Concept of Worship in Islam [3]

Conditions of Worship


The Messenger of Allah, Muhammad SAW said: "The right of God upon His servants is that they should worship Him (alone) and not associate anything with Him" [Bukhari and Muslim].

Allah the Almighty says He created us, and that we may worship Him alone and not to associate anything else with Him: "I did not create Jinn and Men except that they may worship me" [Surah Adh-Dhariyat, 51:56].
In pursuance of the above what is worship, what are the conditions and how should it be performed?

It must be noted that Worship is a collective term for everything which God loves and is pleased with from among the words and actions, such as supplication, prayer and having patience. Almighty God says:

"Say: Verily my prayer, my service of sacrifice, my life and my death are all for God the Lord of the Worlds." [Surah Al-Anam, 6:162]; And the Prophet SAW said "God the Exalted said: My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the obligatory actions which I have imposed upon him." [Bukhari]
The types of worship are many and include supplication, fear, hope, reliance, love of obedience to God, hatred of disobedience to Him, remorse, repentance, seeking aid from Him, vowing, sacrificing, bowing, prostrating and other things beside these.

Thus, the first thing, which a Muslim acknowledges, is that he has been created for worship and must know of its form and types.

Secondly, the Muslim should realize is that a necessary condition of worship is sincerity. Almighty God the Exalted said: "So whoever hopes for the meeting with his Lord let him work deeds of righteousness and associate none as a partner in the worship of his Lord." [Surah Al-Kahf, 18:110], and the Messenger SAW said: "Indeed God does not look at your faces or your wealth but He looks at your hearts and your actions." In addition, there is the Hadith Qudsi (Sacred Hadith) where the Messenger SAW said that Allah said: "I am so Self-Sufficient that I am in no need of having partners. Thus, whoever does an action for someone else's sake as well as Mine, will have that action rejected by Me to him whom he associated with Me." [Muslim]

Thirdly, another vital condition of worship is that it is correct and therefore acceptable to God. Our Worship of God should be as He and His Messenger SAW have commanded us. Almighty God says:

"O you who believe! Obey God and obey the Messenger and do not let your actions become nullified" [Surah Muhammad, 47:33],

The Messenger SAW has said: "Whoever does an action which we have not commanded will have it rejected" [Muslim].

In addition, he SAW said: "Whoever does an action in a way different from ours will have it rejected." [Abu Dawud]

Fudail ibn Ayyad, a tabi'ee (the second generation of Muslims), said regarding the verse: “. . . that He may test you, which of you is best in deeds . . .” [Surah Muhammad, 11:7], 'The most sincere and the most correct'; so those who were around him said: 'And what is the most sincere and the most correct?' He replied: 'Action, if it is correct but not sincere will not be accepted and action, if it is sincere but not correct will not be accepted until it is both sincere and correct. Sincere means that nothing but the Face of God is sought and correct means that it is in conformity with the Sunnah.'

Therefore, these are two necessary conditions for our worship to be acceptable to God. God has also commanded us: "So call upon Him (out of) Fear and Hope" [Surah Al-Anam, 6:56], and the Messenger SAW used to supplicate: "I ask God for Paradise and I seek refuge in Him from the Fire." [Abu Dawud]

Fourthly, our worship should be in between hoping for God's Mercy and reward and fearing His punishment. Some of the Salaf (i.e. pious predecessors of the first three generations of Muslims) used to say: "Whoever worships God with Love only is indeed a Zindiq (i.e. a heretic) and whoever worships Him with Hope only is indeed a Murji' (i.e. one who believes that sins impart no harm to a persons faith) and whoever worships Him with Fear only is indeed a Haruri (i.e. one of those believe that sins take a person out of Islam), but whoever worships Him with Love, Fear and Hope is indeed a believing Muwahhid (i.e. one who believes and actualizes the Unity (Tawhid) of God).

Fifthly, the characteristic of our worship is being aware of the presence of God, that His knowledge is with us and He sees and hears us. This point is called Ihsan - purity. Allah the Almighty says: "The One Who sees you when you stand up for the prayer and when you move amongst those who prostrate themselves" [Surah Ash-Shura, 26:218], and also in the hadith of Jibril (Gabriel) when he said to the Messenger SAW: "Ihsan is that you worship God as if you see Him and while you see Him not yet truly He sees you." [Muslim]

Thus, the five conditionsr worship are:

1. Acknowledgement that it is the purpose of our existence;

2. Extreme sincerity in fulfilling that purpose;

3. Correctness of our worship by conducting it in the manner of the Sunnah of the Messenger SAW;

4. Worshipping God [Allah] by combining Love, Fear and Hope; and

5. Accompanying all of that with Ihsan - a keen awareness of God.

The example of the one who learns these five points concerning the worship of his Lord and builds all of his actions upon them and the one who does not and is careless about his worship is like the example God has given: "Which then is best? He who lays the foundation of his house upon Taqwa (i.e. God-consciousness) and His Good Pleasure, or he who lays the foundation of his house upon an undetermined brink of a precipice ready to crumble down, so that it crumbles down with him into the Fire of Hell?" [Surah At-Tawbah, 9:108]

So, let us not be careless and make our actions vain like Almighty God has mentioned regarding some people: "And We shall turn to whatever actions they did and turn them into scattered dust." [Surah Al-Furqan, 25:23], but rather let us become cautious and dedicated our deeds foreword for the Day of Judgement, the Day when we will be in great need for good actions --- that is our sincere and correct worship.


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The Concept Of Worship [2].

Righteous Deeds

A Muslim should particularly remember the purpose of his creation and the objective for which he exists in this life. Allah clarifies to us this objective saying:

“And I created not the jinn and humans except that they should worship Me (alone).”

[Surah Adh-Dhariyat, 51:56].

This verse explains the purpose of our creation; that our lives should not be spent except in worshipping Allah. Prayer, fasting, alms giving, Hajj, truthfulness, trustworthiness, being dutiful to parents, supplication, reading the Quran, hoping for Allah’s mercy and being afraid of His punishment are all acts of worship.

The best deed to perform: The greatest type of worship is to perform that which Allah makes obligatory on His servants and to refrain from all that He forbids.

Abu Hurairah narrated that Prophet SAW said:

"Allah says, ‘The most beloved deeds with which my servants comes nearer to me are what I have enjoined on him.’”

(Al-Bukhari).

Ibn Al-Qayyim said: “Since the Salaf always dedicated themselves in worship Allah, it is then necessary for us to know which type of worship they started, and which one have they given priority.” He then answered: "The best acts of worship are the most pleasing to Allah in that particular time. The best act of worship during the presence of a guest is to take care of him and not to be distracted from that by other recommended acts of worship. This is also in performing one’s duties towards one’s wife and family. The best act of worship in the night is to be occupied with prayer, reciting the Quran, supplication and dzikir. The best thing during the time of the Azan (i.e. the call for prayer) is to leave whatever worship one is doing and answer the Mu`asin (i.e. the one calling the Azan) by repeating what he says. The best thing during the time of the five obligatory prayers is to exert one's efforts in their prompt performance. The best thing when the poor is in dire need of assistance is to assist him and give that preference over supererogatory dzikir. The best thing to do when your brother is sick or dead is to visit him, attend his funeral, and give that priority over your supererogatory dzikir. And the best thing to do when you are afflicted and suffer people’s harm is to be patient and not to run away from them."

The Muslim should be moving in between stations of servitude. If you see the scholars you see him with them; if you see those who are devotedly performing acts of worship, you see him with them, and if you see those giving generously in charity, you see him with them!

What has afflicted Muslims is a consequence of their deviation from the real concept of worship and application of the two conditions for acts of worship, which are sincerity and following the path of the messenger of Allah SAW. While abandoning sincerity leads to directing acts of worship that are not solely Allah’s but to others besides Him; not following the path of the Prophet SAW.

However, some people restrict the concept of worship to rituals only. Whenever this set of people works, they abstain completely from worship and whenever they worship, they keep away completely from work. This is unfortunately the most common belief. It is the people who hold this concept who say, “What does religion have to do with a woman’s dressing and her work?" "What does religion have to do with our personal behaviour?" Their purpose is to remove religion from one’s life and confine it only to the mosque. That is why you see someone who prays, fasts, and reads Qur’an, yet he is dishonest: cheats, bribes, takes bribes and wrongs others. You also see a woman who prays yet she disobeys laws of Allah by dressing immodestly and mingling with not their mahram.

Deeds which one performs habitually become acts of worship through good intentions. The farmer in his farm, the labourer, the trader, or the practitioner of any other profession is capable of turning his occupation into an act of worship, provided that he does not tarnish it with cheating, lying, tricking etc. This is the concept of worship in its wider sense. To have a full imagination of acts of obedience makes a Muslim full of good, mercy, and benefits for his fellow human beings, thereby encouraging him to do more acts of worship and assist his nation.

It is possible for you to add a viable brick into the structure of this nation and add to your scale of good deeds weighty works, which may appear insignificant to you. The Prophet SAW said:

“Do you want me to tell you of what is better than the rank of fasting, prayer and charity?”

