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CONCEPT OF WORSHIP IN ISLAM
The concept of worship in Islam is misunderstood by many people
including some Muslims. Worship is commonly taken to mean performing
ritualist acts such as prayers, fasting, charity, etc. This limited
understanding of worship is only one part of the meaning of worship in
Islam. That is why the traditional definition of worship in Islam is a
comprehensive definition that includes almost everything in any
individual's activities. The definition goes something like this;
"Worship is an all inclusive term for all that God loves of external
and internal sayings and actions of a person".In other words, worship
is everything one says or does for the pleasure of Allah. This, of
course, includes rituals as well as beliefs, social activities, and
personal contributions to the welfare of one's fellow human-beings.
Islam looks at the individual as a whole. He is required to submit
himself completely to Allah, as the Quran instructed the prophet
Muhammad to do: "Say (O Muhammad) my prayer, my sacrifice, my life and
my death belong to Allah; He has no partner and I am ordered to be
among those who submit, i.e.; Muslims." The natural result of this
submission is that all one's activities should conform to the
instructions of the one to whom the person is submitting. Islam being a
way of life, requires that its followers model their life according to
its teachings in every aspect, religious or otherwise. This might sound
strange to some people who think of religion as a personal relation
between the individual and God, having no impact on one's activities
outside rituals.
As a matter of fact Islam does not think much of mere rituals when they
are performed mechanically and have no influence on one's inner life.
The Quran addresses the believers and their neighbors from among the
people of the Book who were arguing with them about the change of the
direction of Qibla in the following verse:
It
is not righteousness that you turn your faces toward the East or the
West, but righteous is he who believe in Allah and the Last Day and the
angels and the Book and the prophets, and gives his beloved money to
the relatives and the orphans and the needy and for the ransoming of
the captives and who observes prayer and pays the poor-due; and those
who fulfil their promises when they have made one, and the patient in
poverty and affliction and the steadfast in time of war; it is those
who have proved truthful and is those who are the God-fearing. (2:177)
The deeds in the above verse are the deeds of righteousness and they
are only a part of worship. The prophet told us about faith, which is
the basis of worship, that it "is made up of sixty and some branches:
the highest of which is the belief in the Oneness of Allah, i.e., there
is no God but Allah and the lowest in the scale of worship is removing
obstacles and dirt from people's way."
Decent work is considered in Islam a type of worship. The prophet said:
"Whoever finds himself at the nightfall tired of his work, God will
forgive his sins." Seeking knowledge is one of the highest types of
worship. The prophet told his companion that "seeking knowledge is a
(religious) duty on every Muslim." In another saying he said: " Seeking
knowledge for one hour is better than praying for seventy years."
Social courtesy and cooperation are part worship when done for the sake
of Allah as the prophet told us: "Receiving your friend with a simile
is a type of charity, helping a person to load his animal is a charity
and putting some water in your neighbors's bucket is a charity."
It is worth noting that even performing one's duties is considered a
sort of worship. The prophet told us that whatever one spends for his
family is a type of charity; he will be rewarded for it if he acquires
it through legal means. Kindness to the members of one's family is an
act of worship as when one puts a piece of food in his spouse's mouth
as the prophet informed us. Not only this but even the acts we enjoy
doing very much, when they are performed according to the instructions
of the prophet, they are considered as acts of worship. The prophet
told his companions that they will be rewarded even for having sexual
intercourse with their wives. The companions were astonished and asked:
"How are we going to be rewarded for doing something we enjoy very
much?" The prophet asked them: "suppose you satisfy your desires
illegally, don't you think that you will be punished for that?" They
replied, "yes." "So" he said, "by satisfying it legally with your wives
you are rewarded for it. "This means they are acts of worship.
Thus Islam does not consider sex a dirty thing that one should avoid.
It is dirty and sin only when it is satisfied outside marital life.
It is clear, from the previous discussion that the concept of worship
in Islam is a comprehensive concept that includes all the positive
activities of the individual. This of course is in agreement with the
all inclusive nature of Islam as a way of life. It regulates the human
life on all levels: the individual, the social, the economic, the
political and the spiritual. That is why Islam provides guidance to the
smallest details of one's life on all these levels. Thus following
these details is following Islamic instructions in that specific area.
It is a very encouraging element when one realizes that all his
activities are considered by God as acts of worship. This should lead
the individual to seek Allah's pleasure in his actions and always try
to do them in the best possible manner whether he is watched by his
superiors or he is alone. There is always the permanent supervisor, who
knows everything namely, Allah.
