Why did Allaah create man, because I feel that I came to this life in vain? What should I do to increase my love for the Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention)?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Allaah The Almighty created man to worship Him, fulfill His orders and enact His laws. The person who deviates from this path will be worthy of punishment, and the one who obeys Him will deserve the eternal bliss that He promised. Sharee`ah texts as well as sound minds have asserted this fact. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me. I do not want from them any provision, nor do I want them to feed Me. Indeed, it is Allaah who is the [continual] Provider, the firm possessor of strength.} [Quran 51:56-58]

There are also many other texts from the Quran and Sunnah to this effect.

As for sound minds, wise people argue that man could not have created himself, because he was nonexistent and nonexistent beings cannot create anything. Moreover, nature did not create him because nature is no more than stones, trees, rivers, seas etc - all inanimate objects that have no faculty of reasoning and which lack power, vision, hearing and mind. Therefore, how could creation give man what it itself lacked? It is an obvious rule that the person or thing that lacks something cannot give it to others. Indeed, manufactured items represent only some of the qualities of its manufacturer.

In other words, take a wooden door, for example. The door shows some signs of its maker, in terms of quality, which indicates that its maker is proficient in making doors, able to create it, owns the necessary tools and the like. However, there are other qualities that the door cannot convey, such as the food he likes or dislikes; his height; who are his friends or his enemies etc. We cannot know such features except through someone who personally knows the carpenter.

This is merely an example to help us understand the issue, and to Allaah belongs the highest attributes. Allaah The Almighty is the Creator of everything whose Attributes might be known through revelation and then through the effects of these Attributes. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {So observe the effects of the mercy of Allaah - how He gives life to the earth after its lifelessness.} [Quran 30:50]  Thus, the effects of mercy and wisdom refer to the Most Merciful and the Most Wise. Nevertheless, there are other Attributes that we cannot know except through revelation, such as the Attributes of His Self and the people whom He loves and those whom He hates.

We say Allaah is the One who created man and the One who instructs him. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {His is the creation and the command.} [Quran 7:54]  He outlined the wisdom behind the creation of man, He Says (what means):

·        {And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.} [Quran 51:56]

·        {[He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed - and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving.} [Quran 67:2]

Allaah The Almighty denounces the person who thinks or believes that he was created in vain. He The Almighty Says (what means): {Then did you think that We created you uselessly and that to Us you would not be returned?" So exalted is Allaah, the Sovereign, the Truth; there is no deity except Him, Lord of the Noble Throne.} [Quran 23:115-116]

You should ponder every organ of your body: were your eyes created for a reason; your ears; your feet with their shape and precision? Yes, they were. Consider your digestive system, the nervous system and other systems and you will realize that they were created with great wisdom. Know that each system was not only created to serve itself but to benefit the whole body – for there is no need for a digestive system or any other bodily system in the absence of a body. How could it be that a person can believe every separate organ has its own wisdom and purpose and when combined together form a man with hearing, vision, intellect and understanding, can see no wisdom behind his creation?

Surprisingly enough, if you ask a group of disbelievers with the highest university degrees about the wisdom behind the creation of man, they would stand in amazement with no answer. Whereas, if you asked them whether their shoes were created with wisdom and purpose, they would say that they protect us against thorns and hot and cold weather. Note this fake culture that sees wisdom and purposes for shoes, while stripping man, with his precise and perfect form, from the wisdom behind his creation!

Sometimes others may be forced to admit the wisdom behind man's creation of their own accord. They may say that they were created to be traders, presidents, famous stars etc. We ask these people one question: if you were created for such purposes, why will you die before accomplishing your tasks? At this time the believer will surely realize that he was created to be tested: the tools of the test are everything in this life; the period of the test is the lifetime on earth; and the location of the test is this earth, the home of mortality. At the end of this period a person will submit the tools and leave the examination hall. Indeed Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {[He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed.} [Quran 67:2]

Therefore, a person should strive hard to worship his Lord and prepare for meeting Allaah on that very terrible and horrible Day.

Allaah Knows best.