What is the purpose of the creation of man? Why was man created?

The Answer

Dear Brother / Sister,

6-THE PURPOSE OF THE CREATION OF MAN

6.1.WHY WAS MAN CREATED?*

Every being in the universe shows the Creator who created it and becomes a mirror to the attributes of its Creator with its artistic, systematic, regular, wise and purposeful creation. It becomes a mirror to the names Sani (Maker), Bani (Constructor) and Khaliq (Creator) with its creation, the name  Musawwir (Giver of Shape) with its nice shape, the names Nazim (Arranger) and Muqaddir (Determiner) with its systematic and proportionate creation, the names  Razzaq (Sustainer) and Rahman (All Merciful) with its sustenance, the names  Hayy (Living) and Qayyum (Self-Subsisting) with its life, and so on.

        The most valuable, intelligent and conscious being in this universe is man; and man is the most honorable and superior of all creatures with these qualities of his.

       Every being has a reason and purpose of creation; similarly, man must also have a purpose of creation and a duty because every being in this world is created for one and sometimes more than one purpose and aim.

       In that case, who is the one that can answer the question ‘why was man created’ the most correctly?

The one who knows best the purpose of the creation of man is his Creator, who creates man and places him in the most honorable rank.

The Possessor and Master of the universe surely does everything with knowledge, disposes every affair with wisdom, directs everything all-seeingly, treats everything all-knowingly, and arranges everything willing the instances of wisdom, purposes, and benefits that are apparent in them. Since, then, the One who creates knows, surely the One who knows will speak.1

The rule “The One who creates knows, surely the One who knows will speak” is an unchangeable rule. The one who makes and creates man is Allah. He states the purpose of the creation of man as follows:

       “I have only created Jinn and men, that they may serve Me.”2

This verse is interpreted as follows:

“According to the meaning of this mighty verse, the purpose for the sending of man to this world and the wisdom implicit in it, consists of recognizing the Creator of all beings and believing in Him and worshipping Him. The primordial duty of man and the obligation incumbent upon him are to know God and believe in Him, to assent to His Being and unity in submission and perfect certainty.

For man, who by nature desires permanent life and immortal existence, whose unlimited hopes are matched by boundless afflictions, any object or accomplishment other than belief in God, knowledge of God  and  the  means  for  attaining these, which are the fundament and key of eternal life — any such object or accomplishment must be regarded as lowly for man, or even worthless in many cases..3

That is to say, man’s nature, in other words, his most important characteristic, is his desire to live eternally, his unlimited ambitions and desires, and his infinite sorrows and troubles. A person with this nature needs to rely on someone who will fulfill all his desires and seek refuge in someone who will protect him from all his enemies. Meeting this need is possible by believing in and worshipping someone who knows all kinds of desires of man and who has power to fulfill them, and who has infinite knowledge, will, power and compassion to protect him from all kinds of enemies.

The nature and desires of man are pointed out as follows in the interpretation of verse 87 of the Chapter of al-Anbiya:

 “Man, in accordance with the comprehensive nature of his being, as he suffers and shakes with malaria, so also he suffers from the shaking and tremors of the earth, and the supreme convulsion of all beings on the Day of Resurrection. As he fears the infinitesimal microbe, he also fears the shooting star that appears among the heavenly bodies. As he loves his home, he also loves the wide world. As he loves his little garden, he also ardently loves infinite and eternal paradise. Man’s object of worship, Lord, refuge, savior, and goal then can only be the One in the grasp of whose power is the whole universe, under whose command are both atom and planet”.4

Man’s desire for eternal life in his nature is his greatest expectation from and his first desire in life. Unless this desire is satisfied, he cannot be happy. This is one of the biggest reasons for the unhappiness of today’s man. In other words, the expectation that he will satisfy the desire of eternal life in this world. The idea that he came to the world just to enjoy and take pleasure deceives him and makes him miserable because it is impossible for the world life to meet this desire for eternal life originating from the nature of man.

That is, he needs to know the existence of an eternal life and that the world is a guesthouse, which will satisfy this desire for eternal life in man. This state is expressed as follows in the interpretation of verse 50 of the Chapter of ar-Rum:        

 “For example, if one servant and illustrator of the intellect called “the imaginative power,” is told that “you can have a million years of life and rule over the world, but in the end you shall become nothing,” it will react with sorrow instead of pleasure, unless deceived by vain fancy and the interference of the soul. The greatest of transient things cannot, then, satisfy the smallest faculty of man.

It is, then, this disposition of man —his desires extending to eternity, his thoughts that embrace all of creation and his wishes that embrace the different varieties of eternal bliss— that demonstrates he has been created for eternity and will indeed proceed to eternity. This world is like a hospice for him, a waiting-room for the hereafter.”5

So, it is necessary to know the purpose of the creation of man, his natural structure and real nature. The Western world could not identify and introduce man correctly since it closed its mind and heart to Allah and the Quran. Therefore, it could not give an education appropriate to human nature and dragged eighty percent of humanity into despair and unhappiness. It was able to give a temporary bliss to the remaining twenty percent.

*It was published beforehand (ÂdemTatlı, İdris Görmez, Mehmet Dilek. Etik ve İnsanî Değerler. Hilal Ofset, Isparta, second impression, 2017, p. 244-269).
1.Nursi, B.S. Mektubat. p. 120.
2.adh-Dhariyat, 56.
3.Nursi, B.S.Şuâlar. p. 100.
4.Nursi,B.S. Lem’alar. EnvarNeşriyat, Istanbul, 1996, p. 7.
5.Nursi,B.S. Sözler. p. 106-107.

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