Why are we here?

[niaz]

أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم

بسم االله الرحمن الرحیم

Why are we here?

[7:24-25] He said; go down as enemies of one another. And the land/earth will be your abode and sustenance for a while.   He said; in it you will live and in it you will die and from it you will come out.

The purpose of our lives and our existence on earth is the most fundamental question that the human mind has struggled with since the dawn of history. It is the essential quest of all spiritual paths and religious traditions. This article examines what the Quran has to say about this question - reading the relevant Quranic passages as simple narratives, attempting to take the  explicit, evident, obvious information from them. And to avoid speculative post analysis of Quranic verses to reach conclusions that contradict or diverge from the simple message we can glean from them. And accept the Quranic narrative, even when there are differences between it and the narrative that Islamic tradition has handed down to us.

The main passages that narrate how we came to be on this earth, and the purpose of our lives here are 2:30-39, 7:10-25, 20:115-127. But first let us review a few verses that establish some background on our existence before our presence on this earth.

1. As humans, we existed, and took a covenant with God, before our life here on earth …

[7:172] And when your Lord gathered from the children of Adam, to bear witness for themselves; Am I not your Lord? They said yes indeed, we bear witness, lest you say on the Day of Resurrection; we were unaware of this.

[33:72] We indeed offered the secretariat to the skies and the land and the mountains but they turned it down and were afraid to accept it, however, the human being accepted it. Indeed, he was most unjust, ignorant.

These verses refer to events that happened before our life on the earth, where we took a covenant with God, and also accepted responsibility for the burdens we would bear in the life to come on the earth. We may not grasp the full import of these verses, but the least that we can take away from them, is that we did exist even before we came here to the earth, and that our journey to the earth was our own making. For the sake of our own salvation, we should trust God and His word, even as we do not remember the details of the events as they transpired before we came here.

2. We have experienced death once,  before we entered this life.

[40:11] They say, our Lord, You have given us two deaths and two lives, we now confess our sins, is there any way out?    

[2:28] How can you have no faith in God, the One who resurrected you from death, then He puts you to death, and subsequently He gives you life, then to Him you will return.

God tells us clearly in these verses that we did experience death once, before we came to this world, and the death we encounter at the end of this life, is a second death.^[1] The fact that this is not what we heard taught by Islamic tradition should not be an excuse not to accept it. 2:28 is an important precursor to the passage 2:30-39, which sheds light on why God resurrected us from our first death, as we will study below.

3. Our fall from paradise.

We can read the passages in the Quran that record our transition from paradise to this earth in Appendix A. The observations we can make from this reading are ...

(a) Our life on earth is a consequence of the original sin.

[2:36] But Satan caused them to slip from it, and caused them to depart the state they were in. We said, “Go down, some of you enemies of one another. And you will have residence on earth, and enjoyment for a while.”

The logical connection between the sin of Adam of eating from the tree, and being sent down to the earth is very self-evident in the verse. A simple reading of the verse provides no justification for a claim that there is no connection between the two, and they have just been mentioned together sequentially for no reason whatsoever. The same is true in 7:22-24 and 20:121-123, where our eviction to the earth follows the action of eating from the tree, and God’s expressed disapproval of it. They are not disconnected events, but the latter is a consequence of the former. Our life on earth is a consequence of the original sin.

The causal relationship between Adam’s sin and our existence on earth is not in dispute, even from the traditional viewpoint. That is clearly the event that led to our eviction from paradise.

(b) We were all participants in the original sin.

[7:11] And indeed, We created all of you, then We designed all of you, We then said to the angels to honor Adam, they immediately honored him except Iblees who was not one of the honorers.

It is interesting that in 7:11, the creation and design of “all of you” (i.e., each of us) is followed by the command to the angels to honor^[2] Adam. Essentially the word ‘Adam’ switched for all of humanity in the verse. This means that we were also present, when the command to the angels to honor Adam was given. The recurring references in second person plural in the verses [e.g., اهْبِطُو (“go down you all”) in 2:36,38] also makes this evident. The references to Adam in these passages can therefore be understood as applying to all of humanity. Some may argue that the plural is used in a restricted reference to Adam/wife and Iblis only.^[3] But the context of the verses - e.g., 2:38, 7:25, 20:123-127 - which contain the instructions for all of humanity, makes it clear that the usage of plural does refer to all of humanity. Further, the fact that we live on this earth confirms it is referring to us too - Adam/wife were not the only ones consigned to live on earth.

