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CONCEPT OF WORSHIP IN ISLAM
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The concept of worship in Islam is misunderstood by many people including
some Muslims.  Worship is commonly taken to mean performing ritualistic
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."  (6:162, 163)  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 other wise.  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 believes in Allah and the Last Day and the
Angels and the Book and the Prophets, and gives his beloved money to this
relatives and the orphans and the needy and for the ransoming of captives
and who observes prayer and pays the poor-due; and those who fulfill 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
it 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 companions 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 of worship when done for the sake of Allah as the
Prophet told us: "Receiving your friend with a smile is a type of charity,
helping a person to load his animal is a charity and putting some water in
your neighbor'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 members of one's family is an act of worship as
when one puts a piece of food in his spouse's mouth.  Not only this but
even the acts we enjoy doing very much, when they are performed according
to the instructions of the Prophet, 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 sinful 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 human life on all levels:
individual, social, economic, political and 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 undervaluing
the importance of the ritual ones.  Actually ritual worship, if performed
in true spirit, elevates man morally and spiritually and enables 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."  (1:5,6)  Actually Salah
is the first practical manifestation of Faith and also the foremost of the
basis 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
Judgment."

After Salah, Zakah (poor-due) is an important pillar of Islam.  In the
Quran, Salah and Zakah mostly have been mentioned together many times.
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 the 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 Ramadan) 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
full month.  Similarly fasting reminds an individual of those who are
deprived of life's 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 Makkah).
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 ALLAHUMMA 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 waymarks 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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World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY),
P.O. Box 10845, Riyadh 11443, Saudi Arabia
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