THE ESSENCE OF RELIGION—PART I

THE ESSENCE OF RELIGION—PART I Worship of God The only true religion in God’s sight is complete submission to God. And those who were given the Book disagreed only out of rivalry, after knowledge had been given to them—he who denies God’s signs should know that God is swift in His reckoning. (THE QURAN 3: 19) WORSHIP: What God most earnestly desires from human beings is worship. The Quran says: ‘I have not created jinn2 and mankind except to worship Me.’ (51: 56) There are numerous such verses in the Quran which elaborate on how the prophets were sent for this very purpose, that is, to warn or to remind man of this responsibility (16: 36). This is so important a matter that if a man cannot find opportunities for worship in his own country, he is enjoined to leave it for some other place (4: 97). The dictionary defines worship as bowing before someone and humbling oneself. According to the Lisan al Arab (The Arabic Dictionary), ‘The essence of worship is fearfulness and humility’. That is why the Quran uses the word ‘arrogance’ as the antonym of worship. It says, ‘Those who are too arrogant to worship Me will certainly enter Hell.’ (40: 60) Although worship’s real connotations are humility and fearfulness, when the word is used in relation to God, it also includes the concept of love. In the Islamic Shariah (moral code and religious law of Islam) the word worship is used to express a condition of extreme love coupled with extreme humility and apprehension. The essence of worship then is the adoption of an attitude of humility before God. In the Quran, this is expressed by different Arabic words in many verses. Enshrined in each of these words is the concept of Godconsciousness. To worship God means utter prostration of oneself before Him. The Being before whom the act of worship is performed is no tyrant or tormentor but an extremely kind and compassionate Being, to whom we owe limitless blessings. So this expression of lowliness before Him is necessarily tinged with love. The relation of man to God is the relation of extreme humility with an extremely beloved Being. At the very moment when man is shivering In the Islamic Shariah the word worship is used to express a condition of extreme love coupled with extreme humility and apprehension.