Why does anything exist at all? This is one of the most profound questions that has haunted human consciousness for centuries. When we turn to Islam in search of an answer, we find ourselves trapped in a web of contradictions, evasions, and logical failures. These problems only grow deeper when we compare the supposed nature of Allah with the reasons Islam gives for creation.
To understand this properly, we need to separate two very different questions:
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What was the real reason or motivation BEFORE Allah’s initial decision to create the universe?
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What tasks or purposes were assigned to creation AFTER it had already came into existence?
Islamic teachings constantly confuse the two. What is often presented as an answer to the first question is actually nothing more than a statement about the second.
Take for example the commonly quoted verse:
Quran 51:56َ:
"I have not created the jinn and mankind except to worship Me."
This verse is frequently presented as the grand answer to why we exist. But it completely misses the point. It does not tell us why creation was needed in the first place. It only tells us what humans and jinn are expected to do after they were created. It dodges the real question. What motivated the act of creation to begin with? Why create anything at all, if the only goal was worship?
The problem becomes even more glaring when we consider one of Allah’s core attributes: al-Samad — the One who is eternally self-sufficient, who needs absolutely nothing from anyone or anything.
Quran 111:2:
اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ
"Allah, the Eternally Self-Sufficient, Independent of all (al-Samad)"
Al-Samad means complete perfection. It means zero need. No desire. No deficiency. Nothing missing. So how can such a being desire praise, worship, recognition, or obedience? The moment Allah is said to want worship, He is no longer self-sufficient. The moment He commands it, the illusion of perfection breaks. A truly perfect being does not crave affirmation. It does not seek validation from angels, humans, jinn, or even stars and atoms.
If Allah gains nothing from worship, then why demand it?
Muslim scholars are not blind to this contradiction. So they try to patch it up by saying, "Worship is not for Allah, it is for your own good. It benefits humans. It brings us closer to paradise."
But this explanation only makes things worse.
If worship is for our benefit, then why would Allah say, "I have not created jinn and mankind except to worship Me"? That verse no longer makes sense.
And even if we accept that worship is for our benefit, the deeper question remains untouched. Why create us in the first place? Why not just place us directly in paradise if that is the end goal? Why go through the painful, confusing, and often tragic process of life, test, suffering, and judgment?
What was the reason behind creation itself?
The silence on this issue is deafening. When you put together the verse from the Quran with the scholarly interpretations, you are left with a theological contradiction so blatant that it almost feels like satire.
Allah creates beings only to worship Him, but claims He does not need worship. That is like:
- Allah saying: "I am eating, even though I do not need food."
- Or Allah saying "I am sleeping, even though I do not need sleep."
It collapses under its own weight.
Ultimately, Islamists have to openly accept that:
- Allah neither told the underlying reason/motivation for CREATION.
- Nor did Allah tell the reason for not telling it.
Why a Test of PRAISING Allah?
If life is truly a test, then shouldn't that test be about kindness, justice, compassion, and helping those in need? Shouldn't it be about resisting oppression, standing up for the weak, and making the world a better place?
But Islam tells us something else. It tells us that the ultimate test is to worship and praise Allah five times a day, every single day, without fail. Not because it improves the world. Not because it helps humanity. But simply because Allah demands it.
And this obsession with praise does not stop with humans.
According to Islam, angels have been endlessly worshipping and glorifying Allah since the beginning of time. They do not sin. They do not question. Yet they spend their entire existence in submission and praise. And for what? They are not going to paradise. They receive no reward. We are told Allah does not need their praise, yet He demands it endlessly. How is that different from someone insisting on being constantly applauded while claiming they do not care for attention?
Imagine someone saying, “I do not need food,” while continuing to eat non-stop. That is the same contradiction we are presented with. Allah supposedly needs nothing, yet He created a universe where everything exists just to praise Him.
It does not stop with angels either. The Quran claims that every creature, animals, birds, insects, even the stars and mountains, they all are engaged in praising Allah. From the vast galaxies to the tiniest atom, everything is glorifying Him. And yet none of these things will enter paradise. None will be rewarded. Their worship is never acknowledged.
Why?
What kind of being would create an entire universe just so it can be endlessly praised by every particle within it? What does Allah gain from this chorus of eternal worship? If He gains nothing, then why demand it? Why insist on it so obsessively?
This relentless demand for worship looks less like divinity and more like human ego projected onto the heavens. A god created in man's image, reflecting human flaws like the need for validation, praise, and submission.
It makes you wonder: Did Allah create man, or did man create Allah?
Because the Allah described in Islamic texts carries the same fragile pride and hunger for attention that we find in the most insecure of human rulers.
And if that is the god we are supposed to worship, then maybe the real test is not about obedience, but about the courage to question.
If Allah Is Eternal, Why Did He DECIDE to Create the Universe ONLY 13.8 Billion Years Ago?
