Religion is a way of life that regulates man's relation with his Creator and with those around him, and it is the path that leads to the Hereafter.
The need for religion is more essential than the need for food and drink. Man is religious by nature, so if he is not guided to the true religion, he will invent a religion for himself as what happened in the pagan religions that were invented by people. Man needs security in this life as well as in the Hereafter and after his death,
and the true religion is what guarantees its followers complete security in both abodes. For example,
if we are walking along a road and we do not know its end, we have two options: either to follow the instructions written on the signboards that are on the way, or to try guessing which could lead us to be lost and destroyed.
Moreover, if we wanted to buy a television and try to make it operate without referring to the manual, it will be damaged. The television that is produced by the same factory reaches us here, for instance, with the same manual that is sent to another country; hence, we should use it in the same manner.
Another example, when someone wants to contact another person, that second person must inform him of the possible method to contact him by asking him to call him on the phone, for instance, instead of contacting him through the email. The first person must use the exact phone number that the other gave him and cannot use any other number.
The previous examples show us that mankind cannot worship Allah by following their personal desires because by doing this they will harm themselves before causing harm to others. Some nations dance and sing in the places of worship to communicate with the Lord of the worlds, while others clap their hands to awaken the god according to their beliefs. Others worship Allah by taking a mediator and think that Allah is embodied in the form of a human or a rock. Allah, thus, wants to protect us from ourselves when we worship what could never bring us benefit or harm; rather, it could cause our destruction in the Hereafter. Associating others with Allah in worship is considered the gravest major sin and eternal punishment in Hellfire is set for such a sin. Allah Almighty, out of His greatness, has created a system, which is called "religion", for all of us to comply with so it could regulate our relation with Him and with those around us.