Discussing the non-ritual worship in Islam first does not mean under
evaluating the importance of the ritual ones. Actually ritual worships,
if performed in true spirit, elevate man morally and spiritually and
enable him to carry on his activities in all walks of life according to
the Guidance of God. Among ritual worships, Salah (ritual prayer)
occupies the key position for two reasons. Firstly, it is the
distinctive mark of a believer. Secondly, it prevents an individual
from all sorts of abominations and vices by providing him chances of
direct communion with his Creator five times a day, wherein he renews
his covenant with God and seeks His guidance again and again: "You
alone we worship and to You alone we turn for help. Guide us to the
straight path" (i:4-5).Actually Salah is the first practical
manifestation of Faith and also the foremost of the basic conditions
for the success of the believers:
Successful
indeed are the believers who are humble in their prayers. (23: 1-2)
The same fact has been emphasized by the prophet (PBUH) in a different
way, He says:
Those
who offer their Salah with great care and punctuality, will find it a
light, a proof of their Faith and cause of their salvation on the Day
of Judgement.
After Salah Zakah
(poor-due) is an important pillar of Islam. In the Quran Salah and Zakah mostly have been
mentioned together. Like Salah,
Zakah
is a manifestation of faith that affirms that God is the sole owner of
everything in the universe, and what men hold is a trust in their hand
over which God made them trustees to discharge it as He has laid down:
Believe
in Allah and His messenger and spend of that over which He made you
trustees. (57:7)
In this respect Zakah
is an act of devotion which, like prayer, brings the believer nearer to
his Lord. Apart from this, Zakah is a means of redistribution of wealth
in a way that reduces differences between classes and groups. It makes
a fair contribution to social stability. By purging the soul of the
rich from selfishness and the soul of the poor from envy and resentment
against society, it stops up the channels leading to class hatred and
makes it possible for springs of brotherhood and solidarity to gush
forth. Such stability is not merely based on the personal feelings of
the rich: it stands on a firmly established right which, if the rich
denied it, would be exacted by force, if necessary.
Siyam (fasting during the day time of the month of Ramadhan) is another
pillar of Islam. The main function of fasting is to make the Muslim
pure from "within" as other aspects of Shariah make him pure from
"without." By such purity he responds to what is true and good and
shuns what is false and evil. This is what we can perceive in the
Quranic Verse: "O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you as it
was prescribed for those before you, that you may gain piety." (2:183)
In an authentic tradition, the prophet reported Allah as saying: "He
suspends eating, drinking, and gratification of his sexual passion for
My sake." Thus his reward is going to be according to God's great
bounty.
Fasting, then, awakens the conscience of the individual and gives it
scope for exercise in a joint experience for all society at the same
time, thus adding further strength to each individual. Moreover,
fasting offers a compulsory rest to the over-worked human machine for
the duration of one month. Similarly fasting reminds an individual of
those who are deprived of life necessities throughout the year or
throughout life. It makes him realize the suffering of others, the less
fortunate brothers in Islam, and thus promotes in him a sense of
sympathy and kindness to them.
Lastly, we come to Al-Hajj (pilgrimage to the House of God in Makka).
This very important pillar of Islam, manifests a unique unity,
dispelling all kinds of differences. Muslims from all corners of the
world, wearing the same dress, respond to the call of Hajj in one voice
and language: LABBAIK ALLA HUMMA LABBAIK ( Here I am at your service O
Lord!). In Hajj there is an exercise of strict self-discipline and
control where not only sacred things are revered, but even the life of
plants and birds is made inviolable so that everything lives in safety:
"And he that venerates the sacred things of God, it shall be better for
him with his Lord" (22:30), "And he that venerates the way marks of
God, it surely is from devotion of the heart."(22:32)
Pilgrimage gives an opportunity to all Muslims from all groups,
classes, organizations, and governments from all over the Muslim world
to meet annually in a great congress. The time and venue of this
congress has been set by their one God. Invitation to attend is open to
every Muslim. No one has the power to bar anyone. Every Muslim who
attends is guaranteed full safety and freedom as long as he himself
does not violate its safety.
Thus, worship in Islam, whether ritual or non-ritual, trains the
individual in such a way that he loves his Creator most and thereby
gains an unyielding will and spirit to wipe out all evil and oppression
from the human society and make the word of God dominant in the world.
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Source:
WAMY SERIES On Islam
World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY)
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