If Allah is truly eternal, existing without beginning or end, then why did He choose to create the universe only 13.8 billion years ago? What was He doing before that? Was He silently watching nothingness for all eternity, only to suddenly decide it was time to create a universe, a planet, a species, and a divine drama?
Could it be, and this is just a thought, that an eternal Allah became bored, and only recently by cosmic standards, decided to make a game featuring mankind and Satan? A game where the stakes are heaven or hell, and where the creator finds pleasure in watching the endless conflict unfold?
This version of God sounds less like a transcendent being and more like a playwright who craves entertainment.
Even more puzzling is Allah’s intense obsession with Earth. Out of the billions of galaxies, each filled with countless stars and planets, why is Allah fixated on one tiny planet? Why Earth? And why humans, who appeared here only recently?
Fossil records show that dinosaurs walked the Earth 65 million years ago. Modern humans have been around for about 300,000 years. Yet Islamic tradition, much like the Bible, places Adam and Eve on Earth just 6 or 7 thousand years ago (Link 1, Link 2). Are we to believe that nothing meaningful happened in all those billions of years until Allah finally decided to place Adam on Earth? And even then, why make humans so late in the timeline?
And if Allah truly watches everything, why is He concerned with what people do in their bedrooms? Why is He focused on the private lives of billions of people, on one small planet, in one average solar system, in one galaxy among billions?
What was the purpose of creating such a vast universe, with stars thousands of times bigger than Earth, if the divine focus is only on a single species? Stars are exploding and galaxies are colliding every second. Entire worlds are being born and destroyed. Yet Islamic scripture reduces all of that to a single human drama, centered around sin, obedience, and praise.
Then there is the Mahdi, the so-called awaited savior. He is not prophesied to lead humanity into an age of science and space exploration. He is not coming to help us reach the stars. Instead, he is foretold to wage war, destroy non-believers, and bring about the end of the world. The universe, we are told, will collapse onto Earth. Everything will end.
Does this make sense in a universe of such overwhelming scale?
The signs of the last hour, as mentioned in Hadiths, never speak of space, science, or technological progress. There is no mention of humans reaching the moon, exploring planets, or discovering other galaxies. It is as if these scriptures were written by people who believed Earth was the center of everything, because that was all they knew.
Even the story of Muhammad’s ascension to the heavens raises questions. Why did he need a flying mule with wings to travel through space? If the creature could move through the heavens without wings, why would it need them at all on Earth? And then the Quran in verse 35:1 says that angels fly with two, three, or four wings. Does this sound logical based on what we now know about space and the physical universe?
We are speaking of a universe governed by breathtaking complexity, where laws of physics operate with precision across billions of light-years. Yet Islamic texts describe it through the lens of ancient tribal mythology, limited in scope and understanding.
This leads us to a serious and uncomfortable question: What if Allah is not the creator of man, but rather a creation of man?
Because when we examine the behavior, priorities, and worldview of this god, what we find is not the mark of a supreme being. We find the fears, desires, and ignorance of early humans projected onto a divine figure. We see a god not born among the stars, but imagined in the deserts of the seventh century. A god shaped by human minds, not divine essence.
What Was the Purpose Behind Creating Insects, Dinosaurs, and Pre-Human Species?
If Allah created everything for a reason, then what exactly was the purpose behind creating millions of species of insects? Most of them live, die, and decay without ever interacting with humans. They feel no emotion, have no morality, and according to our understanding, no real consciousness. What kind of divine plan is this?
Now, some may argue that only humans were created with full consciousness, which is why they are tested and sent to heaven or hell. But even this excuse collapses when we look at the Quran. The Quran tells us a story in which ants speak and warn each other of the approaching army of Prophet Solomon. This means ants are portrayed as conscious beings, capable of thought and communication.
If that is true, then where is their accountability? Shouldn't they also be judged? Shouldn’t the snake that bit Abu Bakr in the cave be considered a conscious creature and punished accordingly? If consciousness is what leads to reward or punishment, then insects and animals in Islamic stories should be part of that system too. But they are not. It’s a contradiction that no one in Islamic theology has ever been able to resolve.
And what about the dinosaurs? These majestic creatures ruled the Earth for over 150 million years. They lived, evolved, and went extinct around 65 million years ago, long before humans ever arrived. What purpose did they serve in Allah’s supposed grand test? Were they just an irrelevant trial version of creation? A meaningless prelude?
Islam says nothing about them. The Quran does not even hint at their existence. Why? Because Muhammad and his followers had no idea they existed. That’s the real reason. And yet, Muslims today are left struggling to explain why an all-knowing God created lifeforms that their own scripture doesn’t even acknowledge.
The same problem exists when we look at Neanderthals, Denisovans, and other pre-human hominids. These beings lived and died before modern Homo sapiens. They used tools, buried their dead, and showed signs of intelligence. Were they also part of the divine test? If yes, why are they completely missing from Islamic teachings? If no, then why create them at all?
