“And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.” – Adh-Dhariyat:56
In the above verse of the Qur’an, Allah makes it clear that He has created us for no other reason but to worship Him. But what does it really mean to worship Him? Instead of trying to come up with a word-by-word definition, let us understand the meaning of worship from some events that we have been informed about in the Qur’an and Hadith.
The story of ‘Adi bin Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him):
When ‘Adi was still a Christian and he came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) in Madina wearing a silver cross around his neck, the Holy Prophet recited the following verse:
They (Jews and Christians) took their rabbis and their monks to be their lords besides Allah…[at-Tawbah:31]
Upon hearing the verse, ‘Adi disagreed saying, ‘They did not worship them.’ But the Prophet responded, ‘Yes they did. They (rabbis and monks) prohibited the allowed for them (Christians and Jews) and allowed the prohibited, and they obeyed them. This is how they worshipped them…’
The above verse and Hadith clarify that if we refer to anyone besides Allah for determining the Halaal and the Haraam, i.e. the legal and the illegal, then we are in effect worshipping them, be it a religious leader, a philosopher, a king, a president, a parliament, a supreme court etc. Therefore, a true Muslim refers solely to the Qur’an and Sunnah to derive laws governing life’s affairs.
Shu’ayb calls the People of Madyan to worship Allah
The message conveyed by every prophet to his people was to worship Allah, which in effect meant giving up their man-made practices, customs and traditions, and implementing Allah’s Laws instead in their private and public affairs. For example, when Shu’ayb (peace be upon him) called the people of Madyan to worship Allah, he also instructed them to abandon their corrupt economic and social practices. However his people rejected him saying, “O Shu’ayb, does your prayer command you that we should leave what our fathers worship or not do with our wealth what we please?” [Hud:87]
The response of the people of Madyan holds special significance today. They were in fact complaining to Shu’ayb that his religion should not interfere in their social and economic affairs. And this is the very essence of secularism – separation of religion from life’s affairs. Those who worship Allah, follow His Laws in their individual, as well as societal matters, and hence do not believe in secularism.
Iblis disobeys the command of Allah
When Allah created Adam (peace be upon him) and ordered all the angels to prostrate before him, everyone did so except Iblis (satan). Allah says in the Qur’an:
“And (remember) when We said to the angels: “Prostrate yourselves before Adam.” And they prostrated except Iblis (Satan), he refused and was proud and was one of the disbelievers (disobedient to Allah).” [al-Baqarah:34]
Prior to this incident, Iblis had been a very devout worshipper of Allah. Therefore he definitely knew that Allah existed, that He was the All-Mighty Creator, and that He was the only One worthy of worship. Despite this, Allah called him a disbeliever in the above verse. So how can Iblis, who believed in Allah’s existence, still be a disbeliever? This is because theoretical knowledge of Allah’s existence alone is not enough to have true Iman (faith). True Iman requires complete submission to the commands of Allah, as explained in the following verses:
“But no, by your Rabb, they can have no Iman (faith), until they make you the judge in all disputes between them and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions and accept (them) with full submission” [an-Nisa: 65]
“It is not fitting for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided an affair (for them), that they should (after that) have any option in their decision; and whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he has indeed strayed in plain error”. [Al-Ahzab:36]
Someone who truly worships Allah does not question or argue about Allah’s commands like Iblis did. Rather they accept Allah’s commands with full submission and fulfil them without any hesitation. Allah describes such believers as follows:
“The only statement of the [true] believers when they are called to Allah and His Messenger to judge between them is that they say, ‘We hear and we obey.’ And those are the successful.” [an-Nur: 51]
Let us now look at a few examples of those who obeyed Allah with complete submission:
Ibrahim and Hajar (peace be upon them)
When Ibrahim left his wife, Hajar, and his little son, Isma’il, alone in Makkah, which was at that time a barren and uninhabited place, Hajar asked Ibrahim in bewilderment, “Where are you going Ibrahim, leaving us in this barren valley?”
She asked a second time but received no response. Finally she asked, “Did Allah command you to do so?” And Ibrahim replied ‘Yes.’ Then Hajar, a true worshipper of Allah, replied, “We are not going to be lost, since Allah who has commanded you is with us.”
Ismai’l (peace be upon him)
When Ibrahim told his son, Isma’il, about his dream where he saw that he must sacrifice his son, Isma’il replied, “O my father, do as you are commanded. You will find me, if Allah wills, of the steadfast.”
Musa’s mother (peace be upon them)
As Musa was born in the year when the Pharaoh was having all the newly born male babies of the Children of Israel killed, Allah commanded Musa’s mother to put Musa in a basket and set him adrift on the river Nile. Despite the dangers of throwing little Musa in the river, his mother put her trust in Allah and obeyed His command. And such was the decree of Allah that Musa ended up in the Pharaoh’s palace, adopted as a son by the Pharaoh’s wife, and Musa’s own mother was appointed as his wet nurse to breast-feed him.
The Sahabah (companions) of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
The Sahabah, the best generation of the Ummah of Muhammad (peace be upon him), have left behind them great examples of what true worship really means. Whenever a verse of the Qur’an would be revealed containing a command from Allah, the Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them) would rush to implement it without any delay, as demonstrated in the following Hadith:
Al Bukhari reported on the authority of Anas b. Malik (R):
“I was serving drinks to Abu Talha al-Ansari, ‘Ubaidah b. al-Jarrah and Ubayy b. Ka’b prepared from unripe dates and fresh dates when a visitor came and he said: Verily liquor has been prohibited. Thereupon, Abu Talha said: O Anas! Stand up and break this pitcher. I stood up and (took hold) of a pointed stone and struck the pitcher with its lower part until it broke into pieces.”
Al Bukhari reported on the authority of A’ishah (R) who said:
“May Allah have mercy on the Muhajir women. When Allah revealed the verse: “And let them draw their headscarves all over necks and bosoms” [An-Nur: 31] they tore their wrappers and concealed themselves with them.”
Abu Dawud reported on the authority of Safiyyah bint Shaybah who reported on the authority of A’ishah (R) that:
She (A’ishah) mentioned the women of Ansar, praised them and said good words about them. She then said: “When Surat an-Nur came down, they took the curtains, tore them and made head covers of them.”
Allah’s promise to those who worship Him without associating any partners
True worship is due solely to Allah and requires complete submission to His will and firm adherence to His commands. And to those who do this with sincerity and steadfastness, Allah has made a great promise:
“Allah has promised those who have believed among you and done righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession [to authority] upon the earth just as He granted it to those before them and that He will surely establish for them [therein] their religion which He has preferred for them and that He will surely substitute for them, after their fear, security, [for] they worship Me, not associating anything with Me. But whoever disbelieves after that – then those are the defiantly disobedient.” [an-Nur:55]
Source: http://roadtorevival.wordpress.com/2009/12/21/the-meaning-of-worship/
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