this world, his message was also distorted by some who claimed to
be among his followers. The clear truth which he brought became vague,
like the messages of the prophets before him. Symbolism was
introduced, especially through the “Revelations” of John, and the
Gospel which was revealed to Jesus was lost. Four other gospels
composed by men were chosen by Athanasius, a fourth century bishop, to
replace the lost Gospel of Jesus Christ. And the 23 books of writings
of Paul and others included in the New Testament outnumbered even the
four versions of the gospel. As a result, New Testament readers cannot
find precise answers to the question “Why did God create man?” And one
is forced to blindly follow the contrived dogmas of whatever sect they
happen to belong to or adopt. The gospels are interpreted according to
each sect’s beliefs, and the seeker of truth is again left wondering,
which one is correct?
The Incarnation of God
----------------------
Perhaps the only common concept to most Christian sects regarding the
purpose of mankind’s creation is that God became man so that He could
die at the hands of men to cleanse them of sin inherited from Adam and
his descendants. According to them, this sin had become so great that
no human act of atonement or repentance could erase it. God is so good
that sinful man cannot stand before Him. Consequently, only God’s
sacrifice of Himself could save humankind from sin.
Belief in this man-made myth became the only source for salvation,
according to the Church. Consequently, the Christian purpose of
creation became the recognition of the ‘divine sacrifice’ and the
acceptance of Jesus Christ as the Lord God. This may be deduced from
the following words attributed to Jesus in the Gospel according to
John:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever
believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
However, if this is the purpose of creation and the prerequisite for
everlasting life, why was it not taught by all the prophets? Why did
God not become man in the time of Adam and his offspring so that all
mankind would have an equal chance to fulfill their purpose for
existence and attain everlasting life. Or did those before Jesus’ time
have another purpose for existence? All people today whom God has
destined never to hear of Jesus also have no chance to fulfill their
supposed purpose of creation. Such a purpose, is obviously too limited
to fit the need of humankind.
Everything is God
-----------------
The Hindu scriptures teach that there are many gods, incarnations of
gods, persons of God and that everything is God, Brahman. In spite of
the belief that the self (atman) of all living beings is actually
Brahman, an oppressive caste system evolved in which the Brahmans, the
priestly caste, possess spiritual supremacy by birth. They are the
teachers of the Vedas and represent the ideal of ritual purity and
social prestige. On the other hand, the Sudra caste are excluded from
religious status and their sole duty in life is “to serve meekly” the
other three castes and their thousands of subcastes.
According to Hindu monist philosophers, humankind’s purpose is the
realization of their divinity and -following a path (marga) to
emancipation (moksha) from the wheel of rebirth - the reabsorbtion of
the human soul (atman) into the ultimate reality, Brahman. For those
following the bhakti path, the purpose is to love God because God
created humankind to “enjoy a relationship - as a father enjoys his
children” (Srimad Bhagwatam). For the ordinary Hindu, the main aim of
worldly life lies in conforming to social and ritual duties, to the
traditional rules of conduct for one’s caste - the karma path.
Although most of the religion of the Vedic texts, which revolves
around rituals of fire sacrifice, has been eclipsed by Hindu doctrines
and practices found in other texts, the absolute authority and
sacredness of the Veda remains a central tenet of virtually all Hindu
sects and traditions. The Veda is composed of four collections, the
oldest of which is the Rigveda (“Wisdom of the Verses”). In these
texts, God is described in the most confusing terms. The religion
reflected in the Rigveda is a polytheism mainly concerned with
appeasing deities associated with the sky and the atmosphere, the most
important of which were Indra (god of the heavens and rain), Baruna
(guardian of the cosmic order), Agni (the sacrificial fire), and Surya
(the Sun). In later Vedic texts, interest in the early Rigvedic gods
declines, and polytheism begins to be replaced by a sacrificial
pantheism to Prajapati (“Lord of Creatures”), who is the All. In the
Upanishads (secret teachings concerning cosmic equations), Prajapati
merges with the concept of Brahman, the supreme reality and substance
of the universe, replacing any specific personification, thus
transforming the mythology into abstract philosophy. If the contents
of these scriptures were all that human beings had to choose from for
guidance, one would have to conclude that God hid both Himself and the
purpose of creation from humankind.
God is not the author of confusion, nor does He wish difficulty for
mankind. Consequently, when He revealed His final communication to
humankind one thousand four hundred years ago, He ensured that it was
perfectly preserved for all of the generations of human beings to
come. In that final scripture, the Quran (Koran), God revealed His
purpose for creating mankind and, through His last prophet, He
clarified all of the details which man could comprehend. It is on the
basis of this revelation and the prophetic explanations that we [must]
analyze the precise answers to the question “Why did God create
man?”...
8