Welcome to Islam, - The purpose of creation -I

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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, for them there was no answer to the question: "Why did God create man?" 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.
Why did God create man?
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?"
In the following pages, 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 numerous philosophers who have speculated on this question 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 CE( 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, 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 non-living matter, which only became animate by pure luck. Humankind's supposed 'cousins,' the monkeys and apes, are not bothered with questions of existence, so why should human beings be bothered with them?!
The necessity of the answer
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 needs and desires like eating, drinking and procreating become the purpose of human existence by default, and human effort is then focused to 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, fortune-telling 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?"
How to know the answer
Humans most often turn to other human beings like themselves for 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, may Allaah exalt their mention, 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?"
From the perspective of humankind, the question "Why did God create man?' implies: "For what purpose was man created?" In the final revelation )i.e. The Holy Quran(, this question is answered without any ambiguity. God informed humans that every human being is born with an innate consciousness of God.
In Chapter Al-A'raaf, Allaah Says )what means(:"]Remember[ when your Lord extracted from the loins of Aadam's children their descendants and made them testify )saying(: 'Am I not your Lord?' They said: 'Yes, we testify to it.' ]This was[ in case you say on the Day of Judgment: 'We were unaware of this.' Or you say: "It was our ancestors who worshipped others besides God and we are only their descendants. Will you then destroy us for what those falsifiers did?'"
]Quran 7: 172-3[
The Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, )may Allaah exalt his mention( explained that when Allaah created Aadam )Adam(, may Allaah exalt his mention, He took from him a covenant at a place called Na'maan on the 9th day of the 12th month. He then extracted from Aadam, may Allaah exalt his mention, all of his descendants who would be born until the end of the world, generation after generation, and spread them out before Him to take a covenant from them. He spoke to them, making them bear witness that He was their Lord.
Consequently, every human being is responsible for belief in God, which is imprinted on each and every soul. It is based on this inborn belief that Allaah defined the purpose of humankind's creation in Chapter Ath-Thaariyaat )which means(:"I have created the jinn and humankind only for My worship."]Quran 51: 56[
We are here to worship God
Thus, the essential purpose for which humankind was created is the worship of God. However, the Almighty is not in need of human worship. He did not create human beings out of a need on His part. If not a single human worshipped God, it would not diminish His Glory in any way, and if all of mankind worshipped Him, it would not increase His Glory in any way. God is Perfect. He alone exists without any needs. All created beings have needs. Consequently, it is humankind that needs to worship God.









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Welcome to Islam, - Every nation was sent a messenger

