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 Qur'an instructed the prophet Muhammed to
do:
"Say (0 Muhammed) 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."
Sahih Muslim 1695
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 Qur'an
addresses the believers and their neighbours 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 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 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
neighbour'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 realises 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"
(5:8)
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 emphasised 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 Qur'an 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 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
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 Qur'anic Verse:
"0 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
necessities throughout the year or throughout life. It
makes him realise 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 0
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, organisations, 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.
WAMY SERIES ON ISLAM NO. 8
World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY)
P.O. Box 10845
Riyadh 11443
Saudi Arabia
This Page Last Updated 25/11/2009 3:58:10 p.m.
PLEASE NOTE: The revealed Arabic Qur'an is the authoritative and primary source of reference and as such the Qur'anic English translations are provided purely as indicative interpretations.