Further, this is not even a far-fetched or ground breaking idea. Traditional commentators have also espoused it. For example,

• The Study Quran^[4] (footnote 36, p. 24) says, “The interpretation most in keeping with the Quranic text understands the addresses to be Adam and Eve and all their progeny, sometimes including Iblis and his progeny, with Adam and Eve representing humanity as a whole”.
• Muhammad Ali’s translation^[5] (footnote 52 to v. 31, p. 18) says, “Adam, therefore, though it may also be the name of a particular man stands for man generally”.

So when we see this event, with the word ‘Adam’ describing “man generally” or “humanity as a whole”, it makes us participants in the original sin. Each of us (“all of you”) were created/designed before the event (7:11), and sent to the earth along with Adam after the event (2:36,38; 7:24-25; 20:123), establishing our presence during the event too. Another reason is that no soul bears the burden of another (6:164).  If only Adam/wife were participants in the original sin, we should not have been here, since God would not make us bear the burden for what only they did.

But this does beg the question - why does the God describe Adam/wife as the principal actors in the original sin, although we can infer that the description includes us and we were present when the event happened? One reason may be that Adam was here first, and fulfilled the purpose for which he was sent down - he followed God’s guidance, repented to God and was forgiven by God for his transgression. We are still here and have not yet returned to God. Adam is described here as the example for us to follow. In any event, following God’s guideline in 3:7, even if we do not have all the answers, we should simply accept what is clear/evident, and eschew speculation on what may be ambiguous/allegorical.

4. Our primary purpose in this life is to worship God.

[2:38-29] We said, go down from here all of you. Then when you all receive guidance from Me, whoever follows My guidance has nothing to fear nor will he grieve.  As for those who are unfaithful and rejected Our proofs, they are dwellers of Hell. They will abide therein eternally.

[51:56] I did not create the jinns and the humans except to worship Me.

Now that we are here, this is the most important thing for us to remember - we are here to worship God by commemorating Him alone, and following His guidance. These will be successful ones, who spend eternity in peace with God, in the life to come. This statement of purpose elicits the question - why does God need our worship? The truth is God does not need our worship. To God belongs everything in the skies and the land, and God does not need our worship, nor our faith nor our obedience. Rather, we are in need of worshipping Him and obeying Him and being faithful to Him (35:15, 27:40, 4:131, 31:12, 47:38, 57:24, 64:6).

Summary

.

In summary, putting together what we learned in the sections above, the Quran describes our existence prior to our coming to this earth. We will not remember the details, but God gives us just enough detail for us to know that we were participants in an act of disobedience against God. We made a covenant with God, to obey Him, and not to listen to satan, who is our avowed enemy. Satan is condemned to an end of misery, and misery seeks company. Satan is out to entice us towards an eternity of pain and suffering, and entrap as many of us as possible. Our act of transgression the first time, resulted in our first death, in paradise. And this life on earth is our resurrection from the first death (2:28). It is our second chance - to seek God, to worship God, to commemorate God, to obey God, to reconnect with God, and become close to God. Those of us who blow this second chance too will rue it on the Day of Resurrection. Those who repented and followed God’s guidance when it came to them, God will accept their repentance, forgive them and guide them, just like He forgave Adam. These will be the ones whom “God has blessed” (1:7), and we should constantly pray to be included among them.

Footnotes:

[1] The verses above describe the experience of the unrighteous, as they reflect back on the day of Resurrection, and how they blew their second chance too. And a reminder to those seek to reject faith in God. The Quran also teaches us that the righteous only go through the first death, and do not experience the second death, even though their departure would appear like death from our perspective (44:56, 2:154).
[2] The word ا ْس ُجُدوا also refers to physical prostration to God, for example during the contact prayer. Here, as an act between two creations, it takes the nuanced meaning of ‘honor’ or ‘pay respect to’.
[3] Some may have difficulty accepting the idea we were also participants in the original sin, since they believe that paradise was on earth. And that after the original sin, Adam and wife simply strolled out of an earthly garden onto other earthly landscapes. In that case, we were not yet born, so they see no way for us to have been present at the time. Others may interpret the fall from paradise as the migration of a humanoid population out of an earthly garden, believing that this reconciles the Quranic account with evolution (see Appendix B). I see the pursuit of the question on whether paradise was on earth an extraneous tangent to the quest of understanding why we are here. Following the simple chronology in the narration, paradise and earth are explicitly described as separate places (e.g., 2:35 vs. 2:38, 7:19 vs. 7:24-25). The former was their dwelling place before the original sin. The latter was their new abode, after the original sin. Regardless of whether “go down” really means “go down”, this is direct evidence that they were separate places, and “the land/earth will be your abode” meant that paradise was not on this land/earth to begin with.
[4] The Study Quran, Harper Collins Publishers, First Edition, 2015
[5] Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha’at Islam Lahore, Inc. U.S.A., Second Revised Edition, Reprint 1995

