Fatwa ID: 07850
Answered by: Maulana Abdurrahman Mohammad
Question:
My question is whether all humans and jinn were created only to worship Allah. If so, according to Surah Al-A’raf verse 179, Allah created the majority of humans and jinn for hell. Did Allah create the majority of humans and jinns for hell?
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
The Purpose of Our Creation
Allah SWT declares in the Qur’an:
“I did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me.”[1]
Allah SWT did not create mankind and Jinn to go to Hell, rather He created them to worship Him. The primary purpose of our creation is to do Ibādah by worshipping and recognising Allah SWT. This is not limited to ritual acts like prayer or financial acts like charity but encompasses every aspect of our lives, including how we live, decide, and act.
Allah’s Knowledge and Free Will
Allah SWT is the All-Knowing and knows every detail about His creation far before bringing it into existence. This includes their actions, decisions, and destinies.
“I heard Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: Allah ordained the measures (of quality) of the creation fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth, as His Throne was upon water.”[2]
Despite this, Allah SWT has granted humans and Jinn free will, allowing them to choose their own paths in life. Allah SWT says:
“We already showed them the Way, whether they ˹choose to˺ be grateful or ungrateful.”[3]
Allah’s knowledge of our actions does not interfere with our choices. His knowledge is eternal and perfect because He is not bound by time or space. While we experience life within the constraints of time with each moment unfolding spontaneously, Allah SWT’s knowledge encompasses the entire timeline, past, present, and future, all at once.
An Analogy of the Creator and the Created
To understand this relationship, consider the analogy of an inventor creating a robot and placing it in a maze. The inventor, having designed the robot and its programming, knows exactly how it will navigate the maze and where it will end up. However, from the robot’s perspective, it is making its own decisions within the maze. Similarly, Allah SWT created us with free will. While His eternal knowledge encompasses our decisions, it does not coerce or dictate them. Although Allah SWT knows our destinies, that does not affect us in any way, especially from making the right choices and going to Jannah or making the wrong choices and going to Jahannam.
Guidance and Responsibility
Allah SWT created every human upon the Fitrah, the natural disposition to recognize and worship Him. He provided guidance through prophets and divine books and provided us guidance by placing signs of His majesty in nature and throughout the world we live in. He has placed signs in the creation of the heavens and the earth so that we may ponder and reflect upon His majesty and Oneness. Furthermore, Allah SWT has blessed us with reason and intellect so that we may appreciate and ponder over Allah, as seen in the story of Ibrahim A.S. contemplating the existence of One God.
Allah’s role is to provide guidance, but the choice to accept or reject it lies with us. Allah SWT says:
“Had We willed, We could have easily imposed guidance on every soul. But My Word will come to pass: I will surely fill up Hell with jinn and humans all together.”[4]
Allah SWT has given us free will and has not forced us onto the straight path. If He had coerced us, there would be no test, and the concepts of reward and punishment would lose their meaning. It just so happens to be and it is unfortunate that despite providing guidance, many souls will end up rejecting it and choose misguidance over guidance. This ultimately is the action of their free will and is not the purpose Allah SWT created them for. Their sinful, free souls will lead them to Jahannam on their own, not because Allah SWT forced them to disobey.
Judgement and Accountability
Allah SWT judges every soul based on their choices and capacity:
“Allah does not require of any soul more than what it can afford.”[5]
Those who do not receive guidance or lack the capacity to understand it will not be held accountable, especially in this case of children and the mentally handicapped. Allah SWT is just and does not burden any soul beyond its capability. He did not create us to go to Hell.
“Whoever chooses to be guided, it is only for their own good. And whoever chooses to stray, it is only to their own loss. No soul burdened with sin will bear the burden of another. And We would never punish ˹a people˺ until We have sent a messenger ˹to warn them˺.”[6]
Allah SWT is so merciful that the minimum requirement to attain Allah’s mercy is to believe in Him. All believers, even the sinners, will ultimately enter Paradise after being purified for their wrongdoings. The Hadith mention that Allah’s mercy outweighs His wrath:
“I heard Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) saying, ‘The good deeds of any person will not make him enter Paradise.’ (i.e., None can enter Paradise through his good deeds.) They (the Prophet’s companions) said, ‘Not even you, O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)?’ He said, ‘Not even myself, unless Allah bestows His favor and mercy on me.’”[7]
For those who disbelieve or reject clear guidance, eternal punishment in Hell is decreed. Allah’s justice ensures that those who reject faith despite clear signs are held accountable, while those with valid excuses are not punished.
