HARDLY anyone endowed with the capacity to think and argue coherently can deny the existence of the Creator, the ‘prime mover unmoved’, the one who put in operation the endless cycle of cause and effect, as Aristotle chose to define the Divine Providence. Two thousand years later, the French philosopher, Descartes, who desired to explain all of the world by mechanical and mathematical laws, had to admit that “given an initial push by God”, all the astronomic, geologic and non-mental processes and developments could be explained.

But what is most important is to determine the purpose of Creation, not how but why this complex universe came into being. It is this aspect on which Allah, the ‘prime mover’, the Being who gave the ‘initial push’, has thrown enough light in His own words, as preserved and kept alive in the holy Quran.

Who else other than Him can enlighten us, the human beings, the most intelligent and mentally alert form of life, regarding the purpose of our creation? Allah tells us that ‘He did not create the heaven and the earth and all that is between them in vain, as is the opinion of the unbelievers’ (38:27).

So, this is a point-blank rebuttal of the unreasonable position taken by those who disbelieve, not so much the existence of the Creator, but the fact that they are required to worship Him, obey His commands and the possibility of horrible consequences of failure to do so consciously and intentionally. Such persons are prone to dismiss the idea of their having been created, with a purpose and with a design, by an All-Knowing and All-Wise Allah. Instead, they imagine a mystic ‘force’, or ‘Actus Purus’ (pure energy), as postulated by the old masters of philosophy, to be their creator.

Dispelling such impression of the sceptics and the unbelievers about Him, Allah asserts that He created the heavens and the earth ‘rightfully’ (bil haq), or as a matter of right, because He alone was, and is, capable of creating the universe, the intention being ‘to see that every soul is repaid what it rightly deserves and that no one is wronged’ (45:22). So, this is how, concisely and with inimitable brevity, the complex and intricate subject of accountability — reward and punishment with utmost fairness and justice — is introduced as the principal purpose of creation.

There is another, equally brief, reference to the notion of accountability. Human beings are, in their life time, ‘on trial with evil and with good for ordeal’ (21:35). So, life is an ordeal, to be taken seriously and to be led carefully, avoiding evil and adopting the righteous course. But how can one do this tight-rope walk? one can ask oneself. Anticipating this, Allah affirms that ‘He has shown every one the paths of gratefulness to Him and denial of His existence’ (76:3). Those whose inner conscience, in which the two conflicting attitudes and behaviour are ingrained, follow the course of righteousness or gratefulness to the Creator, deserve the due reward and those who rebel against their conscience and adopt the path of ungratefulness also deserve the due punishment.

Now, to clarify how and when this judicious and absolutely fair reward and retribution will be dispensed, Allah says that ‘the purpose of decreeing life and death is to try which one is best in conduct’ (67:2). So, life has been decreed as the period of trial. Death closes this ordeal and all the souls await the judgment about which Allah says, in a different context, that ‘had a particular time for judgment not been pre-ordained their case would have been decided already’ (42:14).

Apparently in a lighter vein, comes the statement that ‘Allah did not create the heaven and the earth and all that is between them as a plaything; had it been so, He would have found this pastime in His presence’ (21:16-18). But the point to ponder is whether this cryptic and veiled statement is really in a lighter vein. If one thinks analytically, the plausible meaning is too deep and profound. Had Allah created the universe to please Himself, He would have done it without this elaborate paraphernalia and designing a particular planet as a congenial place or life in general and human life in particular, which owes its origin to ‘some of Allah’s own spirit having been breathed into it’ (15:29).

Having created everything, He remains hidden from every onlooker’s eyes. But the prospect of seeing Him and meeting Him is there. ‘Whoever yearns to meet Allah, he should do righteous work and make no one sharer of worship that is due to his Creator and Sustainer’ (18:10).

Can there be a more attractive incentive for doing good work in one’s life time and shunning polytheism?

Those who ascribe partners to Allah, the Quran says, will not be pardoned on their resurrection (4:48). The utterly condemned souls will be such that ‘Allah will neither speak to them nor look upon them, nor will He chasten them’ (3:77). Not only this much. ‘They will be kept hidden from their Creator’ (83:15).

So, what a great bliss for those who will pass the ordeal of life on earth successfully and will be ushered in the presence of their Maker, greeted with ‘Peace be the Merciful Lord’ (36:58), face to face with Reality, all doubts and earthly scepticism having vanished.