[niaz]

Appendix A

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

[2:30-39] And when your Lord said to the angels, I am the appointer of a substitute on the land, they said will You appoint someone therein who will spread corruption and shed blood, while we glorify and praise You and consider You sacred?  He said I have complete knowledge while you do not know.    And He taught Adam all the names, afterwards, He presented them to the angels and said, inform Me of these names if you are truthful.    They said, glory be to You, we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, You are The All Knowing, The All Wise.    He said, O Adam; inform them of their names. Once he informed them of their names, He said, did I not tell you that I fully know the secret of the vacua and matter and fully know what you declare and what you conceal.    And when We said to the angels; honor Adam, they all honored him, except Iblis who refused; he turned arrogant and became a disbeliever.    And We said to Adam, dwell in paradise, you and your wife and eat from it whatever you desire, however, do not approach this tree, lest both of you become transgressors.    However, Satan duped the two of them and caused their eviction from where they were, and We said; go down as enemies of one another, and the land shall be your abode and sustenance for awhile.    Subsequently, Adam received from his Lord words by which He accepted his repentance. Indeed, He is The Accepter of Repentance, The All Merciful.    We said, go down from here all of you. Then when you all receive guidance from Me, whoever follows My guidance has nothing to fear nor will he grieve.    As for those who are unfaithful and rejected Our proofs, they are dwellers of Hell. They will abide therein eternally.

[7:10-25] And, We certainly established you on the land and provided for you therein sustenance. Indeed very few are grateful.   And indeed, We created you, then We designed you, We then said to the angels to honor Adam, they immediately honored him except Iblees who was not one of the honorers.    He said; what prevented you from honoring him when I commanded you? He said; I am better than he, You created me from fire and you created him from clay.   He said; then you shall go down therefrom, for you shall never be arrogant therein, therefore, get out, for indeed you are lowly.   He said; respite me until the Day of Resurrection.   He said; you shall have a respite.    He said; since you have enticed me, I will surely divert them from Your straight path.   Then I will surely come to them from their front and their back and their right and their left; and You will find most of them ungrateful.     He said; get out therefrom debased and expelled. Indeed those among them who follow you, I will surely fill Gehenna with you altogether.   As for you O Adam, you shall settle, you and your wife in Paradise, and eat from whatever the two of you desire, however, do not approach this one tree, lest you will transgress.   Thereafter, Satan duped them in order to reveal what was hidden of their bodies and said; your Lord did not forbid you from this tree except to prevent you from becoming angels or becoming immortal.     And he swore by both that indeed I am giving you good advice.    He therefore caused their fall with a lie.   Consequently, once both tasted the tree, their bodies became visible to them and they tried to cover themselves with the leaves of Paradise.  And their Lord called upon them; did I not forbid this tree for the two of you and did I not tell you both that Satan is your most ardent enemy?   They said, our Lord, we have been unjust towards our own souls and if You do not forgive us and do not have mercy upon us, we will surely end up losers.   He said; go down as enemies of one another. And the land will be your abode and sustenance for a while.   He said; in it you will live and in it you will die and from it you will come out.   

