I apologise sincerely if this has already been covered here - I did a search and couldn't find anything....

Anyway, I was just curious what the Islamic perspective is on this question:

"What is the purpose of life?"

I don't mean in terms of the conscious decisions you make to select your pathway to Jannah or Jahannam...... I just wondered why, in Islam, Allah put us all here.

When He created earth and the people on it, was that in turn His ultimate purpose in life? And if so, who or what gave Him the inspiration to do this? Or is it just one of those things that is His prerogative and should not be questioned.

I feel a bit silly asking this question as it's so, well, simple... but I was really interested in getting your opinions :embarrass