Focus on Your Own Actions Not Destiny
Allah SWT did not create humanity and Jinn to punish them. He wants them to recognize His attributes and mercy and to present the best actions they can on the Day of Judgement:
“˹He is the One˺ Who created death and life in order to test which of you is best in deeds. And He is the Almighty, All-Forgiving.”[8]
We must try our best to fulfill the purpose of our creation by worshiping Allah SWT the best way we can and by doing as many good deeds as we can. Allah SWT provides us with the necessary faculties as well as the guidance required for success. Although Allah SWT knows the outcomes of our lives, this knowledge does not affect our choices. What matters is how we use our free will to attain Jannah and avoid Jahannam. Instead of fixating on what Allah SWT knows, we should focus on our actions, study the Quran, emulate the Prophet ﷺ, and fulfill our responsibilities. Life is simply a test and a maze for us to navigate, and our success depends on our conscious effort to use Allah’s guidance to stay on the straight path. Allah SWT has equipped us with everything we need to succeed, but the choice remains ours. Allah SWT says in the Quran:
“Whoever wills let them believe, and whoever wills let them disbelieve.”[9]
References:
[1] وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ (Surah Adh-Dhariyat 51:56)
[2] كَتَبَ اللَّهُ مَقَادِيرَ الْخَلاَئِقِ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَخْلُقَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ بِخَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ – قَالَ – وَعَرْشُهُ عَلَى الْمَاءِ (Sahih Muslim 2653b, Book 46, Hadith 27)
[3] إِنَّا هَدَيْنَـٰهُ ٱلسَّبِيلَ إِمَّا شَاكِرًۭا وَإِمَّا كَفُورًا (Surah Al-Insan 76:3)
[4] وَلَوْ شِئْنَا لَـَٔاتَيْنَا كُلَّ نَفْسٍ هُدَىٰهَا وَلَـٰكِنْ حَقَّ ٱلْقَوْلُ مِنِّى لَأَمْلَأَنَّ جَهَنَّمَ مِنَ ٱلْجِنَّةِ وَٱلنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ (Surah As-Sajdah 32:13)
[5] لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:286)
[6] مَّنِ ٱهْتَدَىٰ فَإِنَّمَا يَهْتَدِى لِنَفْسِهِۦ ۖ وَمَن ضَلَّ فَإِنَّمَا يَضِلُّ عَلَيْهَا ۚ وَلَا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌۭ وِزْرَ أُخْرَىٰ ۗ وَمَا كُنَّا مُعَذِّبِينَ حَتَّىٰ نَبْعَثَ رَسُولًۭا (Surah Al-Isra 17:15)
[7] لَنْ يُدْخِلَ أَحَدًا عَمَلُهُ الْجَنَّةَ ”. قَالُوا وَلاَ أَنْتَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ قَالَ ” لاَ، وَلاَ أَنَا إِلاَّ أَنْ يَتَغَمَّدَنِي اللَّهُ بِفَضْلٍ وَرَحْمَةٍ فَسَدِّدُوا وَقَارِبُوا وَلاَ يَتَمَنَّيَنَّ أَحَدُكُمُ الْمَوْتَ إِمَّا مُحْسِنًا فَلَعَلَّهُ أَنْ يَزْدَادَ خَيْرًا، وَإِمَّا مُسِيئًا فَلَعَلَّهُ أَنْ يَسْتَعْتِبَ (Sahih al-Bukhari 5673, Book 75, Hadith 33)
[8] ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ ٱلْمَوْتَ وَٱلْحَيَوٰةَ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًۭا ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْغَفُورُ (Surah Al-Mulk 67:2)
[9] فَمَن شَآءَ فَلْيُؤْمِن وَمَن شَآءَ فَلْيَكْفُرْ (Surah Al-Kahf 18:29)
Only Allah (عز و جل) knows best.
Written by Maulana Abdurrahman Mohammad
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