[20:115-127] And indeed We made an agreement with Adam previously, he then forgot, We did not find him resolute.    And when We said to the angels, honor Adam, they all did, except Iblis who refused.    We then said; O Adam, indeed he is an enemy of you and your wife, he would cause your eviction from Paradise and you will suffer hardship.    Indeed you will never suffer hunger therein nor will you ever be naked.   And indeed you will never thirst therein and never suffer the heat of the sun.    Then Satan enticed them saying; O Adam shall I show you the tree of eternity and everlasting kingship?    Then they both ate from it, whereupon their bodies became visible to them and they tried to cover themselves with the leaves of Paradise.  And Adam disobeyed his Lord and he then became a transgressor.     Then his Lord chose him, accepted his repentance and guided him.    He said the two of you get out therefrom with the rest as enemies of one another. Therefore, when guidance comes to you from Me, then whoever follows My guidance, he will never go astray nor will he suffer any hardship.    And whoever rejects My reminder, he will then surely have a life of hardship, and We will summon him on the Day of Resurrection blind.    He said, my Lord why did you summon me blind when I used to be a seer.    He said; because when Our proofs came to you, you chose to ignore them, and you are thus ignored today.    And We thus requite the one who transgresses and does not believe in the signs of his Lord. And indeed the suffering of the Hereafter is far more severe and everlasting.   

In each of these passages the starting verse serves as a preface, summarizing the gist of what had happened - that God appointed humans as a substitute/successor and established us on the land/earth (2:30, 7:10). The former of these verses is in future tense, addressed to the angels before the creation of humans, and the latter is in past tense, addressed to us. And also that God made a covenant with Adam, but he forgot (20:115). The fulfillment of this event is described over the course of the remaining part of the passages, that follows in roughly chronological sequence, from the creation of humans until our eviction from paradise. These are the events that are explicitly listed in them.

• God creates and designs all of us (including Adam). (7:11).
• Adam demonstrates the knowledge that God taught him. (2:31-33)
• Iblis’ refusal to obey God commands to honor Adam, and God granting him respite to entice humans (2:34, 7:11-18, 20:116).
• God asks Adam/wife to dwell in paradise. God warns Adam not to eat from a specific tree, and warns him that Satan is his most ardent enemy, heeding whom will cause his eviction from paradise. (2:35, 7:19,22, 20:117-119).
• Satan tricks Adam/wife into breaking God’s commandment and eating from the tree. (2:36, 7:20-22, 20:120-121).
• God rebukes Adam/wife, reminds him of His warning, and commands “all of you” (including each of us) to go down to the earth. (2:36,38, 7:24-25, 20:123).
• Adam receives words/guidance through which he repents, and God accepted his repentance. (2:37,20:122).
• The rest of humanity is expected to follow suit - when God’s guidance comes to us, we have to follow the guidance and repent to God (2:38, 20:123-127).

Appendix B: What about the theory of evolution?

The account of the creation and descent of humans to earth is often attempted to be reconciled with what we know about human origins from evolution. The traditional belief, that is mainstream to the three Abrahamic faiths, is usually that Adam was created in earthly human form, and physically brought down from paradise to earth. This runs counter to the evidence from science that modern humans evolved from humanoids who in turn evolved from ape-like species a few million years ago.

On the other hand, some of those who tried to reconcile the Quranic account with the theory of evolution, have tried to interpret the “fall” of humans from paradise as the migration of a pre-existing humanoid population out of a garden in Africa. I too seriously dabbled with this idea at one time, before realizing it was futile to take the description in the Quran, and try to “fit” it with events in Africa in the past 200,000 years since the dawn of homo sapiens, or around the world since 50,000 years ago when humans migrated and settled down in different corners the world. And the simple message conveyed through the Quran was lost, in this pursuit. The purpose of reading the Quran became seeking scientific validation for it, instead of learning what God is teaching us. So I abandoned this approach, and decided to focus on the spiritual message that the Quran is teaching us.

Now in the light of the knowledge that we were created and designed by God before the event of the original sin, we were participants in it along with Adam, we were evicted along with Adam from paradise, and we went through the first death before God brought us to life again here on this earth, I can look at evolution from a fresh perspective. And strangely enough, there is no conflict with evolution at all. God created and designed us as our souls before this life (also see 4:1, 7:189, 39:6). What we acquire when we come into this life is the body, which is only a garment or a shell for the soul, that we will leave behind when we leave this world. When God sent us (our souls) to this world, the mechanism was through fashioning our bodies in our mother’s womb (39:6, 22:5, 3:6, 16:78). There is no reason why the mechanism Adam was sent would have been any different. The theory of evolution describes how the function and structure of our bodies evolved here on earth, from related organisms. This universe, and its laws, are finite and will eventually expire. The Quran contains in the guidance on how to grow our soul, to become close to Him and look forward to spend eternity in peace with Him when we return to Him.

