سورة الذاريات

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Jamil ibn Darraj said: I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "May I be your ransom! What is the meaning of the verse: وَ ما خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَ الْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِیَعْبُدُونِ [And I have not created the jinn and the men except that they should serve Me]?" He said: "He created them for worship."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Basir said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about [the interpretation of] this verse: وَ ما خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَ الْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِیَعْبُدُونِ [And I have not created the jinn and the men except that they should serve Me]. He said: "That is, He created them so that He would command them to worship Him."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Jamil ibn Darraj said: I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): May I be your ransom! وَ مَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَ الْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِیَعْبُدُونِ [And I have not created the jinn and the men except that they should serve Me]. He said: The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "He created them for worship."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Dawud ibn A'yan said: I was reflecting on the divine saying: وَ مَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَ الْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِیَعْبُدُونِ [And I have not created the jinn and the men except that they should serve Me], and I said: "Creation has been created for worship, yet sins issue from them, and some of them worship other than Him. By Allah, I will surely ask Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about the meaning of this verse." I came to the door of Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) and wished to enter, when he raised his voice and recited: وَ مَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَ الْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِیَعْبُدُونِ, and after that he also recited: لَا تَدْرِی لَعَلَّ اللَّهَ یُحْدِثُ بَعْدَ ذَلِکَ أَمْراً [You do not know, perhaps Allah will bring about after that some new thing]. So I understood.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Jamil ibn Darraj said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "What is the meaning of Allah's saying: وَ مَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَ الْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِیَعْبُدُونِ [And I have not created the jinn and the men except that they should serve Me]?" His Eminence (peace be upon him) said: "Allah created people for worship." I said: "Specific worship or general?" He said: "General."

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Ibn Abi Umayr said: It is narrated from Imam Musa (peace be upon him) that regarding the words of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) who says: "...Act, for everyone is made easy for that for which he was created," he said: "Allah the Mighty and Majestic created the jinn and mankind that they may worship Him, and He did not create them that they may disobey Him, and that is the saying of Allah the Exalted who says: وَ مَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَ الْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِیَعْبُدُونِ [And I have not created the jinn and the men except that they should serve Me], and He made everything easy for that for which it was created. So woe to the one who prefers and chooses blindness and misguidance over guidance."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): One day he said to one of his students: "What have you learned from me?" He replied: "Master! I have learned eight matters from you." The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "State them so I may know." ... He said: "The seventh; I saw people striving hard in pursuit of sustenance, and I listened to this blessed verse which says: وَ ما خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَ الْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِیَعْبُدُونِ، ما أُرِیدُ مِنْهُمْ مِنْ رِزْقٍ وَ ما أُرِیدُ أَنْ یُطْعِمُونِ إِنَّ اللهَ هُوَ الرَّزَّاقُ ذُو الْقُوَّةِ الْمَتِینُ [And I have not created the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me. I do not desire any sustenance from them, nor do I desire that they should feed Me. Indeed, Allah is the All-Provider, Possessor of Strength, the Firm], and I knew with certainty that His promise and His word are true, so I set my heart upon His promise and became content with His word, and instead of [occupying myself with] what I have with Him [my sustenance], I busied myself with the right He has over me." The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "By Allah, you have done a good deed!"

Imam Husayn (peace be upon him): My companions! Allah created people so that they would come to know Him; when they know Him, they worship Him; and when they worship Him, they become independent, through worshipping Him, of worshipping anyone besides Him. A man said: "O son of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), may my father and mother be sacrificed for you! What is the meaning of the knowledge of Allah?" He said: "It is the people of every age knowing the Imam of their time whose obedience is obligatory upon them."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ya'qub ibn Shu'ayb said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about this word of Allah: وَ ما خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَ الْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِیَعْبُدُونِ [And I have not created the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me]. He said: "He created them for worship." I said: "What of this verse which says: 'But they will not cease to differ, except those on whom your Lord has mercy! And for this [receiving of mercy] He created them.' (Hud/118-119) how is that? [This verse states the purpose of creation as something else, while the previous verse states another thing!?]" He said: "This verse was revealed after that one."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) asked his Shia about the like of this: ... "And this word of Allah the Exalted: وَ ما خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَ الْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِیَعْبُدُونِ [And I have not created the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me], abrogated His other word which says: 'But they will not cease to differ, except those on whom your Lord has mercy! And for this [receiving of mercy] He created them.' (Hud/118-119) that is, He created them for mercy — He abrogated it. (He lifted its ruling and gave a new ruling.)"

