The sixth major benefit of the belief in God is that it sets moral standards. Moral standards cannot be set without belief in God. Ethicists understand how difficult it is to set moral standards. One is amazed at the gross disagreement on the definition of virtue and moral standards ethicists propose after lengthy debates and deliberations. One says something and another something else and all of them criticize everyone else. But when one looks at the end result, there is nothing. However, once we believe in God, it becomes obvious that, as man did not come about by himself, he need not work out his own moral standard and try to determine what is good for him. Having been created by a Higher Being, it stands to reason that he has no model worth following other than that Higher Being and no moral objective other than reflecting the attributes of his Creator and Master. The Holy Prophet(saw) himself, states:
That is, O people! Model your morals on the attributes of Allah.
Islam teaches that Allah, the Exalted, created man in the image of His own attributes, and the seeds of all His attributes (except those that are specific to God) have been sown in human nature, albeit in smaller and limited form. To nurture these natural seeds, He reveals a code of conduct—the Shariah—to His pious people from time to time. Shariah is the moral code that creates real reformation and progress in the world. Searching for an alternative is a wasted effort.
No proper moral standard can be established unless it proposes acquiring the attributes of the Creator and Master. In practical terms, it requires natural instincts—which argue for the existence of God, inasmuch as they reflect Divine attributes—be used properly, according to the Shariah, to take on Divine colours. For instance, love, loyalty, mercy, anger, and a sense of self-respect and honour are all natural instincts and when exercised properly they become high moral qualities. Likewise, there are many natural instincts that when exercised properly become high moral qualities. All these instincts are instilled in human nature as an image of their Creator’s attributes. These instincts are simply natural impulses and, in themselves, are neither good nor bad. It is their use that makes them one or the other. The criterion for their use being proper or improper is that these natural instincts be exercised in conformity with Divine attributes as manifested by the acts of God, meaning nature, and His Words, meaning the Shariah. There is no other solution for this complicated problem. This is a great benefit derived from belief in God.
There are many other benefits, but I bring this discussion to a close here. However, I wish to make it clear, that I have only discussed such benefits as are generally obtained through belief in God. I have not gone into much greater spiritual, moral, and intellectual benefits a believer and Divine communities derive in their pursuit for nearness to God. These will be mentioned later, God willing. I wish to add further that I have not presented these general benefits of belief in God as evidence of existence of God. For if there were no God, then the argument that we should believe in Him simply because it is beneficial to do so would be meaningless. This discussion was only meant to emphasise that not only do we have a Creator and Master, but that believing in Him has benefits for mankind.