What is the purpose of life? Many of us searched for the answer for years. It is simpler than you might think, and it begins with knowing your Creator.
Before careers, relationships, or beliefs, there is a quieter question most of us carry: why am I here? For years I was among those asking it. People chase wealth, status, and comfort, and many still feel something missing. In Chapter 2 of Mastering Tawhid, I give the answer Islam gives, and it is simpler than most expect.
The purpose, in one verse
The Qur’an states (Adh-Dhariyat, 51:56) what means: “God created the jinn and humankind only to worship Him.”
The purpose of life is not to become a millionaire or collect prestige. The Prophets, the best of creation, show this. Some were wealthy, like David, Solomon, Joseph, and Job, yet their hearts were never attached to their riches. Solomon fed the poor fine meat while he ate hard barley bread.
Worship has a condition
Imam al-Ghazali taught that worship is valid only after a person validly knows whom he is worshiping. Sincerity alone is not enough. A person can be devoted and still be worshiping a mistaken invalid idea of God.
That is why the second chapter exists. Before we practice anything, we need to know who God is and who He isn’t.
The chapter that describes God in four lines
The Qur’an gives a four-verse answer in Surat al-Ikhlas (Chapter 112). It was revealed when a group of people asked the Prophet, peace be upon him, to describe his Lord. The verses mean:
- God is One, without partners, and indivisible ~ God does not have a body
- God does not need any of His creation ~ in any way whatsoever
- God did not beget and was not begotten ~ God does not have a child or children
- Nothing is equal to Him or like Him in any way whatsoever.
The Prophet said, “This is the description of my Lord.” Notice how little the verses say about the actuality of God, and how much they say about what God is not like. That is because God is unimaginable and has no likeness to anything.
The thirteen attributes
Because God revealed His attributes throughout the Qur’an, the early scholars held that a believer must know and believe them. In the book, I list thirteen, and I explain each:
- God exists without a body, place, direction, or time. The existence of creation is strong evidence for its Creator.
- One God is sufficient to run the universe. Oneness here does not mean a number. It means He has no partners.
- God has no beginning. Everything with a beginning needs someone to bring it into being.
- What has no beginning has no end. Whatever ends was an event with a start.
- Absolute dissimilarity. God does not resemble creation, whether solid like a rock or subtle like light.
- God is alive, but not with a body, soul, organs, or blood. His life never ends.
- God alone creates, including life, death, and every change.
- Non-neediness. Anyone with even one need is not God.
- God knows what was, what is, what will be, and what will not be.
- Everything exists exactly as God willed, at the moment He willed it.
- God hears everything, without ears or instruments.
- God sees everything, without eyes, light, or instruments.
- God’s speech is eternal and does not use letters, sounds, or any language.
Why these thirteen matter
Many people imagine God as a person on a throne, or as light, or as something filling the sky. The book explains why those pictures describe creations, not the Creator. Anything with a body has limits and needs, and anything with needs can never be God. The second chapter gives a way to avoid mistaking creation for the Creator.
The takeaway
The purpose of life is to worship God, and valid worship begins with knowing Him. These thirteen attributes are the map.
In the next article, I look at the story of creation: what existed before humanity, and what that tells us about the Creator who made it.
Question for you: What have you noticed about those who claim to believe in God, but they picture objects and people? Have you ever wondered how some people can over glorify something that is similar in weakness to themselves?
Mastering Tawhid: The Key to Paradise is a free download here:
https://bookhip.com/JTWQQCQ. If you enjoyed it, I’d welcome your honest review.