Attributes of Men and Women

from time to time—dominated as one is by the self—but the effect of one’s wrongdoing will not be irreversible if one at once turns to God and repents one’s misdeeds. This repentance acknowledges God’s greatness as compared to man’s insignificance. Those who are genuinely repentant find the greatest favour in God’s eyes. Worship: ‘Ibadah Ibadah or worship is the act performed to acknowledge supernatural exaltedness. It is familiarly known as worship, and its object should be none other than the Almighty God. Believing men and women worship God and God alone. Itinerancy: Travelling for God’s Cause Itinerancy, or travelling for God’s cause, is an important part of Islamic teachings. The virtues of undertaking journeys for God’s cause are best explained in the hadith recorded by Abu Dawud: ‘According to Abu Umamah, a certain individual once asked the Prophet’s permission to become a dervish. The Prophet replied that the dervishism of his ‘Ummah (community) meant struggling in the path of God.’ (Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith No. 2486) Travelling for the cause of God includes, according to Imam Raghib Asfahani, taking such action for His sake as necessitated moving about from one place to another. Examples of such travel are covering long distances to acquire a knowledge of religion, emigrating for the sake of religion; visiting scenes of natural beauty or places of