Does God have human needs and wants ?

[brian464]

We worship God because we respect Him but what happens when somebody does not worship God ?

We know that God is not human and humans have a need to be "worshipped" by their spouse, friends etc,

 so does God have the same need as humans do ? or does He give us free will to worship Him or not to worship Him ? and

 if somebody does not worship God, does God punish him for not worshipping Him ?

[brian464]

Another indication that God does not have human needs and wants and in the case below, God does not mind apostasy.

We know that God is present everywhere including the place in which the apostate devil is at and

 since the devil is in a state of apostasy and God is in the very place where the devil is at, it would seem that God does not mind interacting peacefully with the apostate devil

[AhmadFarooq]

The following is from my own understanding and knowledge which could be faulty.

God does not have a "need" for anything, He can like one thing and dislike another, but that does not indicate a "need".

Muslims believe that this life is a test, so that people who deserve Heavenand Hell can be differentiated from each other. Muslims believe that before the start of this test, they were asked by God whether they want to go through with it or not. They agreed to be tested, therefore according to this covenant, they have to follow God's commands.

If someone does not worship God, God can be merciful and choose to forgive the person, or God (because of the agreed upon test) can choose not to forgive and punish the person. This is not because God has a need for worship, it is because of breaking the promise.

On the matter of God being everywhere, this is not something that Muslim scholars have had a consensus over. We are not given a clear description of God's attributes, so we can't really say for sure. The following are two articles which go in some detail about this question:

http://www.understanding-islam.com/q-and-a/islamic-beliefs/is-god-everywhere-6570
http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/2562/where-is-god/

On interacting with the apostate devil, as far as I know about the Islamic doctrine, we have absolutely no idea whether such an interaction takes place or not. It is possible, but we have been given no information for it.

Regards,

[brian464]

God does not have a "need" for anything,

In other words, God does not have a "need" for people to worship Him then ?

[AhmadFarooq]

If "need" is defined as something the absence of which decreases a person in some way, then God does not have a "need" for anything.

God likes people who worship Him and dislikes those who don't, possibly because such persons are going to face harsh penalties for such actions, but there is no reason or evidence to attribute this as a "need" by God.

[brian464]

If "need" is defined as something the absence of which decreases a person in some way, then God does not have a "need" for anything.

God likes people who worship Him and dislikes those who don't, possibly because such persons are going to face harsh penalties for such actions, but there is no reason or evidence to attribute this as a "need" by God.

Thanks for your interest in this subject because its a subject that all believers need to address.

 Please do check back daily or every few days for updates to this discussion, thanks once again

[brian464]

 He can like one thing and dislike another

If God truly had the human emotion of "like" or "dislike", do you think He would have created hurricanes, earthquakes, natural disasters etc

[AhmadFarooq]

The following is from my own understanding and knowledge which could be faulty.

I don't think I understand the question, what has God's like/dislike to do with natural disasters?

Muslims believe that natural disasters are either expiation for a people's sins or a test for them.

Also, it would be somewhat erroneous to relate some aspect of God with any feature of humans. Just like when God says something like, He sees everything, it shouldn't be taken to mean that He has eyes because such particular explicit knowledge is not provided in Islamic scripture. Similarly, God's likes/dislikes should not be related with the way we understand it for humans. It might be very similar, or it could be very different, we cannot say with certainty.

Regards,

[brian464]

I don't think I understand the question, what has God's like/dislike to do with natural disasters?

You believe that natural disasters is due to human sin ?

[AhmadFarooq]

The following is from my own understanding and knowledge which could be faulty.

Natural disasters are because of God's will, or to put it in different words, they are included in the natural system of the world that God has created.

According to Islamic doctrine, from a spiritual point of view, they serve as either expiation of a people's sins (so that they don't have to pay for these sins in the afterlife) OR a test for them (passing which will increase their rewards in the afterlife).

As far as I know, the Prophet never taught that all the natural disasters are because of human sins (some can be, but definitely not necessarily); this particular interpretation can be regarded as an innovation in Islam.

A particular event from the life of the Prophet is somewhat relevant here: After the death of one of Prophet Muhammad's sons, their was an eclipse; people started saying that the eclipse is because of the son's death, but the Prophet corrected them and told them that such things are natural phenomena and they don't occur on the death of any person.

Regards,

[brian464]

pay for these sins in the afterlife

Why is man required to pay for sins ?  when its obvious that God does not mind the Devil constantly sinning from the day that the devil committed apostasy right in front of God

[AhmadFarooq]

God does mind devil's sins, because of which he will also get punished in the afterlife. His punishment is just postponed.

The devil asked for some time from God to try and lead the humans astray and thus, in such a way was formed the basis of the test for humans (i.e. to not follow the devil) which they have to pass to get into heaven.

Regards,

[submit]

In other words, God does not have a "need" for people to worship Him then ?

God does not need people to worship Him because God is worthy to be worshiped.
God is pleased with those who worshiped Him with great rewards  in the Hereafter.

The attributes of forgiving and merciful God. http://www.answering-christianity.com/99_names.htm

[brian464]

God does mind devil's sins,

Its obvious that God is not human and does not have human needs or wants since

 He created the devil, knowing that the devil will one day refuse to worship God ( apostasy ) and yet God still created the devil.

God could have easily created (only) the beings He knew will never commit apostasy but

 since He created beings who He knew would commit apostasy, tells me that He is does not need or want humans or beings to worship Him

[brian464]

God is pleased with those who worshiped Him

God is pleased

In addition to my comment to Brother Farooq above,

God being pleased is a human emotion which means He can also be angry if people do not worship Him.

 I doubt God ever gets angry or cries or is happy according to how people respond to Him