Worship is the essence of mankind’s creation:

“And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.” [Qur’an 51:56]

However worship in Islam is not limited to performing some established rituals only. In Islam the concept of worship revolve around the following:

• Monotheistic faith (or ‘Iman’ as commonly known in Arabic).
• Obedience to both Allah and His Messenger.
• Doing good deeds.

Faith

Faith (Iman) means belief and conviction i.e. to be convinced beyond doubt that something is real and true. It is this belief and conviction that will spur man to the right path e.g. without belief and conviction that there is only one God who is the creator, ruler and sustainer of this universe and that there is none else that shares with Him any of His divine powers and authority, one may fall a prey to false gods. Similarly, if a man has conviction that Allah is Omniscient and knows everything that we do in public or in private then he cannot afford to be indulgent and disobedient. He will feel that he is under eternal vigil and will, therefore, behave in the most appropriate way.

In the same way, belief and conviction of life after death is essential to spur conscience that death does not mean the end of life; and that one day every one will be brought to the highest court of justice where justice will prevail; and that good deeds will be rewarded and misdeeds punished. Everybody will get his due and there will be no escape.

The sense of responsibility and accountability developed due to faith is therefore essential for living a life in obedience. Faith (Iman) has many branches and comprises of believing in:

• One God Only, without associating anyone with Him.
• All the Prophets who were sent by God.
• All the Holy Books sent by God.
• The day of resurrection.
• The Angels.
• Destiny.

However the ultimate and uppermost branch is worshipping God (Allah) alone without associating anyone with Him. Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:

“Iman (faith) has sixty odd or seventy odd branches. The uppermost of all these is the Testimony of Faith: ‘La ilaha illallah’ (there is no true god except Allah) while the least of them is the removal of harmful object from the road. And shyness is a branch of Iman (faith).” [Bukhari #683]

According to Islamic ideology it is very essential to have a correct concept of faith regarding One God, because without this other deeds become futile. To explain this Allah mentions in Qur’an some great Prophets like Ibrahim, Ishaq, Yaqoob, Nooh, Dawood, Sulaiman, Ayub, Yousuf, Musa, Haroon, Zakariya, Yahya, Ismail, Yasa`a, Younus and Loot (may Allah be pleased with them all), and says:

“If they had associated others (with Him), all that they did would be vain for them” [Qur’an 6:88]

Even the last Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) is not exempted.

“And indeed it has been revealed to you (O Muhammad ﷺ), as it was to those (Allah’s Messengers) before you: “If you join others in worship with Allah, (then) surely (all) your deeds will be in vain, and you will certainly be among the losers.” [Qur’an 39:65]

Associating others with Allah is something that nullifies everything else. If one does not repent from this during his life time and dies like that then it becomes as unpardonable sin.

“Verily, Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with him in worship, but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He pleases, and whoever sets up partners with Allah in worship, he has indeed invented a tremendous sin.” [Qur’an 4:48]

Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) warned about seven serious offenses saying: “Avoid the seven noxious things.” It was said (by the hearers): What are they, Messenger of Allah? He replied:

“Associating anything with Allah, magic, killing of one whom God has declared inviolate without a just cause, consuming the property of an orphan, and consuming of usury, turning back when the army advances, and slandering chaste women who are believers, but unwary.” [Muslim #168]

On the other hand the advantages of not associating anyone with Allah (God) have also been mentioned by the Prophet. Messenger of Allah said:

“Indeed Allah will distinguish a man from my Ummah before all of creation on the Day of Judgement. Ninety-nine scrolls will be laid out for him, each scroll is as far as the eye can see, then He will say: ‘Do you deny any of this? Have those who recorded this wronged you?’ He will say: ‘No, O Lord!’ He will say: Do you have an excuse?’ He will say: ‘No, O Lord!’ So He will say: ‘Rather you have a good deed with us, so you shall not be wronged today.” Then He will bring out a card (Bitaqah); on it will be: “I testify to La Ilaha Illallah, and I testify that Muhammad (ﷺ) is His servant and Messenger.” He will say: ‘Bring your scales.’ He will say: ‘O Lord! What good is this card next to these scrolls?’ He will say: ‘You shall not be wronged.’ He said: ‘The scrolls will be put on a pan (of the scale), and the card on (the other) pan: the scrolls will be light, and the card will be heavy, nothing is heavier than the Name of Allah.'” [Tirmidhi #2639]

Thus the Islamic concept of worship and doing good deeds is based on the concept of pure monotheism, without which the deeds are vain.

Obedience to Allah and His Messenger

“O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except in submission to Him. And hold fast, all together, by the rope of Allah and be not divided among yourselves” [Qur’an 3:102,103]

Fearing God (Allah) means to follow all what He has ordered and to abstain from all what He has forbidden. The method through which this can be achieved is by holding fast the rope of Allah i.e. the book of Allah (Qur’an), the guidance and covenant that a Muslim needs to abide by. Qur’an itself then orders to follow the way of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and to submit to his teachings and commands.

