15.4 Return to Allah
This fact is specified in many verses, and though often passed over lightly, this is the final destination and ultimate purpose of Man. There follow a few examples of the many reminders of this fact in the Qur’an:
(53:42) To your Rabb is the final goal.
(18:110) […]Whoever expects to meet his Rabb, let him perform righteous actions, and in the subservience of his Sustainer, his Rabb, make no one as partner.
(2:45,46) Seek help in patience and salat, and truly it is hard, save for the humble-minded, who know that they will have to meet their Rabb, and unto Him they are returning.
(29:23) Those who disbelieve in the revelations of Allah and in their meeting with Him, such have no hope of My Rahmat. For such there is a painful doom.
Further evidence is given in 2:223,249; 3:28; 5:18,48; 6:154; 11:29; 12:20; 24:42; 25:15; 31:14; 40:3; 41:54; 50:43; 53:42; 56:60 and 64:3.
In this connection we would like to mention the thinking of Allama Mashriqi as quoted by Shabbir Hussain.3
The human species, he argued, is governed by the laws different from what appears feasible in the case of other animal species and vegetation. The law of survival and destruction of human societies concerns the science of religions, which was specially revealed to Man by the Creator through His chosen messengers. Allama’s main aim was to bring mankind together on the basis of unity of this science and its purposes, just as the scientist enforces unity of concept when he upholds physical realities. He propounded a far higher purpose of Man’s creation than has ever been conceived by any evolutionist or physicist. He held that Man was created to conquer the universe; the universe was created to be available to Man; to enrich him, to educate and train him how to utilize and recreate it. He declared that Man’s present form was not his final form; Man’s further evolution was inevitable for enabling him to inhabit every nook and cranny of the universe, to make him imperishable. This, he stated, was enunciated in the Qur’an and writ large on the face of the universe as the sole purpose of Man’s creation. He demonstrated the deep harmony between the purposes of physical sciences and the science of religions, described divine revelation as the highest form of science, and explained the inevitability of adopting both sciences for the fulfilment of man’s assignment — the conquest of the universe.
References:
- Exposition of the Qur’an, by Gulam Ahmed Parwez. Tolu-E-Islam Trust (Regd) 25B Gulberg, Lahore-11, Pakistan. p. 55, 56.
- Islamic State — First Principles: Lecture by Syed Mustafa Ali.
- Man’s Destiny (Tazkira), by Allama Inayat Ullah Khan Al-Mashriqi. Translated and edited from Urdu by Shabbir Hussain. Publisher: Mujahid Publications, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. p. 13, 14.