The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, said: “Yes, O Messenger of Allah.”

The Messenger SAW, said:

“To conciliate between people among whom when there is discord.”

(Abu Dawud)

The Prophet also said:

“Whoever visits a sick person or a brother of his for Allah’s sake, a caller will call him thus, ‘You are good and your passage is good. May you take Paradise for an abode.’ ”

(At-Tarmidzi).

Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Allah Messenger, SAW said:

“While a man was walking along the road, he saw a branch of a tree with thorns lying on the road and he removed it, so Allah appreciated his deed (and thus rewarded him) for that and forgave his sins.”

(Muslim).

It is also reported that the Allah Messenger, SAW said:

“Deeds of my nation – both the good and evil – were shown to me and I found that among their good deeds is the removal of harmful things from the pathway.”

(Muslim).

Restricting righteous deeds to special acts of worship makes seekers of piety spend all their time in repetition of limited deeds as if they do not see that other ways lead to the pleasure of Allah.

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The Concept Of Worship[1B]

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.

Worship encompasses all aspects of life. Worshipping Allah does indeed necessitate using all one’s limbs in the obedience of Allah and carrying out His orders. One can worship Allah by preventing his eyes from gazing at unlawful things and using them to look at what Allah loves, like a copy of the Quran, books of knowledge etc. He can also worship Him by preventing his ears, hands and feet from all that Allah forbids and using them in things that He enjoins and loves.

Allah says : “Say (O Mohammad); Verily my prayer, my sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, the Lord of the ‘Al'alamin [mankind, jinns and all that exists]. He has no partner. And of this I have been commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims.” [Surah Al-Anam, 6:162-163].

As for the Prophet SAW love of worship has penetrated deep into his heart and the greatest manifestation of his worship is that he submitted his whole life to Allah in all his conditions. Allah says: “And who can be better in religion than one who submits his face [himself] to Allah and he is a Muhsin [a doer of good].” [Suruh An-Nisa', 4:125].

The Prophet SAW, always seeks for Allah forgiveness. The Prophet SAW said:

“By Allah! I indeed invoke Allah for forgiveness and repent to Him more than seventy times a day.” [Al-Bukhari]

The Prophet SAW used to worship Allah in the night and would keep on standing until his legs became swollen and when he SAW was asked, “O Messenger of Allah! You do this when your former and latter sins have been forgiven?” The Prophet SAW replied: “Should I not then be a grateful servant?” [Al-Bukhari & Muslim]

However, the most wonderful aspect of the Prophet’s worship is that astonishing combination of the highest level of worship and performance of his role as the head of his nation. The Prophet SAW said:

“By Allah! I am the most fearful of Allah among you, but I fast, and eat; I pray and I sleep and I marry women. Whoever differs from my way is not of me.” [Al-Bukhari]

Ibn Taimiyyah, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “The heart cannot be good, prosper, have felicity and easiness, enjoy and have tranquillity except through the worship of its Lord alone. Even if it attains all pleasures of this world it will not get peace and tranquillity, for it has a natural spontaneous need to its Lord because He is its Lord…”

Nullifiers of worship, and reasons for rejecting it: Not fulfilling the two conditions of accepting a deed (namely, sincerely and coinciding with the way of the Prophet, s.a.w are the foremost reasons one's deed may be rejected as we have mentioned before. One of the Salaf [the righteous predecessors], may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “Indeed, Allah has bestowed His favour upon His servants and commanded them to be grateful as much as they can, for gratitude, however little it may be, is a price for the favour, however big it may be. If one is not grateful, he has exposed the favour to extinction…”

The effort exerted by the Salaf in worship, may Allah have mercy upon them … people who’s hearts were full of love for Allah in all their conditions … they then became delighted … their souls became tranquil … peace ruled over their limbs … then, thoughts of love replaced those of disobedience … the will to move nearer to Him replaced that of displeasing Him … movements of the tongue became that of obedience or contrary to disobedience.

When Naafi’, may Allah have mercy upon him, was asked about the activities of Ibn ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, at home, he replied: “He used to perform ablution for every prayer and recite Quran in between them [i.e. in between ablution and prayer.]”

Al-Hasan Al-Basri, may Allah have mercy upon him, said – while describing efforts of Salaf in worship, “I have met people and I have accompanied groups. They [ the people I have met and accompanied) did not use to rejoice at whatever came their way of the beauties of this world; nor did they use to get sad over whatever departed from them of this world. Rather, the world was less significant to them than the soil over which they walked. They would act by the book of their Lord and the Sunnah of the Prophet SAW. During the night they stood up in prayer, prostrated their faces and wept out of fear of Allah.”