The obligation to follow the Prophet has been mentioned at many places in the Qur’an. Some references in this context are as under:

“We sent not any Messenger, but to be obeyed, in accordance with the will of Allah.” [Qur’an 4:64]

“And whatsoever the Messenger gives you, take it, and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it).” [Qur’an 59:7]

“Obey Allah and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you, If you differ in anything among yourselves refer it to Allah and His Messenger, if you do believe in Allah and the last day, that is best and most suitable for final determination.” [Qur’an 4:59]

“It is not fitting for a believer, man or woman when a matter has been decided by Allah and His Messenger to have any option in their decision. If anyone disobeys Allah and His apostle, he is indeed on a clearly wrong path.” [Qur’an 33:36]

“But no, By the Lord, they can have no Faith, until they make you (Muhammad ﷺ) judge in all disputes between them, and find in their souls no resistance against your decisions, but accept them with the fullest conviction.” [Qur’an 4:65]

“Say (O Muhammad ﷺ), If you do love Allah, follow me.” [Qur’an 3:31]

“He who obeys the Messenger (Muhammad ﷺ) obeys Allah.” [Qur’an 4:80]

We cannot exclude the traditions and regulations (i.e. Sunnah) established by the Prophet while interpreting and following the commandments of the Qur’an. This was warned by the Prophet himself when he said:

“Beware! I have been given the Qur’an and something like it, yet the time is coming when a man replete on his couch will say: Keep to the Qur’an; what you find in it to be permissible treat as permissible, and what you find in it to be prohibited treat as prohibited. Beware! It is not permissible for you to eat the meat of a domestic donkey (perhaps indicating that this directive cannot be inferred from the Qur’an only).” [Abu Dawud #4604]

Same was proclaimed by all renowned scholars of the past e.g.

Imam Abu Hanifa:

“O people don’t interpret religion by your own thinking and absolutely follow the Sunnah, for whosoever goes away from it goes astray!”

“People will try to interpret religion without Ahaadith (traditions and sayings of the Prophet), then they will develop trouble among themselves …” [Aqdul Jayyed & Meezan by Shairani]

Imam Malik:

“Being a human being my sayings can be right or wrong so take those to follow which are in accordance with the Qur’an and the Hadith (traditions and sayings of the Prophet), and leave those which are against it.” [Ref: Jaame by Ibne Abdul Bar]

Imam Sha’fi:

“If anyone finds something against the Sunnah, it should be left and Hadith / Sunnah should be followed.” [Ref: said by Ibne Asakar and Ibne Qaym]

Imam Ahmed:

“Don’t be my muqallid (person who follows someone without reasoning) or of Imam Maalik, Shaafi, Auzai or Imam Nawawi. Take the orders (regarding religious issues) from where these Imams have taken (i.e. Qur’an and Hadith).” [Ref: said by Fulani]

Had Muslims followed the correct concept of obedience and worship, they would not have created divisions amongst themselves and would have prevented their global downfall which was warned to them in the following verse of the Qur’an:

 “Obey Allah and His Messenger, and do not dispute, lest you lose courage and your strength departs.” [Qur’an 8:46]

Though the guidance was clear but personal ego (I am always right!) and jealousy dominated it.

“Mankind was one community (before their deviation); and Allah sent the prophets as bringers of good tidings and warners and sent down with them the Scripture in truth to judge between the people concerning that in which they differed. And none differed over the Scripture except those who were given it – after the clear proofs came to them – out of jealous animosity among themselves.” [Qur’an 2:213]

And yet some subscribe to the concept of blindly following scholars which their forefathers chose for them (“Taqleed” as it is commonly known). This is equally condemned in Islamic legislation.

“They have taken their scholars and monks as lords besides Allah” [Qur’an 9:31]

Narrated ‘Adi bin Hatim:

“I came to the Prophet (ﷺ) while I had a cross of gold around my neck. He said: O ‘Adi! Remove this idol from yourself! And I heard him reciting from Surah Bara’ah: They took their rabbis and monks as lords besides Allah (9:31). He said: As for them, they did not worship them, but when they made something lawful for them, they considered it lawful, and when they made something unlawful for them, they considered it unlawful.” [Tirmidhi #3095]

To blindly follow scholars, so as to consider lawful what they declare lawful and to consider unlawful what they declare unlawful, is like honoring them the status of being lords.

“Have they other deities who have ordained for them a religion to which Allah has not consented?” [Qur’an 42:21]

Good Deeds

Good deeds are of two types, those that are related to Islamic customs and rituals and those that are not. Regardless of the type, one basic prerequisite is that in order to earn reward, good deeds need to be done for pleasing God (Allah) alone and not for showing off. Messenger of Allah said:

“Verily, the thing that I fear most for you is Shirk ul-Asghar (the minor polytheism). They (his companions) said: And what is Shirk ul-Asghar, O Messenger of Allah? He said: Ar-Riyaa’ (showing off) – Allah will say to them on the Day of Judgement, when the mankind are recompensed for their deeds: Go to those whom you used to show off your deeds to in the worldly life, then see, if you can find any reward with them.” [Musnad Ahmad #23630]

Deeds that are not related to Islamic rituals can be done in any way as long as they are beneficial to humanity and do not violate any Islamic directive e.g. offering free cold drinks on a hot day in order to please God is a good deed but offering free alcoholic drinks is not considered a good deed because it is in violation of the Islamic law that prohibits alcoholic / intoxicating drinks.

On the other hand deeds related to Islamic customs and rituals are supposed to be done in accordance with the teachings of Allah (in the Qur’an) and the Prophet (Sunnah, as explained above in the earlier part of this article). In order to be considered as good deeds, it is necessary that Islamic customs and rituals are carried out as taught by the Prophet. Any innovation in this regard is not acceptable, Allah says:

 “Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and make not your deeds vain!” [Qur’an 47:33]

 The Prophet said:

“He who innovates something in this matter of ours, which is not of it, is rejected” [Bukhari #2697]

 “He who did any act, for which there is no sanction from our behalf, is to be rejected.” [Muslim #1718]