Why Should We Know God?

From: http://www.imamalimasjid.com/articles/atiq/Islam14.htm

He is Allah the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner. To Him (belong) the most excellent names. Whatever is in the heavens and the earth glorifies unto Him, and He is the Mighty, the Wise. (Quran, 59:24)

In Islam, there is no greater principle than belief in Allah. This belief has so many facets and details that to try and explain every one would exhaust all of our words and energy, as Imam Ali (AS) says,

Praise is due to Allah whose worth cannot be described by speakers, whose bounties cannot be counted by calculators and whose claim (to obedience) cannot be satisfied by those who attempt to do so, whom the height of intellectual courage cannot appreciate, and the divings of understanding cannot reach.

In essence Allah is the only principle and the only reality, because He is not dependent on anything else for His reality. In essence the existence of Allah is the only existence because He is the Creator, as Imam Ali (AS) says,

He exists, but not from non-existence.

Everything is created while He is not created. Everything has a beginning while He was always existent; and everything is prone to annihilation while He never dies.

Everyone on it must pass away. And the face of your Lord will remain, the Lord of glory and honor. (Quran, 55:26-27)

A human being cannot know himself as a human without knowing Allah. Whenever an individual is part of a group or system, his identity in that system depends on his relationship with all the other parts of that system. For example, in a school there are teachers, students, administrators, facilities management personnel, and an executive board consisting of a principal, vice principal, secretary, etc. In terms of the school system, each person has an identity determined by his role and relationship with the other members of that school. For one to be a teacher he must instruct the students, for one to be a principal he must oversee all the affairs of the school, and so on. If a person does not know his role or his relationship with the others in the school, it is not possible for him to be a part of that school. Even if he is physically in the building he will be aimlessly wandering the halls, not knowing what to do, without direction or purpose. His actions will seem strange to everyone else and he will not be able to take any benefit from this system.

The same concept applies for the members of a family, a neighborhood, a community until we finally move out to the vast expanses of the universe. We cannot neglect the fact that we are part of this world in many ways, and to neglect our relationship with the various parts of the spiritual and natural worlds would lead us to wander in this life without any aim or direction.
The only way for man to gain direction in his life is to have a purpose. This purpose can either be fabricated by any number of factors, or it can be the purpose for which he was actually created. Allah did not create man without such a purpose or aim, realizing which and striving to accomplish it brings about happiness. The man who studies to become a teacher must assume his role in order to fulfill the purpose of his education, but if he sits in the student’s chair, or if he performs some other job then he will have wasted his potential and done injustice to his own abilities. Those he should have taught will be left without a teacher, thus destroying the balance that should have existed.
Man has been created for a certain purpose and when he leaves that purpose he creates imbalance in his own life, in other’s lives and in the universe as well.

Does man think that he is to be left to wander without an aim? (Quran, 75:36)

Nothing results but chaos wherever he goes and until he refocuses on fulfilling the end for which he was created, he will never be rid of a turbulent world. The violence and vices of our modern world have their root causes in straying from the path of our natural purpose. The people of the world have created purposes and goals in life for themselves that have led the world to its current state. It is not only our modern world, but the woes of man throughout history are the fruits of this dangerous seed, of straying away from our true purpose. We ask Allah in every prayer,

Guide us to the Straight Path. (Quran, 1:6)

As soon as man turns his gaze away from his true goal and wanders off into the dark roads of misguidance, he will never find eternal bliss and his only salvation is in rediscovering this Straight Path. We can imagine a man walking along a straight road with his eyes set on the distant goal, and as he looks to his left and right he sees many different roads, leading into every which way. Some lead straight into darkness and uncertainty, some curve farther than the eye can see and some are so crooked that the road is entangled in itself with no visible destination. It is nothing but a cage for one who steps into it. Before each road there is a caller inviting to his way and promising to give the man a happy end. The man may ignore these calls of deceit and answer the call of his Lord along the Straight Path.

Verily we belong to Allah and verily unto Him shall we return. (Quran, 2:156)

Or he may answer to trickery and bring about his own destruction.
How can a man know which path to choose? All he must do to find truth is look at the caller of each road. When he knows that the caller of the Straight Path is Allah, Who created him and nurtures him he knows that he is being called to good. But when he does not know his Lord he will be easily confused by so many voices bombarding his ears, and will have no intelligent way to discern the good from the evil. When he knows that he was made to walk along this road he will tread it with firm determination, but when he is aimless he will long for purpose and may be fooled into seeing it in the paths of evil.

And Allah invites to the abode of peace and guides whom He pleases into the right path. (Quran, 10:25)

He said: My Lord! the prison house is dearer to me than that to which they invite me; and if Thou turn not away their device from me, I will yearn towards them and become (one) of the ignorant. (Quran, 12:33)

The response of the believers, when they are invited to Allah and His Messenger that he may judge between them, is only to say: We hear and we obey; and these it is that are the successful. (Quran, 24:51)

And who is more unjust than he who forges a lie against Allah and he is invited to Islam, and Allah does not guide the unjust people. (Quran, 61:7)

So why does a man need to know Allah? The one who does not know why he is in the school building walks around the halls, wandering what to do. Is he a teacher, a student, an administrator, the principal, what is his role, what is his place, what are his duties, what is he doing there? Should he create his own ways and oppose the existing system? Should he simply pick any post and assume its duties? Or should he follow his selfish desires and do whatever he likes? Likewise, the man who does not know Allah is clueless of his identity in life. When he does not know that he is a creation, that there is a Master above him, that his Lord cares for him, that his path has already been laid out before him, then he will not know his true identity. He will not know himself, he will not know his purpose, he will not know his way in the world, he will not know what benefits and harms him, and he will create all these things based on his ignorance and selfish whims. The goals he sets will be unattainable, the lifestyle he adopts will bring harm to himself and others, and he will bring others down with himself.

And whoever adopts unbelief instead of faith, he indeed has lost the right direction of the way. (Quran, 2:108)

In all this he will do one of two things. He will either make this world his destination and the pleasures of this life will be his goal.

These are they who buy the life of this world for the hereafter, so their chastisement shall not be lightened nor shall they be helped. (Quran, 2:86)

Or he will create an imaginary destination and waste his time in misguided actions that neither bring about the right end, nor the end for which he is striving.

Have you seen him who takes his low desires for his god? Will you then be a protector over him? (Quran, 25:43)

Surely (as for) those who disbelieve and act unjustly Allah will not forgive them nor guide them to a path, except the path of hell, to abide in it forever, and this is easy to Allah. (Quran, 4:168-169)