Ibn Abī Zā’idah narrated from Ibn Jurayj concerning His saying:

“I did not create jinn and mankind except to worship Me.”

He said: “Except that they should know Me.”

Ibn Abī Hātim narrated these statements through his chains of transmission, except for the statement of ‘Alī.

Al-Tha‘labī related that Mujāhid said: “Except that they should know Me.” He commented: “This is indeed a fine interpretation, for had He not created them, His existence and oneness would not have been known. The evidence for this interpretation is His saying, ‘If you ask them who created them,’ and the other verses.”

He also said that Hibbān reported from al-Kalbī: “Except that they should affirm My oneness. The believer affirms His oneness in hardship and ease, whereas the unbeliever affirms His oneness in hardship and affliction, but not amid blessings and ease. This is illustrated by His saying:

‘When they board a ship, they call upon Allah, sincere in their devotion to Him.’”

According to these interpretations, all humans and jinn have worshipped Him, known Him, affirmed His oneness, and acknowledged their servitude to Him, willingly or unwillingly.

Those who hold the earlier interpretations do not deny what these scholars affirm. Rather, they say: “This is not the worship for which they were created, even though all of them have known Him, acknowledged Him, and been subject to Him in servitude, willingly or unwillingly.”

This shows that all humans and jinn acknowledge the Creator, recognize Him, and acknowledge their servitude to Him, willingly or unwillingly. This entails that such knowledge is inherent in their coming into being and that none of them has ever been without it, even though it is known that the particular course of reasoning deemed obligatory by