Has Allah created us in order to punish us?

A translation of this video

By Imam Muhammad Saeed Ramadan al-Bouti, may Allah have mercy on him.
The subtitles are not clear at times, so the full translated text is available below:

Has Allah created us in order to punish us?

Allah, Mighty and Majestic is He, knows that amongst His slaves are those who do not obey Him.

And therefore, their outcome will be what it is.

Allah knows that amongst His slaves are those who are atheists, or who hold similar beliefs.

Would it not be best if creations like this were not created?

What is the answer?

Here, dear brothers, before answering the question, I would like to turn your attention towards something.

Those people who ask this question are actually concealing an endless series of questions.

They ask about the reason behind creation, and the reason behind that reason, and then the reason behind that reason, and so on and so forth.

The starting point for their question is a very strange type of foolishness, which is that they are comparing the Creator, who is Allah, Mighty and Majestic is He, to the creation, i.e. human beings.

We, human beings, when we want to actualise a goal for ourselves, we are not able to actualise it except through a series of means, and this is a manifestation of man’s weakness and incapacity.

This is man’s affair, and thus, whenever he applies himself to an action, there must be a reason that pushes him to do that action. I will give you an example.

You pass by a friend of yours. You see him digging a hole in the ground. Naturally, you would say, ‘Why are you doing that? What is the reason for this action?’ He replies, ‘By Allah, I want to dig a well in order to extract water so that I can irrigate my garden.’

Clear, no?

However, if this person were to say to you, ‘By Allah, nothing has prompted me to do what you’re seeing me do’, there is no doubt that you would attribute stupidity to him.

Why?

It is because when we know that man is incapable of actualising his long-term goals, that he cannot arrive at them except via a combination of means, it is rare to see someone say, ‘I’m digging a hole in the ground for no reason.’

‘I’m reading a book for no purpose or goal.’

‘I attend the lectures of so-and-so and I have no goal behind doing so.’

This is a type of foolishness. Why?

Because it is known that man does not do anything unless it is for a goal, and this is because of his incapacity.

Therefore, these people who ask this foolish question do so because they are comparing Allah to themselves.

‘When man applies himself to an action, does he not have to have a reason for doing so? Therefore, our Lord is the same. When He created man, He must have had a reason that prompted Him to do so. When He created the skies, there must have been a reason that pushed Him to create the stars, the sun and the moon.’

They are comparing Allah to man. Is this a valid comparison? No.

Our Lord, Mighty and Majestic is He, does not need means in order to arrive at what He wants. When He wants something, His affair is to say, ‘Be!’ and it is.

Yes. Therefore, this question is nowhere to be found: ‘Why did Allah create man?’ It’s as if the questioner is imagining that our Lord, Mighty and Majestic is He, has an ultimate objective, and that objective cannot be actualised except via His creation of man.

Thus, after He had created man, we can ask Him, just as we ask the person digging a hole in the ground, we can ask Him by saying, ‘O Lord, why did you create man? What is your goal behind creating him?’

Yes. This is an erroneous question. There is no ultimate objective with regards to Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He.