What is the purpose of creating human beings?
2026-09-20
F01 · Selected fatwas
Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymīn
الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين
Original Q&A · Full displayed answer
The complete original answer includes the opening principle about wisdom in creation and religious rulings, the purpose of worship, its definition, and the concluding argument. The scholar’s last argument concerns what rebellious conduct entails; it is not a verdict about a named individual.
النص العربي
السؤال الأصلي
فضيلة الشيخ، ما هي الغاية من خلق البشر؟
الجواب
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم، الحمد لله رب العالمين، وأصلي وأسلم على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين، أما بعد: فإنه قبل أن أجيب على هذا السؤال، أحب أن أنبه على قاعدة عامة فيما يخلقه الله عز وجل وفيما يشرعه، وهذه قاعدة مأخوذة من قوله تبارك وتعالى: ﴿هو العليم الحكيم﴾ [التحريم:2]، وقوله: ﴿إن الله كان عليما حكيما﴾ [الأحزاب:1]، وغيرهما من الآيات الكثيرة الدالة على إثبات الحكمة لله عز وجل فيما يخلقه وفيما يشرعه، أي في أحكامه الكونية والشرعية، فإنه ما من شيء يخلقه الله عز وجل إلا وله حكمة، سواء كان ذلك في إيجاده أو إعدامه، وما من شيء يشرعه الله سبحانه وتعالى إلا لحكمة، سواء كان ذلك في إيجابه، أو تحريمه، أو إباحته.
لكن هذه الحكم التي يتضمنها حكمه الكوني والشرعي، قد تكون معلومة لنا، وقد تكون مجهولة، وقد تكون معلومة لبعض الناس دون بعض، حسب ما يؤتيهم الله سبحانه وتعالى من العلم والفهم.
إذا تقرر هذا فإننا نقول: إن الله سبحانه وتعالى خلق الجن والإنس لحكمة عظيمة، وغاية حميدة، وهي عبادته تبارك وتعالى، كما قال الله سبحانه وتعالى: ﴿وما خلقت الجن والإنس إلا ليعبدون﴾ [الذاريات:56]، وقال تعالى: ﴿أفحسبتم أنما خلقناكم عبثا وأنكم إلينا لا ترجعون﴾ [المؤمنون:115]، وقال تعالى: ﴿أيحسب الإنسان أن يترك سدى﴾ [القيامة:36]، إلى غير ذلك من الآيات الدالة على أن لله تعالى حكمة بالغة في خلق الجن والإنس، وهي عبادته.
والعبادة هي التذلل لله عز وجل محبة وتعظيما، بفعل أوامره، واجتناب نواهيه، على الوجه الذي جاءت به شرائعه، كما قال الله تعالى: ﴿وما أمروا إلا ليعبدوا الله مخلصين له الدين حنفاء﴾ [البينة:5]، فهذه هي الحكمة من خلق الجن والإنس، وعلى هذا فمن تمرد على ربه، واستكبر عن عبادته، فإنه يكون نابذا لهذه الحكمة التي خلق العباد من أجلها، وفعله يشهد بأن الله سبحانه وتعالى خلق الخلق عبثا وسدى، وهو وإن لم يصرح بذلك، لكن هذا مقتضى تمرده واستكباره عن طاعة ربه.
English translation
English rendering prepared for SalafAlSalih.com from the cited complete Arabic answer; not an official translation.
Original question
Esteemed Shaykh, what is the purpose of creating human beings?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds. I send prayers and greetings of peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his family and companions. To proceed: before answering this question, I would like to draw attention to a general principle concerning what Allah, Mighty and Majestic, creates and what He prescribes. This principle is taken from His statement, “He is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise” [al-Tahrim 66:2], His statement, “Indeed, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise” [al-Ahzab 33:1], and the many other verses affirming Allah’s wisdom in what He creates and prescribes—that is, in His decrees concerning creation and His religious rulings. There is nothing Allah, Mighty and Majestic, creates without a wisdom, whether in bringing it into existence or bringing its existence to an end. There is nothing Allah, Glorified and Exalted, prescribes without a wisdom, whether in making it obligatory, prohibiting it or permitting it.
However, the wisdoms contained in His decrees concerning creation and His religious rulings may be known to us or unknown. They may be known to some people and not others, according to the knowledge and understanding Allah, Glorified and Exalted, grants them.
Having established this, we say that Allah, Glorified and Exalted, created the jinn and human beings for a tremendous wisdom and a praiseworthy purpose: to worship Him, Blessed and Exalted. Allah, Glorified and Exalted, says, “I did not create the jinn and human beings except to worship Me” [al-Dhariyat 51:56]. He also says, “Did you think that We created you without purpose and that you would not be returned to Us?” [al-Muminun 23:115], and, “Does the human being think that he will be left without responsibility?” [al-Qiyamah 75:36]. These and other verses show that Allah has a profound wisdom in creating the jinn and human beings: their worship of Him.
Worship is humble submission to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, with love and veneration, by carrying out His commands and avoiding His prohibitions in the manner prescribed by His revealed laws. Allah says, “They were commanded only to worship Allah, making the religion sincerely His, inclining to the truth” [al-Bayyinah 98:5]. This, then, is the wisdom in creating the jinn and human beings. Accordingly, whoever rebels against his Lord and arrogantly refuses to worship Him rejects the wisdom for which the servants were created. His conduct bears witness to the claim that Allah, Glorified and Exalted, created creation without purpose and without responsibility. Even if he does not expressly say this, it is what his rebellion and arrogant refusal to obey his Lord entail.
Source and editorial notes
Fiqh al-ʿIbādāt, 13th edition, 1441 AH, question 1, pp.15–16
فقه العبادات
Fiqhul ʿIbaadaat
Complete Q1 transcribed and collated from Ibn Uthaymeen Foundation 13th edition 1441 AH, printed pp.15–16 / PDF pp.18–19. Original excerpt explicitly superseded, preserving F01.