Many Muslims ask us:
If God does not exist, what becomes the purpose of life? Without a higher power, how can a human being live a meaningful life?
This is an important question. The answer does not come from the sky but from our own nature, science, and human reason.
Nature and evolution have no cosmic purpose.
The universe began with the Big Bang. Stars formed, collided, and perished. For billions of years, there was no life on Earth. When life finally emerged, it was not due to some grand plan or divine goal, but as a result of chemical and physical processes.
Evolution also has no 'target' or 'purpose'. It is a blind process that only favours those living beings who survive in their environment and pass their genes to the next generations. It involves no moral, existential, or 'human improvement' goal. Evolution does not design us to be 'good' or 'meaningful' but to survive and reproduce.
Yet, how do we get a sense of purpose?
The good thing is we don't need a divine command or a promise of heaven. Over millions of years, evolution gave human bodies two things:
- Hormones
- A Brain with a lot of intelligence
These two evolutionary biological systems inclines us to connect with others, cooperate, and achieve something.
In this system, some key hormones and neurochemicals play this role:
- Oxytocin:
When you hug someone, help a stranger, or laugh heartily with a friend, your brain releases oxytocin, often called the 'love hormone.' This chemical connects us to one another and makes us compassionate and protective of others. This is why a 'purpose' arises within us, such as caring for our family, maintaining friendships, and even feeling pity for strangers. - Serotonin:
Have you ever felt intense anger when you saw an injustice being done to someone? That is serotonin at work. Studies suggest that people with normal serotonin levels are more ready to speak out against injustice and teach a lesson to those who break social rules. Our sense of right and wrong is not just a religious idea; it is a reality that we are naturally inclined toward the 'purpose' of seeking justice. - Dopamine:
When you help someone, achieve a goal, or do something meaningful, your brain releases dopamine, often called the 'reward hormone.' This is why doing good deeds gives such satisfaction. Your brain is literally encouraging you to keep doing what is beneficial for you and others. We do not need heaven or divine rewards for fulfillment and happiness. Our brains naturally reward us when we live in a way that improves ourselves and our community.
These hormones give us the raw potential to connect with others, cooperate, help, and achieve.
When we do good for others, we often find satisfaction and happiness ourselves. Thus ultimately gives us a motivation to find a purpose in life, which indirectly helps to produce happiness in our lives by helping others directly.
Where does real purpose and meaning come from?
Biology gives us the raw material in the form of hormones, that is, a sense of empathy, motivation, and reward.
And the work of giving this raw material a meaningful and moral shape is done by human reason, upbringing, culture, and shared values (human intelligence).
That is, the 'purpose' of doing good, loving, and seeking justice actually already exists as raw material in our biology, not as a religious command.
Our purpose comes into being moment by moment.
A baby's first smile, solving a problem, helping someone in distress, watching a beautiful sunset.
We do not need an infinite heaven, because we find infinite meaning in finite moments.
Religion has no monopoly on purpose.
Purpose is not something to wait for; it is something we bring to life ourselves every day. Whether it is love, creation, or science, we can make our lives meaningful. And we do not need ancient books or divine decrees; just our own mind, heart, and the world are enough. Even without the promise of heaven, we can do good deeds, perhaps even with more sincerity because we live only once.
What is the purpose of life according to God?
According to Islam, God created jinn and humans only to worship Him (Surah Adh-Dhariyat: 56).
But this claim raises several questions. If God is self-sufficient (Al-Samad), why does He 'need' worship? And if worship does not benefit Him, then why is so much praise being demanded (Note: Worshipping Allah is nothing else than PRAISING him)?
Furthermore, this demand for praise is not limited to humans, but it extends further, and God has angels constantly engaged in His praise. A human prays five times a day, but according to Islam, angels remain busy praising God all the time, even though this worship benefits them nothing, as they will not go to heaven, nor will they receive 72 virgins. So why does God make them continuously worship and praise Him?
But this insistence on praise does not stop at angels. According to Islam, all creatures, from animals and insects to heavenly bodies like the moon, sun, and stars, as well as mountains and every particle of the universe, are constantly and at all times worshipping and praising God. Yet, their worship and praise will not benefit them in any way, because none of them will go to heaven, nor will they receive 72 virgins.