Whenever Ibn ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, missed a congregational prayer, he would atone for that by a day of fasting, a night vigil (in prayer) and manumission of a slave.

The wife of ‘Umar ibn Abdul-‘Aziz, may Allah have mercy upon her, said: “I have never seen anyone who prayed fasted and feared Allah more than him [ her husband]. He would pray ‘Isya' prayer and then sit mentioning Allah until he was overcome by slumber. He would remember some of the issues of the Last Day while he was on his bed, tremble like a sparrow, and then sit down weeping. I would then cover him with a sheet.”

Wakee’, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “Al-A’mash, may Allah have mercy upon him, never missed the opening Takbir [congregational prayer] for almost seventy years and I visited him for more than six years, and I have never seen him performing a missed Raka’ah.”

Sulaiman Ibn Hamzah, may Allah have mercy upon him, also said: “I have never prayed an obligatory prayer alone except twice and even then I felt as if I had not prayed it at all.” It should be noted that he was almost ninety years old when he died.

Through worship, a believer’s soul becomes tranquil, that tranquillity energises it and tells it, “O soul! Be happy, for the home is near and reunion is imminent”. Therefore, do not terminate your journey and thus be denied reaching the home of the loved ones.

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Whom Must We Worship?[1A]

The submission of man to His Creator is the essence of Islam. The name "Islam" is chosen by God (Allah) and not by man. It is the same unifying Message revealed to all the Prophets and Messengers by Allah and which they spread amongst their respective nations. In its Final form, it was revealed to Muhammad (Peace & Mercy of Allah be upon him) as a complete Message to whole mankind.

The Lord, Allah, is the True and Only Creator that deserves to be worshipped. No worship is worthy of being given to a stone, statue, a cross, a triangle, Krishna, Guru, Buddha, Mahatma, Sun, Moon (not to that from Korea too!), Light, Fire, rivers, cows, Rama, Temples, Saints, Priests, Monks, etc.!!! All are created beings or things.

Allah is the Name of the One True God. His Name is not chosen by man and does not have a number or gender. It is known that Allah is the Name of God in Aramaic, the language of our beloved Prophet Jesus and a sister language of Arabic. The Name "Allah" has been used by all previous Prophets starting with Adam and by the last and final Prophet, Muhammad (Peace be upon them all).

The Innate Nature in man recognizes what is good and bad, what is true and false. It recognizes that the Attributes of Allah must be True, Unique, and All Perfect. It does not feel comfortable towards any kind of degradation of His Attributes. Many who became "discontent with God" did so because of the practices of the Church in medieval Europe and because of the claims of "god dwelling in a son" and the concept of the "original sin".

However, they "escaped" into worshipping a new theory called "mother nature" as well as the "material" World. With the advancement of materialistic technology others from different religions adopted the concept of "forgetting about God" and "let us live this life and enjoy it!” not realizing that they have chosen the worship of the "original god" of Rome: Desire! As a result, the "enjoyment" is turning to "suffering" from AIDS.

Now we can see that all of this materialistic and secular progress produced a spiritual vacuum that led to complex social, economical, political, and psychological problems. Many of those who "fled" their "religions" are in search again. Some try to "escape" the complexity of their daily lives via various means.

Those who had the chance to examine the Qur'an and Islam, proceed with a complete way of life that relates man to establish a purpose for his presence on earth. This is well recognized in the Attributes of Allah and what does He require from man. He does not want man to be enslaved to any false deity: nature, drugs, lust, money, other man, desire, or sex. He provides man with the proofs that He is the One who can redeem so that man can free himself from the slavery to any form of creation and to turn to his Creator Alone.

This Creator Has Perfect Attributes. He is the First; nothing is before Him, the Ever Living. To Him is the Final Return where everyone will be dealt with in the Most Perfect and Just way. He does not beget nor is He begotten.

Those who attribute Divinity to Jesus forget or ignore the fact that Jesus was in a mother's womb. He needed nutrition; he was born and grew up to be a man. He was trusted with the Gospel as a Message to the Children of Israel: "For there is One God and one mediator (i.e. a messenger) between God and men (the Children of Israel), the man Christ Jesus) (I Timothy 2:5). A man-messenger calling his nation not to worship him: "But in vain they do worship me!" (Mathew 15:9). A man who needs to eat, walk, sleep, rest, etc... cannot have Divine Attributes because he is in need and God (Allah) is Self-Sufficient.