The truth is painfully obvious. The Quran and Muhammad were unaware of dinosaurs, hominids, and the vast complexity of evolution and natural history. That is why these things were never mentioned, never accounted for, and never explained. Islam presents a worldview where humans were made in a single act, placed on Earth, and tested. But the actual history of life on this planet tells a far deeper and more complicated story. One that Islam cannot explain because it was never designed to deal with it.
This silence from the Quran is not divine mystery. It is ignorance. The ignorance of a man from the seventh century who spoke of camels and deserts, not dinosaurs and evolution.
What is the purpose of eternal life in heaven?
Religious people often repeat the same answer: this life is just a test, a short preparation for the real, eternal life that comes after death. We are told that this world is temporary, and the real reward or punishment awaits us in the hereafter. Heaven for the righteous. Hell for the sinful.
But dear religious friends, have you ever truly stopped to ask yourselves: what is the actual purpose of that eternal life?
You say this life is not about luxury, or pleasure, or materialism. You discourage people from indulging too much, warning them that the real goal is to earn paradise. And yet, what is paradise filled with? Eternal eating. Eternal drinking. Beautiful clothes. Rivers of wine. Young servants. Golden palaces. And for men, the endless sexual company of 72 virgins.
Why is it that when we enjoy these things here, they are dismissed as distractions, as worldly temptations? But when the exact same pleasures are promised in heaven, suddenly they are considered sacred and meaningful? Why is enjoying life on Earth seen as shallow, but enjoying the same things forever in the afterlife is seen as divine?
If you don’t even know the deeper purpose of that infinite life, and if no scripture ever clearly explains why we would need an eternity of luxury — then what are you actually preparing for?
If your answer is, “We don’t know the purpose of heaven, we only know that we want to go there,” then what are you truly striving toward? Is the entire religion just about chasing eternal pleasure? And if yes, then how is that any different from the very materialism you warn others against?
It’s time to ask the harder questions. It’s time to admit that if the purpose of the eternal life is unclear or unknown, then claiming that this life’s purpose is to earn that reward becomes nothing more than blind hope. A vague promise. A circular answer that leads nowhere.
What is the purpose of Allah's infinite life?
If you can think a bit further, consider this: the God of religions that question the purpose of our short life has been alive from eternity and will live forever. Has this God ever defined a purpose for His infinite life? Was the purpose of the life of a God with infinite powers and immense benevolence to create a world where the powerful have always oppressed the weak? Was the purpose of this God's life to continually kill His own creation through famine, earthquakes, storms, and floods? Is the purpose of this God's life just to see who passes the test of this insignificant world and who goes to heaven or hell? If only this God could have defined a purpose for His infinite life before determining the purpose of our short lives.
Islamist's Argument: Our Parents also gave birth to us without asking us first
Our Response:
There's a significant difference between human parents and Allah. Human parents are subject to natural forces, societal pressures, and personal needs. To cope with the challenges of life, they may feel a wish, or even feel compelled to have children. Additionally, some parents fear the isolation that can come with aging, and they seek companionship through family.
Muslims believe that Allah, however, is "al-Samad," which means He is self-sufficient and not in need of anything. If Allah starts "desiring" something, it would suggest dependency or incompleteness, contradicting the concept of being "al-Samad." Thus, the motivation behind human parents' decision to have children is understandable. In contrast, Allah's reasons/motivation for creating the universe and humanity remain completely unanswered (both by Allah and by Muslims too).
Given these differences, the comparison between the motivations of human parents and Allah does not hold. While human parents may create life to fulfill personal needs, but it is claimed by Muslims that Allah is free of any personal needs.
Islamist's Argument: Allah does not need to tell us why He created us
At this stage, Islamic apologists come up with the following two excuses:
- Allah does not need to tell us why He created us.
- And even if Allah told it, we could not comprehend it.
Our Response:
Firstly, at least Islamic apologists admit openly that God neither told us about the underlying motivation for creation nor He told the reason for not telling it to us.
Secondly, if Allah expects us to use our intellect to recognize Him, then He must be prepared to address our genuine and honest questions.
It's contradictory to "challenge" our intellect first to find Allah, only to later "abuse" our intellect by telling us that our intellect cannot grasp His motives for creating the universe. This approach undermines the very intellect that he encourages us to use.
Thus, here's the issue:
- Allah hasn't provided an explanation for the purpose behind creation or the test that comes with life.
- This can lead to various interpretations, including the notion that there exists no Allah in the heavens at all, and Muhammad was creating the revelations on his own. Given Muhammad's limited perspective as a human being, he had no ability to answer the question regarding the reason/motivation behind creation and test.
In summary, if a God seeks intellectual engagement with humanity, it's only logical to expect clear and concise answers to fundamental questions. Without such clarity, every Tom, Dick and Harry can claim that their gods created humans for the sole purpose of worshipping and praising them, rendering the claims indistinguishable and unsubstantiated. There is no discernible difference between Muhammad's claims about Allah and the claims of others about their gods - all lack concrete evidence to support their assertions. This lack of proof renders all claims equally dubious and unverifiable.
Hassan Radwan