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Basir said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about the verse: وَ ما خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَ الْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِیَعْبُدُونِ [And I have not created the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me]. The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "He created them so that He might command them to engage in His worship." I asked him about the verse: 'But they will not cease to differ, except those on whom your Lord has mercy! And for this [receiving of mercy] He created them!' (Hud/118-119). In reply he said: "He created them so that they might perform deeds which make them deserving of His mercy, that He might have mercy upon them through those deeds."

Imam al-Askari (peace be upon him): "Worship your Lord who created you and those before you" (al-Baqarah 2:21). The second meaning is that you should worship your Lord, who created you and those who came before you, so that you may be kept away from the Fire.

Imam al-Hadi (peace be upon him): The letter of Imam al-Hadi (peace be upon him) in refutation and rejection of the schools of jabr (predestination) and tafwid (delegation), and in establishing justice and the meaning of the station and rank between the two stations [jabr and tafwid]... Does it not therefore follow that either the master of such a slave is able to command his slave to follow his order and prohibition in accordance with his own will — not according to the slave's will — and grants him strength commensurate with what he commands and forbids him; and when he gives him a command or a prohibition, he also makes known to him the reward and the punishment for them, warns him against opposing him, and, by describing His reward and punishment, encourages him to obey Him, so that the slave may come to know his master's power through the strength to obey the command and prohibition that has been given to him, and through his encouragement and warning, and so that His justice and fairness may encompass him and His proof may be clear against him — for He has completed the argument with him and warned him against opposing Him, and if that slave complies He rewards him, and if not He punishes him — OR that master is incapable and lacks power, and has entrusted the affair of the slave to himself, so that he may do good or evil, obey or disobey, while the master is incapable of punishing him and cannot compel him to follow his command? And establishing incapacity contradicts the power and the godhood of Allah, and entails invalidating the divine command and prohibition, reward and punishment, and opposing the Qur'an, which says: "He does not approve of ingratitude in His servants; and if you are grateful, He is pleased therewith for you" (al-Zumar 39:7). And the saying of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic: "Fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims!" [You must preserve the jewel of faith to the end of your life!] (Aal Imran 3:102). And His saying: وَ ما خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَ الْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِیَعْبُدُون [And I have not created the jinn and the men except that they should worship Me].

