Answer
Salam Dear Brother,
Thank you for your question and for contacting Ask About Islam.
Muslims believe that Allah created everything that is in the heavens and the earth.
These things didn’t come into existence by any other means except through His Will.
Why He chose to create things is for Him alone to know.
He certainly doesn’t gain anything by creating the world because He is perfect in every way whether the world exists or not.
In a similar way, Muslims also believe that human beings are created by Allah and that we exist for one reason only: to know, love, and serve Allah in this world and be happy with Him forever in the next.
Our existence adds nothing to His greatness. Nothing we can do or say can add anything to what He has. Yet He has willed us into being that we might find our total happiness in Him Alone.
The Journey of Life
The whole journey of our life is a journey towards the grave.
We come into this world as finite human beings who will one day die.
In this world, some people are given riches, whilst others are not.
Some are born smart and others are not. Some are very talented and others are not.
Muslims believe, though, that being in this world is like a rehearsal for what is still to come.
This life is rather like a drama and in it some people put on the clothes of a king, whilst others put on the clothes of a poor man.
When the drama is over, though, each one takes off the costume he has been wearing in this world and returns to that original state in which he came into the world: naked before Allah and equal to everyone else.
No one takes their wealth with them to the grave.
The Test and The Reward
There is a sense, too, in which we are tested in this world.
Allah has given us things and we are asked to use them wisely.
On Judgment Day there will be no one to stand up and speak for us. We will have to give an account of how we have lived our lives.
Allah certainly does not force us to do this or that while we are in the world. No, we can make whatever choices we wish, but we are asked to justify our choices on that Last Day.
Allah has made clear to us the best ways to live. By following His ways we will find happiness and contentment in this world.
Not following His ways can only lead to our unhappiness.
For Muslims, then, everything in this world is just a prelude to what will come after it. The few, brief years we spend on earth are just the tiniest part of why we were created and why we exist.
Even the happiness we may have enjoyed during this earthly life will pale into insignificance compared to the happiness which is to come, where it will not be like a drama, with some people playing different roles. No, all will be rewarded in a very beautiful way.
As if to underline this, Allah Almighty tells us that in Paradise we will all be wearing garments of green silk and wearing bracelets of pearls and of gold. But, our limited, human minds can only understand things in earthly, human terms.
Allah does use human words to describe to us what Paradise will be like, but in reality it will far exceed what human language can describe.
Even Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) tells us that Paradise will be what no eye has seen and no ear heard, things beyond the minds of men and women.
So will we be bored in such a beautiful place?
How could we be bored with what our hearts have longed for?
How could we be bored with the fulfillment of all our hopes and dreams?
How could we be bored in finally finding the reason we exist and for which we have struggled throughout our lives on this earth?
Eternal bliss means exactly that. It will be bliss for all eternity. To suggest we could tire of it is to miss the point. It will be bliss for all eternity, not for five minutes. Allah is more than capable of creating that for us as well.
Insha’Allah (God willing), by living good lives and surrendering to Allah’s Will, doing what He tells us is best; we will taste of that blissfulness.
I hope this helps answer your question.
Salam and please keep in touch.
(From Ask About Islam archives)
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