The Vision of Islam

The Essence of Religion been previously unacquainted. Similarly, if in this life you have not previously passed through phases of feeling yourself to be nearer to God than to all others, how can you expect proximity with God in the Hereafter? Surely, prayer deserves such a great reward as will cool the eyes of the worshippers in the Hereafter. But this reward will be shared only by those who had known in the world such prayers as had been alluded to by the Prophet: “I found the balm of my eyes in worship” (Nasai). The Demands of Worship What God desires of man, first and foremost, is that he display humility in His presence. It is this attitude which is called worship. But man has not been created in a vacuum; he has rather been placed in a world full of diverse circumstances. It is necessary that this spirit of worship should be evinced, no matter what circumstances he faces in this world. 1. The first aspect of this relates to his own person. In the course of normal living, whenever he is faced with two options, one path leading to God and the other leading to self, his spirit of worship compels him at that point to renounce the latter path and take the one which is pointed out to him by God. This happens when he has surrendered his being in all respects, in the physical as well as the spiritual, before the God to whom he has already bowed psychologically. This manifestation of worship is related to one’s own self, another name for which is submission. Occasions for such submission will occur at home, in the office, in the market, and in all other such places where the faithful may be faced with making a choice between godly and ungodly ways. 2. The second aspect of worship relates to the external world, that is, to non-Muslims. The precarious conditions of all those inhabitants of this world who have not yet