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ ما خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَ الْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِیَعْبُدُونِ [And I have not created the jinn and the men except that they should worship Me] — I created them for command and prohibition and for the carrying out of responsibility; their creation was not compulsory that they should worship Him. Rather, their creation was based on free choice, so that He may test them by command and prohibition. Some obey Allah and others disobey. And in view of the verse "But they will not cease to differ" (Hud 11:118), the previous verse is in fact abrogated. And the verse مَا أُرِیدُ مِنْهُم مِّن رِّزْقٍ [I do not desire from them any provision] means: I did not create them because I had any need of them.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): When Allah the Exalted brought forth the progeny of Adam from his back to take from them the covenant of His Lordship and the prophethood of every prophet, the first one for whom He took from them the covenant of prophethood was Muhammad ibn Abdullah (peace be upon him and his family). Then Allah said to Adam (peace be upon him): "Look, what do you see?" Adam (peace be upon him) looked at his progeny and saw them like tiny particles filling the sky. Adam (peace be upon him) said: "My Lord! How numerous my progeny is! And for what great matter have You created them, and what is Your purpose in taking the covenant from them?" Allah said: "They will worship Me and will not associate anything with Me (Nur/55), and they will believe in My messengers (peace be upon them) and follow them." Adam (peace be upon him) said: "My Lord! Why do I see some of the particles larger than others, and some of them have much light, and some of them have little light, and some of them have no light at all?" Allah the Blessed and Exalted said: "Thus I created them so that I may test them in all their states." Adam (peace be upon him) said: "My Lord! Do You permit me to say something?" Allah the Mighty and Majestic said: "Speak! Indeed your spirit is from My spirit, but your nature is contrary to the nature of My essence." Adam (peace be upon him) said: "My Lord! If You had created them upon one form and figure, and one size, and one nature, and one disposition, and identical colours, identical lifespans, and equal provisions, some of them would not have transgressed against others, and there would have been no envy or enmity among them, and they would not have disagreed with one another in any of the matters." Allah the Exalted said: "By the aid of My spirit you spoke, but because of the weakness of your nature you have said something you have no knowledge of. I am the Creator, the Knowing; by My own knowledge I made a difference in their creation, and by My will My command flows in them, and by My planning and decree they undergo change and transformation. There is no alteration in My creation. إِنَّمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَ الْإِنْسَ لِیَعْبُدُونِ [Indeed I created the jinn and mankind only that they should worship Me], and I created Paradise for the one who worships Me and obeys Me and My messengers, and I pay no heed to anyone or anything. I created the Fire for the one who disbelieves in Me and disobeys Me and does not obey My messengers (peace be upon them), and I do not concern Myself with anything else. I created you and your progeny without any need of Mine for you or for them. I created you and your progeny only for this reason: to test them, to see which of you is best in deed in the abode of this world, in your lives and before your deaths. And likewise I created this world and the Hereafter, and life and death, and obedience and disobedience, and Paradise and Hell. Thus I willed in My decree and planning, and by My penetrating knowledge I distinguished between their faces and their bodies and their colours and their lifespans and their provisions and their acts of worship and their sins. So I made some of them fortunate and others wretched, some seeing and some blind, some short and others tall, some beautiful and others ugly, some knowing and others ignorant, some free of need and others in need, some obedient and others disobedient, some sound and healthy and others sick, some with bodily defects and others without any flaw or defect — so that the sound and healthy person may look upon the one who is afflicted with illness and praise Me for his health, and the one who has a defect or flaw may look upon the sound and healthy person and call upon Me and ask Me to grant him health and be patient with My trial, so that I may grant him My abundant bounty; and that the one free of need may look upon the needy and praise Me and give Me thanks; and that the needy may look upon the one free of need and call upon Me and ask of Me; and that the believer may look upon the disbeliever and praise Me for having guided him. Thus I created them, so that I may test them in ease and hardship, and in comfort and discomfort, and in what I grant them of health, and in what I try them with, and in what I bestow upon them, and in what I withhold from them. I am Allah, the Powerful and the Able, and it is upon Me to carry out with My planning all that I have decreed, and it is upon Me to change of that what I have willed, and to bring forward what I have placed later, and to delay what I have placed earlier. And I am the One Allah and I do what I will. I am not questioned about what I do, but I question My creation about their deeds."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Allah the Mighty and Majestic said in the scriptures of Musa ibn Imran (peace be upon him): 'O My servants! I did not create you to escape loneliness and fewness through you and thereby gain helpers and a large company, nor to take comfort in you so as not to feel desolate, nor to remedy My own inability through your help, nor is your creation for drawing benefit to Myself or repelling harm from Myself. Know only this: that if all My creatures in the heavens and the earth were to stand shoulder to shoulder and obey and worship Me, worshipping Me night and day without the slightest slackening, nothing would be added to My dominion and power, for My Lordly station is far above that and is free of such shortcomings.'

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): Except that they should acknowledge servitude, whether willingly or unwillingly.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Through our worship Allah was worshipped, and had we not been, Allah would not have been worshipped.