[niaz]

Salaamun 'alaikum,

Brother Athman, this post was inspired by our discussion. It is mostly just a rehash, I have tried to present my thoughts in a more organized manner. I know you proposed writing a directed critique of brother Joseph's article on "paradise on earth"; but I have briefly noted why I disagree with its main premise, without mentioning the article itself. And that question is not the central theme of this post. I decided to fulfill your proposal by summarizing my understanding instead.

I know I might have mischaracterized your position or that of the article, as often happens in debates/discussions like this. Please feel free to correct/clarify and/or restate your critique. If there is no major new information beyond what we already discussed, I don't anticipate myself adding anything to this thread.

Peace

[Athman]

Dear Br. niaz,

Wa alaikumus salaam,

Thanks for your inclusive decision to open up this thread as a separate topic from that of our discussion earlier. However, respectfully, with the availability of a dedicated article on that main topic by Br. Joseph, and other lateral ones with subsequent separate and auxiliary threads, I as a result was expecting a counter critique in effect, if at all you consider those sentiments in the ‘Final Thoughts’ of the article (1) as staying out of kilter to your summary understanding of the topic or rather if you had any qualms with some specific interpretations through the discourse. As a detailed summary of the topic, covering at least the sample necessary Qur’anic citations that would provide ample evidence for the proffered understanding, I would not wish to rehash a treatise. In my humble view, as a typical quintessence in this forum and site for such a topic, I would have been readier responding to some contentions raised against it (1).

Respectfully Br. niaz, to the contrary, you provided a parallel discourse on the topic, with an overarching interpretation that follows a variant line of thought that in my opinion, is alien to the Qur’anic perspective, as far as the intermittent plot succession is concerned. I believe this is also open to commentary by the forum members and Br. Joseph if they wish to. Kindly follow my responses below to your exposition above.

I understand from your quotation of verses 7:24-25 that what has been rendered bold serves to underscore the premise that the 2 lives and 1 death – 2nd one, are promised to be established on Earth hence a previous death – 1st one, to have had been incumbent on us at some previous locale alien to this present one –earth. I do concur. However, the verses do not establish in effect that the total 2 lives and 2 deaths (40:11, 2:28) are exclusively meant for the ‘unrighteous’ as you point out in your Footnote [1] with the ‘righteous’ to be exempted from the 2nd death. In 44:56 you may deduce the form of the adjectival term ‘ula’ to designate something 'previous' as in 87:18 or 35:43 and not necessarily '1st' hence in that case, dwellers in Jannah ‘will not taste death therein beyond the previous one’ (44:56) - the 2nd one of the 2 deaths above.Concerning 2:154, I hope Br. Joseph’s 4th response in the thread (2) below aptly covers this.

About the purpose of our existence on earth, I hope 6:165 definitively responds to that notwithstanding such verses as (67:2, 29:2-3, 47:31). Articles (3) and (4) below by Br. Joseph also stand a better position to attest this, citing additional Qur’anic references to the effect.

In my opinion, despite much wisdom that can be extracted from the narratives of chapters 2, 7 and 20, the events chronology itself does not lay a platform upon which our purpose in life is established, nor does the eviction of Adam (allegedly with ‘all’ of us) from ‘Jannah’ constitute any of reasons why we should strive to do good, be faithful or worship and repent to Allah, among other responsibilities as believers.

I do concur with point ‘1’ of your exposition above and to the effect, I hope one would appreciate the innate predisposition one has to acknowledge the existence of a supreme being or rather to distinguish between right and wrong intuitively, as every soul is so inscribed (91:7-8). Br. Joseph points out on this in a thread (5) below.

As regards our 1st death, I do not follow such an event to be an intermittent one among those in the narrative of Adam and his spouse in the Qur’an. Rather, it was an event at some previous locale in our earlier physiological state. Br. Joseph captures this in a thread (6) below. I hope you do follow that 33:72 forms an earlier precursor with a ‘testimony’ in 7:172 before we were put into our 1st death after which our advent on earth follows. The 1st death needs not necessarily be interpreted as a ‘repercussion’ akin to the common adage ‘wages of sin is death.'


