God created Adam and Eve. He fated that they descend to the Earth to live and die there. They are the parents of all humankind. From their children and offspring nations and tribes were formed.
Adam and his family worshiped God alone and followed His commandments. However, deviations happened from one generation to another. People lost their religion and worshiped false gods.
Therefore, God sent prophets and messengers to remind people about their Lord who created them and to affirm His oneness. They invited people to submit to God, worship Him alone and follow His commandments.
Also, prophets and messengers were reformers, they taught people values and morals. They called for justice and denied oppressions and abominations.
Among the known prophets and messengers God sent to humanity are Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Zachariah, John, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon all of them).
Approximately 2000 BCE , Abraham established the Ka'bah in Makkah to glorify God and worship Him alone without any partners.
The Ka'bah remained a safe haven and a destination for believers in one God for a long time.
But people over history deviated from monotheism; they practiced polytheism and indecencies.
Also, injustice, evil, killing and immorality spread among them.
Therefore, God sent more prophets and messengers to remind people about their true God, bring them to monotheism, and spread justice and good morals.
Approximately 1300 BCE , God sent Moses to the children of Israel and revealed the Torah to him, a book of light and guidance to them.
Then, after many prophets, God sent Jesus to the children of Israel and He revealed the Bible to him, a book of light and guidance to people.
Those who rejected Jesus remained Jews and those who believed him became Christians.
But the creed of monotheism was altered to trinity and the divine books were not protected from alterations as they were written a long time after the departure of Moses and Jesus. (The history of writing the Bible is covered in more detail in chapter 5).
In the year 610 CE , God revealed to Muhammad His
final divine book, Quran. This book confirms the previous
revelations and points out the deviations from the pure
divine Message.
God sent him to bring people to monotheism, the true
religion of God. There are no revelations after the Quran.
Muhammad was the seal of the prophets who brought
God's final Message to humanity.
Prophet Muhammad informed his companions that no
messenger will come after him except Jesus. Jesus will not
bring a new Message from God, but he will confirm the
final message of God (the Quran) and unite people under
one banner, the banner of monotheism.
Jesus will return before the end of the world. He will fight
and kill the false Messiah.
Subsequently, all evil powers will fall. He will end wars in
the world and govern with God's law. Justice and peace will
prevail and people will enjoy harmony and benevolence.
Life on earth will not continue forever. It will end when the
Hour comes. The universe will collapse and the earth will
be destroyed.
Why do we exist on Earth?
The purpose of life is to add value to
the world, not to cause any mischief
in the kingdom of God.
This is the essence of worshiping God.
God made life on the earth temporal and
short. He also made it a test for humankind.
Every person has a date of birth and a date of
death on which he or she will depart this world (the
kingdom of God).
No one will live forever. Within one hundred years, nearly
all people currently on the Earth will die and be replaced
with new generations.
People eventually will return to their Lord who created
them. They will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment.
They will stand before God and they will be accountable
for their deeds.
Whoever did good will find it and be rewarded. And
whoever did bad will find it and be penalized.
The righteous will be admitted to Paradise and the
wrongdoers will be admitted to the Hellfire. That's why
God through His divine Messages encourages people to do
good and repent to Him. He is the most Forgiving, the most
Merciful.
This is the story of life from an Islamic perspective. It has an
optimistic vision for the future and motivation to do good
and add positive value to the world.