What Does God Want from Us?

What Does God Want from Us?

Dr. Pasha

(Bringing Islam to the World One Concept at a Time!
Taking the Qur'an to Every Home and Heart that Needs It --
And which One Does Not?)

Turning to God Almighty for Answers

What is the purpose of human life in this world? What is our mission on earth? Why did God Almighty create us?

What does he want from us?

Without a doubt, big questions, all of them. Answers, however, are small and simple. Provided, that is, you turn to God himself for answers, and not try to invent or concoct them on your own. For, how will you know the mind of God unless he tells you? 

But turning to God does not mean waiting for a mysterious voice to whisper in your ear that you may then claim came from him. And that you may then go on to interpret however you want.

And based on which you can then proceed to do what you want with God’s world and treat its inhabitants how you want – without taking any serious personal responsibility for your actions or to the fate you have inflicted on God’s creation.

That is not what turning to God for answers means. But, rather, turning to God means turning to God’s word in this world. It means turning to the Qur’an: God Almighty’s direct word that is in our hands.

And it means turning to Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, who was taught the Qur’an by God, and who was then told to go teach and explain the Qur’an to the rest of humanity. And show it to them in practice how it works.

That is what turning to God for answers means in the true and pure teachings and culture of Islam free form the usual religious mumbo-jumbo. Everything else flows from that basic foundation.

And here is some of what the Qur’an says on this subject: the all-important subject of our identity and our role and duty in this world.

World Has a Master

The first thing the Qur’an tells us is that the world has a master. And that we have a master. And that our master and the master of this world is God Almighty: Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta’ala.

This is how the logic goes: Allah made the world; he runs the world; he owns the world, including us; and he, therefore, is the master of the world including us.

The biggest thrust of the Qur’an, thus, is to convince us that we have a master – God.

And he is the maker, master and owner of you – and of all the worlds.

As for how to refer to him, and what names you should use to call him, the Qur’an gives you the only answer that seems to make sense: it gives you a free hand. Call him by whatever name you will, says the Qur’an, for, his are all the beautiful names. So, call him by any beautiful, wonderful, noble, pure and perfect name you want and you will be calling him.

As for who he is and what we know about him, the Qur’an says he has neither parents nor offspring – he neither begets, nor is he begotten. And no one and nothing is like him.

It is amazing – and incredibly beautiful – how God Almighty pursues and highlights this theme throughout the Qur’an. Repeating, clarifying and emphasizing it as often and in as many different ways as we may have a need for.

Everything and Everyone Is God’s Slave

So, here is the basic truth you learn from the Qur’an: All of us in this world are God’s slaves. That means all of humanity is Allah’s slave and so is everything else in the universe.

Allah makes it clear in the Qur’an that human beings – and the rest of creation – are his wholly and completely owned slaves. He made them; he runs their existence; he owns them. And they are dependent on him in every way and for everything.

1. Their job is to do his bidding.

   That is the purpose of the creation of human beings – and of all creation – says the Qur’an: to do what God Almighty commanded them to do.

   Some of God’s creation, like plants and animals, obeys his commands instinctively and involuntarily. Human beings, however, are expected to do so consciously and after careful deliberation and choice.

2. Allah made the entire earth, and everything in it, for human beings – for his favorite slaves.

3. Allah created the cosmos to sustain, enhance and enrich human life on earth.

4. Allah then created us – the human beings – to run and manage planet earth in his name and as per his rules and laws.

   Some of those laws include universal justice; equality of the human race as a whole; compassion for all; protection of life and liberty for everyone except through a Due Process that is truth-based both in reality and appearance; freedom of belief, conscience and speech for all; and special rights and protections for women, orphans and other weaker sections of society.

   That, Allah says, is the purpose of our creation: to be God’s managers and stewards on his earth.

5. Allah then declared that while all kinds of racial and tribal divisions of birth may characterize the human race, the true mark of merit and excellence was character. It was achievement and not inheritance.

6. Allah then made it clear that the true purpose of creating humanity was to serve him: to know about him and to carry out and implement his laws and rules in the world.

7. Allah then made it abundantly clear that the way of doing this was through the method of communication, invitation and persuasion, and not through the method of force, coercion and violence.

   That means there are two ways of getting things done in this world: the method of truth and the method of falsehood. And each one of these two methods has its own set of rules and requirements. Each has its own methodology and approach.

   That means truth can only be served using logic and evidence, and gentle persuasion, and honest and open communication.

   Falsehood, on the other hand, requires force, coercion, deception, intimidation and manipulation for its promotion and advancement in this world.

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