 With point ‘3(a),’ I humbly can’t connect a causal relationship between the two events and as article (1) below expounds ‘there is no disconnect in the theme of the Quranic narrative and therefore there is no reason to assume that the location has changed’ (2:30-35).Considering (2:37, 20:122), one would expect that by Allah accepting Adam’s repentance, no further punishment - in form of banishment - would follow bar the already resultant lowered status of his from a former privileged one (20:118-119). In my humble opinion, to claim a further punishment of death - our 1st death, and an extended one in this life - 1st life, to each of Adam’s offspring to ever live on this earth till the Day of Resurrection, is to impose a great alien doctrine on the Qur’an. This also makes such an alleged ‘Original Sin’ a ‘debt’ having a so great enormity to repay (despite the repentance in 7:23).

With ‘3(b),’ I hope one would appreciate the full wording of 2:35 read in tandem with 7:19 as regards to what is addressed in 7:11. In the two verses, ‘anta wa zaujuka,’ ‘shi’tuma,’ and ‘taqraba’ well establish those who were being addressed as being a 'duo'. Also, reading 2:36 together with 7:24 and 20:123, one would appreciate the use of the phrase ‘ihbithu’ or ‘ba’dhuhum liba’dhwi aduwwun,’ in reference to Adam and his spouse, given that 7:13 testifies to the former as regards the 'duo' with 'Iblees' while 20:117 does the same to the latter. This may also clarify an understanding which follows suit from 2:38 read with 7:18 relating ‘jami’a’ to ‘a’jmain.’ 20:120 read together with 7:20 only corroborates the idea that it was Adam and his spouse (fa waswas lahuma) that got lured into Iblees’s guile and not us all. Verses 7:21 to 7:24 of the narrative of that chapter also address the two (- ma) all along.

Verse 20:126 points to one of reasons why Allah shall render ‘forgotten’ those who used to ‘forget’ his revelations here on earth, on that Day. Not having not yet ‘repaid’ the ‘Original Sin’ but having ignored the ‘amanat’ (2:40-46) which became incumbent on Adam’s offspring since 33:72 and 7:172.

With the idea that we being here ipso facto constitutes a reason that we may haven’t yet ‘fulfilled’ our purpose on earth which entails our ‘repaying’ of the Original Sin/ ‘debt’ and that Adam did his and died - 2nd death, you ignore your earlier assumption that Adam ‘includes’ us thus for 20:112 with (7:23, 2:37), we ought to have been pardoned with our progenitors. In my opinion, the difficulty that may sometimes appear in accepting or reconciling some related verses could a times be as a result of some premise or preconceived notion we may have imposed on the verses or ourselves. A times, it wholly renders an interpretation ambiguous. I do concur with point '4' of your discourse above.

With your Footnote [3], I respectfully find that you misrepresent my understanding and I believe the article’s proposition on the concept of ‘Adam’s destined abode.’ Not that ‘Paradise’ was on earth, rather, a 'privileged' state of ‘felicity’ had been conferred to Adam and his spouse on earth, before they were removed from it to a lower one, still on earth.

Regarding your second address on ‘evolution' in Appendix B, notwithstanding the great wisdom that can be drawn from the narrative of Adam as captured in chapters 2, 7 and 20, I don’t see how the narratives should restrictively be read to solely extract some spiritual knowledge and not any possible further prudence. This should however not be assumed as vouching for some possible basis of evolutionary creation as a process, as attributed to by some scholars and proponents as you intimated above. This though should not waver one’s pursuance of the narratives as appear in the Qur’an as regards supporting evolution staying cautious as to putting such gleaned information in its right category with respect to its epistemic value, especially if supported by other verses elsewhere. This is true of every narrative in the Qur’an presented for purposes of spiritual knowledge as well as other multi-faceted wisdom.

Thanks.


Regards,

Athman.


REFERENCES:

(1). ADAM (pbuh) AND JANNAH - AN EARTHLY ABODE OR PARADISE?
http://quransmessage.com/articles/adam%20and%20jannah%20FM3.htm

(2). Is the Prophet Muhamad Alive?
http://quransmessage.com/forum/index.php?topic=1084.msg4510#msg4510

(3). A PURPOSE TO CREATION - THE POWER OF TRUTH
http://quransmessage.com/articles/creation%20purpose%20FM3.htm

(4). WE WILL BE TESTED
http://quransmessage.com/articles/tests%20FM3.htm

(5). regarding the ayat 7:172
http://quransmessage.com/forum/index.php?topic=1226.0

(6). First life in the Heavens,Second life in Earth
http://quransmessage.com/forum/index.php?topic=116