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It is an Islamic belief that every nation was sent a Messenger for their guidance. The important matter was the concept of Tawheed, or belief in the Oneness of Allaah(. The secondary matter was Sharee'ah, or religious Law, which kept changing from tribe to tribe and nation to another. Allaah the Most High alone knows what is good for His creation.
As it is mentioned in the Quran, what means:"And for every nation is a messenger. So when their Messenger comes, it will be judged between them in justice, and they will not be wronged." ]Quran 10:47[ And: "And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, ]saying[: 'Worship Allaah and avoid Taaghoot ]i.e., false deities['. And among them were those upon whom error was ]deservedly[ decreed. So proceed ]i.e., travel[ through the earth and observe how was the end of the deniers."]Quran 16:36[
Some of these Messengers are mentioned in the Quran by Allaah and some of them are not, as the Quran says, what means:"And We have certainly sent messengers before you ]O Muhammad sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam[. Among them are those ]whose stories[ We have related to you, and among them are those ]whose stories[ We have not related to you. And it was not for a messenger to bring a sign ]or verse[ except by permission of Allaah. So when the command of Allaah comes, it will be concluded ]i.e., judged[ in truth, and the falsifiers will thereupon lose ]all[."]Quran 40:78[
So, we decided to have a look at the issue of Messengers sent to various tribes and nations and take the advice mentioned in the Quran, which means:"… So proceed ]i.e., travel[ throughout the earth and observe how was the end of those who denied."]Quran 3:137[
The content in this post is a discovery by serendipity. The information sometimes came from lazy browsing through the books on social anthropology and sometimes from serious research.
The Kapauku Papuans ofWest Guinea:
The material below is an attempt to show how different tribes in different parts of the world had Monotheism, or worship of the One True God. But along with the True God some subservient gods were also worshipped in some cases. It is taken from a book called "The Kapauku Papuans ofWest Guinea" by Leopold Pospisil. It is a case study of a Stone Age Kapauku tribe that led their aboriginal lives undisturbed by the spreading western civilisation until 1938.
The Kapauku Papuans are mountain people who belong to one of the several tribes whose members inhabit the central highlands of westernNew Guinea. Their country, most of which lies 1500m above sea level, is composed of rugged mountain chains and deep valleys.
The Kapauku have an interesting worldview. Regarding the Creator of the universe, the Kapauku believe that the universe itself and all existence was Ebijata, 'designed by Ugatame', the creator. Ugatame has a dual nature and is manifested to the people by the duality of the sun and the moon. To them, the sun and moon are definitely not creators themselves - they are only manifestations of Ugatame to make his presence known to the people.
Ugatame is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent, credited with the creation of all things and with having determined all events. Obviously, Ugatame is beyond existence because to the Kapauku, all that exists must be of phenomenal nature; one must be able to see, hear, smell, taste or feel it. But the creator is beyond this phenomenal dimension, because of the simple reason that he created it.
Here is an interesting argument between a Kapauku and a Christian Missionary: "In the year 1955 a very old man from the Mapia region, supported by his two sons, managed to meet a Christian missionary. His main purpose was a problem he wanted to have clarified before he died. He could not understand how it is possible that the white man could be so clever and ingenious in designing such amazing contrivances as aeroplanes )which the old man could see flying over his valley(, guns, medicines, clothes, and steel tools, and at the same time be so primitive and illogical in his religion.
"How can you think," he argued, "that a man can sin and can have a free will, and at the same time believe that your God is omnipotent, that He created the world and determined all the happenings? If He determined all that happens, and )therefore( also the bad deeds, how can a man be held responsible? Why, if he is omnipotent, did the Creator have to change himself into a man to allow himself to be killed )crucified( when it would have been enough for him just to order men to behave?" The notion that anything can be absolutely bad or good was quite incomprehensible to him. Furthermore, the Christian notion of man resembling God in appearance appeared to him as utterly primitive )or "tabe-tabe", meaning stupid(!"
It is quite surprising that a tribe thought to be from the Stone Age could argue so rationally and logically with a Christian missionary on the aspect of God. We Muslims also use the same arguments when it comes to the concept of God. It comes as no surprise to us that when the Kapauku heard that God became man they called the concept "primitive" and "tabe-tabe" )stupid(. Well, 'polemics' against Christianity started in the Stone Age itself and Muslims are not to be blamed for that!
Lastly, where is this Ugatame, their supreme god, residing? In the view of Kamu Kapauku, the world is a flat block of stone and soil that is surrounded with water and extends indefinitely into the depths thus providing no room for an underworld. Above the earth is a solid bowl of blue sky that limits the known world at the horizon. Beyond the solid bowl of sky exists another world that may be similar to ours, the abode of Ugatame, the Creator.
It is quite surprising that the Kapauku knew where their God is. The Pharaoh knew where the God of Moosaa )Moses(, may Allaah exalt his mention, is, as the following verse mentions, which means:"And Fir'awn )Pharaoh( said: 'O eminent ones! I have not known you to have a god other than me. Then ignite for me, O Haamaan, ]a fire[ upon the clay, and make for me a tower that I may look at the God of Moosaa. And indeed, I do think he is among the liars."]Quran: 28:38[
Most people today are not aware where God is. They say that God is everywhere, in us and in them. For Muslims it is an important point of creed and must be known. Know you Lord before everything else!
To conclude, the Islamic belief is that every nation on the earth was sent a Prophet for their guidance. As time passed by, corruption was introduced in the religion and instead of worshipping One true God, false deities were worshipped along with Him. The best example would be ofArabiabefore the advent of Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam )may Allaah exalt his mention(. They worshipped idols like Al-'Uzzaa along with Allaah, the One and only true God.







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Dought & clear, - Ruling on items confiscated from students who break the rules

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What is the ruling on items confiscated from students for breaking the rules, such as (pumpkin or sunflower etc) seeds, chewing gum, masbahahs, rings and so on? I confiscate (pumpkin or sunflower etc) seeds and chewing gum and throw them in the trash. As for masbahahs and rings, I hand them over to the administration, but the administration says: Give them back so that we will owe them nothing. To sum up, the question is: what is the ruling on items confiscated from students in such cases?. Praise be to Allaah. If these students have been informed about the things which they are not allowed to use in class or bring to school and have been told that whoever breaks the rule will have it confiscated from him, it is permissible to punish those who break the rules by confiscating them. If they are items of little value, such as pumpkin seeds, it is permissible to dispose of them, but if they are valuable items they should be returned to the student or his guardian at the end of the day or at the end of the school year, according to whatever the school thinks is best. Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked: Is it permissible for the teacher to take things from some students which may be valuable, with which they were playing in class during the lesson, and give them to the school? He replied: That is based on the issue of whether it is permissible to punish by taking wealth or property. Some of the scholars say that it is not permissible to punish by taking wealth or property in any case except what is mentioned in the texts. Some of them say that punishing by taking wealth or property is permissible and this is the more correct view. But if the students have something that they are playing with and he has warned them, for example by writing on the blackboard or posting a notice, that if anyone brings something and plays with it, it will be confiscated, then in that case he may confiscate it, but if it is something valuable and the student is poor - for example -- then it should be kept safely at the school, and at the end of the year it should be given to the student or his guardian. End quote fromal-Liqa’ al-Shahri, 48/15 And Allah knows best. :: Share ::

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