WORSHIP IN ISLAM

WORSHIP IN ISLAM Connect to God G OD has stated in the Quran: “I only created mankind and the Jinn that they might worship Me.” (51: 56). According to Islam, the principal goal of life on this earth, from day one, is for human beings to show profound reverence for their Creator. The individual who lives for worship has fulfilled the purpose of his life. Conversely, one who does not lead a life of self-dedication to God has become derailed. What is worship? Worship, the equivalent to devotion, means giving oneself up wholly to God: it means surrendering oneself in both the physical and the intellectual sense. In Islam, there are four practices which are important and complementary aspects of ibadat (worship): namaz (prayer), sawm (fasting), hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca) and zakat (alms-giving). These four forms of worship symbolise the nature of the extended worship required of human beings throughout their lives. Namaz, for instance, conditions human beings in modesty—a quality which gives a proper religious hue to all spheres of human existence. Similarly, fasting inculcates patience, a virtue without which there can be no peace on earth. No less important is zakat, which is a gesture of well-wishing for humanity at large. Hajj, while affording spiritual benefit to the individual, aims at the uniting of all of God’s servants under the banner of His religion. Each of these categories of obligatory worship has a form as well as a spirit; just as the human being has a body as well as a soul—the one being inseparable from the other. The essence of each of these separate rites of Islamic worship is their spirit rather than their form. On namaz the Quran is explicit: “Successful indeed are the believers who are humble in their prayers.” (23: 1-2) On the subject of fasting, we learn from a Hadith that the one who fasts, but who does not at the same time give up telling lies or practising other forms of deceit, is not truly fasting in the religious sense of the term, but is merely experiencing hunger and thirst. Similarly, with regard to animal sacrifice, the Quran says: “Their flesh and blood do not reach God; it is your piety which reaches Him.” (22: 37). Namaz (prayer), conditions human beings in modesty, fasting inculcates patience, a virtue without which there can be no peace on earth. Zakat is a gesture of wellwishing for humanity at large.