The Quran states in one place that God created many jinn and humans (the majority) for Hell (Al-A'raf: 179). So was the real purpose worship or filling Hell?
What is the purpose of eternal life in heaven?
Religious scholars usually answer this way:
The purpose of life in this world is to prepare for the next infinite life, to see who goes to heaven and who goes to hell.
Religious friends!
Have you ever considered what the purpose of that infinite life would be?
You call eating, drinking, dressing, and helping others in this short life 'materialism.' But in the infinite heaven you present as the purpose of life, why is eating, drinking, and indulgence forever not materialism? When you do not understand the purpose of eternal life and it has never been explained, why do you deceive yourselves by setting an arbitrary purpose for this short life?
It is not hard to understand that in eternity, any pleasure loses its essence. In the language of science, when every desire is instantly fulfilled and no lack remains, the feeling of pleasure disappears. The same dopamine that gives us the thrill of novelty and achievement would cease to exist there.
Consider this, if heaven contains the same things as the world, only in unlimited quantity (rivers, wine, honey, houris), then why call it 'spiritual' or 'divine'? It is just an endless version of material pleasures. And if pleasure is just pleasure, then it has no remaining purpose. Purpose only makes sense when there is something to seek, something to achieve, something to improve. In eternal stagnation, purpose dies.
(Credit: This article was inspired by a piece by Syed Amjad Hussain.)
Analysis of objections raised by religious people:
After this article was published, certain objections were raised by religious people. Here they are presented with analysis:
A religious person wrote:
The long story about hormones and biological processes is actually a failed scientific attempt to suppress the call of your soul. If human life is just a game of oxytocin and dopamine, then in your view, ethics have no value left, because tomorrow a beastly person could say that the chemical balance in his brain was disturbed, so he committed oppression. Would you then forgive him by calling it a natural process?
This objection is based on a misunderstanding. 'Purpose' and 'ethics' are not two separate things, rather, both are deeply connected.
Science does not say that human life is 'just' a game of hormones. Rather, science explains that our biology gives us the raw material.
It is important to understand that evolution did not design us just to be 'virtuous,' but to survive. This complex hormone system is not limited to those three 'happiness chemicals'; it also includes components that make us selfish, angry, and aggressive:
Cortisol and adrenaline are the chemicals that put us into a state of 'fear' and 'defence.' When a person feels their resources or survival are threatened, this same system can incite them toward violence or selfishness.
Testosterone, while giving confidence, in excess creates aggression and a desire for dominance, which often forms the basis of fights and injustice.
That is, biology does not automatically make us 'good' or 'bad.' It gives us potentialities for both good and evil.
So who makes the final decision?
The answer is that the final decision on human behaviour is made by human reason.
And reason receives input from two main sources:
-
Internal source: Our biological inclinations and hormones (which include both empathy and aggression, both helping others and selfishness).
-
External source: Our environment, upbringing, education, culture, and experiences. (These external sources can also incline us toward more compassion or more aggression and selfishness through education and training).
Human behavior is formed on the continuous interaction between these two sources and then the final decision of reason based on them.
Therefore, when a person commits oppression, science does not forgive them by calling them a 'biological machine.' Rather, science explains that behind that crime there may be several factors, such as childhood trauma, genetic makeup, chemical imbalance, social environment, or wrong upbringing.
But responsibility does not mean we let the criminal go free. Society punishes the criminal as a social defense mechanism. This punishment is not for revenge, but for two reasons:
-
First, to protect society from dangerous elements.
-
Second, to send a message to other individuals in society that aggression and oppression will result in punishment, so they use their reason to control their negative behaviours. That is, through punishment, they are given positive education and training.
In this way, society creates biological and psychological responses in people that prevent bad behaviour in the future.
So in summary, hormones and biology are certainly the basis of ethics, but they are not the whole story of ethics. The final formation of ethics comes from human reason, upbringing, self-awareness, and shared human values.
Human reason is the only weapon that:
-
Understanding both the good and bad tendencies within us caused by hormones, can choose the better path among them.
-
And this same reason gives us the ability to understand and distinguish between good and bad aspects in the education and training we receive from the environment.
Thus, it is this gift of human reason by evolution that gives us the capacity to live a meaningful and ethical life, without any heavenly command.
If you are also wondering whether morality itself is possible without God, see our detailed analysis here:
Hassan Radwan