As far as Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Marxism, and Capitalism, there is the devotion of worshipping created being/things in one form or another. Jews had attributed a "Nationalistic" belonging to Allah. They labeled Him "The Tribal God" for the Children of Israel. Men and women following these "religions" were born with the natural inclination of submission to their Creator, Allah. Their parents had driven them into their respective traditions.

However, once people are exposed to the Signs of Allah around them, or in the Qur'an or to someone who triggers their Fitra (natural inclination to worship Allah Alone), the reverting process begins and that is why we see a universal spreading of Islam.

In the West and despite the many distortions of Islam in the Media, many admit that Islam may be the fastest growing Faith. No sense of fairness can be achieved without a genuine attempt to know the Word of Allah in the Qur'an and not on the 30-min-Evening News. This is the challenge for those who seek the Truth.

Man is created for a purpose: to live a life in accordance with Allah's way. Why Not? Do we possess the air we breathe? Did we create others or ourselves? Or were we ourselves the Creators? We are limited and weak. So is our right to ignore our Creator where we all need Him?

Islam is the submission in worship to Allah Alone and it is the essence of all the Messages sent to all nations before us. Allah is All-Just and All-Wise. He does not intend confusion for His Creation. The religion accepted to Him is the one chosen by Him. Its essence must be One, because He is One. It is free from geographical, racist, and status oriented concepts. It is perfect and it is the complete way of life.

Allah in His Only Religion chooses all these qualities: Islam. Its details are in the Qur'an, read it and come with an open heart because none can expose better than the Word of Allah. The Qur'an was revealed to Prophet Muhammad. He did not author it. He was unlettered.

Concept of Worship in Islam [1]

Meaning.

Most people regarded Worship limited to performing ritualistic acts such as Solah, Fasting, Zakah, Hajj. This is only true only as one part of the meaning of worship in Islam. The traditional definition of worship in Islam is more comprehensive which encompasses all espects of individual's thoughts, deeds, actions, and daily activities.

Worship includes everything one says or does for the pleasure of Allah. This 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 Muhammad SAW 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" [Surah Al-Anam, 6:162-163]

The natural result of this submission is that all of 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 or subscribe their espects of life according to its teachings which is could only accepted by Allah SWT. This might be strange in fact invalid for some people who sought to think of that religion as a personal matter of relationship between the individual and God, having no impact on one's activities and outside rituals.

In 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 neighbors from among the People of the Book who were arguing with them about the change of the direction of the Qiblah [the direction in which Muslims pray] 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 his 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. [Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:177]

The deeds in the above verse are the deeds of righteousness and they are only a part of worship. The Prophet SAW 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 [That 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 SAW 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 SAW told his companions "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 SAW 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 SAW 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. Not only are this, but even the acts we enjoy doing very much considered worship when they are performed according to the instructions of the Prophet SAW. He told his companions that they would 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 SAW asked them, "Suppose you satisfy your desires illegally; don't you think 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 a sin only when it is satisfied outside marital life.

It is clear 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 in 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 Allah 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 observed by his superiors or is alone. There is always the permanent supervisor, who knows everything: Allah.

Discussing the non-ritual worship in Islam first does not mean under evaluating the importance of the ritual worship. 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 Allah. 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." [Surah Al-Fatihah, 1:5-6]. 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." [Surah Al-Mu'minun, 31: 2]

The same fact has been emphasized by the Prophet Muhammad SAW 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 [Mandotaory charity] is an important pillar of Islam. In the Qur'an, Salah and Zakah 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. What men possess is a trust in their hands to discharge as God has laid down:

“Believe in Allah and His messenger and spend of that over which He has made you trustees.” [Surah Al-Hadid, 57:7]

In this respect, Zakah is an act of devotion that, like prayer, brings the believer nearer to his Lord.

Apart from this, Zakah is a means of redistribution of wealth in a way that contributes to social stability, providing a means of survival for those who have not, and reminding those who are wealthy that what they have is a trust from God. By purging the soul of the rich from selfishness, and the soul of the poor from resentment against society, Zakah blocks 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 generous feelings of the rich: it stands on a firmly based right of the destitute, which, if denied by those holding the wealth, would be exacted by force, if necessary.

Siyam [fasting during 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 Syariah (Islamic law) 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:

"O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may gain piety." [Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:183]

In an authentic hadith, the Prophet SAW 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 overworked human machine for the duration of one 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 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:

"In addition, he that venerates the sacred things of God, it shall be better for him with his Lord." [Surah Al-Hajj, 22:30]

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. Their One God has set the time and venue of this congress. 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, guide the individual in such a way that one loves his Creator most and thereby gains an unyielding will and spirit to wipe out all evil and oppression from human society and make the word of God dominant in the world.

[ StudyIslam]