Q. "I created the jinn and humankind..." (Holy Qur'an 51:56)

Assalamu 'Alaikum thingi,
the reference below quoted frm Abdullah Yusuf Ali edition.
Creation is not for idle sport or play: 21:16. Allah has a serious Purpose behind it, which, in our imperfect state, we can only express by saying that each creature is given the chance of development and progress towards the Goal, which is Allah. Allah is the source and centre of all power and all goodness, and our progress depends upon our putting ourselves into accord with His Will. This is His service. It is not of any benefit to Him: - it is for our own benefit.

Quoted frm http://www.weneedtounite.com
9. What is the purpose of worship in Islam?
The purpose of worship in Islam is to be God conscious. Thus the worship, whether it is prayer, fasting, or charity, is a means to achieve God consciousness so that when one becomes conscious of God, in thought and in action, he is in a better position to receive His bounties both in this world and the hereafter.

Asker's comment:

W'saalam Fatih,
Thank you for your answer. i was actually looking for something in specific to the verse quoted in my question. its not an easy question to answer i must admit.

i was looking for someone who might be able to explain further the verse above. perhaps the verse might not have been intepreted accurately or if it is..then why does Allah need us to worship him? (as per in tht verse.)

to be god concious, if tht is the answer, then the above verse should not have said tht Allah created us to worship him.

I remember asking this question to my teachers...

One of them replied with something similar to what Fatih mentioned, which I wanted to say, it's not quite accurate as
according to the definition of God s/he/it cannot create
object out of a purpose for it, or a cause, otherwise the cause would be God...

The other said "TO worship me" includes developing the universe!!! Which i went on and said, well, cannot s/he/it do it him/her/it -self!!!

I guess the logical solution is that s/he/it might've been bored and wanted to create those who'd be killing each other. Or maybe that's the worshiping bit...

And I emphasize the s/he/it bit as it seems lots of believers fail to understand the core definition of infinite...

I think we have a core problem with the so called 99 (contradictory) names that were mentioned to god in qura;an, and it's a major source of confusion...

I refer to a speach "khotba" by Ali, where he basically said, whoever thinks that those names apply to the one being named (i.e. God) then s/he has drifted from believing, as you are giving a finite identity to an infinite..

Which's the precise confusion that I was faced with answers such as God can do what (God) pleases
As that simply means in logical context that the cause of "the please" action is higher than god... (Which Ali also mentions in the same Speech, God created the universe not out of a cause that s/he/it pleased to, my Translation of the quote)..

An example to illustrate. An event X is cause by A. For A to be the cause of X, it has to be independent of anything else, to be considered an absolute cause!

Not sure if that explains!

I wanted to add something to the confusion that 'thingi' was presenting. Human's are actually immortals, as we have the so called God's spirit. And the gin are also in the same category somehow.

***Note: the so called "saitan" was forgiven till the day of judgement (that's my understanding)!

I do not think that the verse is to tell us why he has created humans and jins.

I do not believe that god created us just because he wanted us to worship him. Why would he? When the angels had never stop worshipping him . When the angels had never disobeyed him.

I have mentioned this in another thread and I will mention this again.

The angels has asked Allah s.w.t why he had created human beings who will create bloodshed and fight among each other.
He answered that he has reasons that they know not.
If Allah has created us to just to worship him he would have answered that would he?

I believe that god has reasons of why he created us which we do not know. He is the all-knower.

"I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me." (Holy Qur'an 51:56)

I believe this verse is meant to tell us our purpose in life.Which is to worship him .
Quran is the book of answers. It answers even the most difficult questions.

and how many times have us humans have asked ourselves "what is the purpose of my life" . Mashallah quran has given us the answer.

This is the exact verse from the quran which I just found about the story I mentioned above about the exchange between god and the angels.

Surah Al-Baqarah Ch 2 V 30
And (remember) when your lord said to the angels : "Verily , I am going to place (mankinds) generations after generations on earth." They said "Will you place therein those who will make mischief therein and shed blood , while we glorify You with praises and thanks and sanctify You." he said : "I know that which you do not know."

"I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me." (Holy Qur'an 51:56)

Worship here doesn't only mean bow down in prayer. It encompasses obeying all his commandments and not doing anything that He forbids. If you observe the word 'might'. God knew some will worship him and many others will not. If you also observe that in this world only the humans and the Jinns have the freedom to follow or not to follow God's orders. All the other creatures in this world like the trees, animals, planets, angels they are here only as creatures to serve as God's will and law.

In the afterlife, only the Humans and the Jinns will be summoned back by God to answer all that they have done and God will give his verdict and judgement.