SEMESTER FALL 2012
ISLAMIC STUDIES (ISL 201)
ASSIGNMENT NO. 02
DUE DATE: 17TH JANUARY 2013
MARKS: 30
ASSIGNMENT:
Concept of Worship
Allah (SWT) is our creator and He knows better about our purpose of creation. In His Holy book Quran e Majeed; He (SWT) guides us about our purpose of creation by saying:
﴿الذاريات : ٥٦ ﴾ وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الجِْ ن وَالْإِنسَ إِلا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
“And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me”.
So, it is proven that the basic purpose of our creation is to worship Allah (SWT).
On the other hand, when we go through the lives of Muslims; not only the common Muslims but also the lives of Holy Prophet (PBUH) and His companions (R.A), they seem to be involved in worldly affairs in addition to “Ibadah”. They spent most of their time in relation with humans as parents, spouse, neighbours, and friends. They are also involved in different professions for earning their livelihood.
You are required to:
1. Explain the true concept of Worship.
2. Narrate the actions and deeds which are included in Worship.
Solution:
ISLAMIC STUDIES (ISL 201)
ASSIGNMENT NO. 02
DUE DATE: 17TH JANUARY 2013
MARKS: 30
ASSIGNMENT:
Concept of Worship
Allah (SWT) is our creator and He knows better about our purpose of creation. In His Holy book Quran e Majeed; He (SWT) guides us about our purpose of creation by saying:
﴿الذاريات : ٥٦ ﴾ وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الجِْ ن وَالْإِنسَ إِلا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
“And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me”.
So, it is proven that the basic purpose of our creation is to worship Allah (SWT).
On the other hand, when we go through the lives of Muslims; not only the common Muslims but also the lives of Holy Prophet (PBUH) and His companions (R.A), they seem to be involved in worldly affairs in addition to “Ibadah”. They spent most of their time in relation with humans as parents, spouse, neighbours, and friends. They are also involved in different professions for earning their livelihood.
You are required to:
1. Explain the true concept of Worship.
2. Narrate the actions and deeds which are included in Worship.
Solution:
1. Explain the true concept of Worship.
The word used by the Holy Qur'an for the worship
is "Ibadah" which has a much wider sense than "worship". In English,
the word "worship" normally indicates to some specific acts or rituals
meant exclusively to show one's reverence to his Creator. But the word
"ibadah' is not restricted to such acts or rituals, rather, it embodies
any act done in submission to Allah's commands and to seek His
pleasures. Therefore, many acts which seem to be mundane in nature are
included in the word of ‘ `ibadah’ like earning one's livelihood through
halal (permissible) means and in order to fulfill one's obligations
towards his dependants.
"I am God, there is no other God but Me. You shall worship Me and observe the 'Salat' (Contact Prayer) to commemorate Me" 20:14
These
sacred words, which speak of Worship and Prayer independently, indicate
that these two acts are not the same. If the act of worship was
primarily an act of prayer and nothing else, God would not say "worship
Me" AND "observe the salat". The word AND indicates that there is more
to worship than just praying.
While as the Contact
Prayer is a specific ritual decreed for specific times of the day, the
act of Worship on the other hand is an uninterrupted state of the mind,
body and soul. It is an exalted spiritual level of existence and
invaluable nourishment for our souls. Without the act of Worship,
consecrated exclusively to God alone, one is unable to attain true
happiness. Our physical bodies, by merely submitting to God's will, are
in a perpetual state of worship. All our body organs and tissues are
ordained to function in a meticulous pre-ordained manner designed by God
and over which we have no control whatsoever. They are in a ceaseless
state of submission to the will of God. However, our souls are given the
freedom of choice. If our souls choose the same route as our ordained
bodies, harmony will be struck between body and soul, the reward of
which will be true happiness. On the other hand if our souls are
rebellious, unappreciative or egoistic and elect not to worship God, we
will never attain true happiness no matter how much material fortune we
may posses.
The Quran, being a fully detailed
book, provides the believers with the answer to the questions: Whom
should we worship? Whom should we not worship? and, how should we
worship?
Most believers will be quite offended by
the first question. They will say 'Of course we worship God!' However,
the Quran indicates that the human being worships what or whoever
occupies his mind most of the time.
...........................
Worship
is an indispensable part of all religions. It is motivated in each
religion by different objectives, assumes different forms and is
performed under different set of rules.
In some
religions worship is a means to develop in man the attitude of harshness
and isolation from life. In these religions , Ibadah or worship , seeks
to develop a mentality which makes the enjoyment of the pleasures of
this world as hateful and sinful thing. There are also other religions
which designate certain places for the sake of worship and prohibit its
performance at any other place. There are also religions where worship
can be performed only under the leadership of the ordained priests or
monks. Therefore, people may perform worship under the leadership of
priests and only at the place devoted for it.
As
Muslims, we say every time we pray while reciting Al-Fatiha " You alone
we worship . Our Salah is part of our Ibadah to Allah. Ibadah according
to Islam , is a mean for the purification of man’s soul and his practical life of sin and wickedness.
In Islam,
the concept of worship is related to its fundamental view that the true
foundations of a good life are soundness of belief and thinking, purity
of soul, and righteousness of action.
Through Tawheed, or the belief in the oneness of God , Islam seeks to cleanse human intellect of the filth of idolatry and superstitious conceptions.
Islam
fights against idolatry and polytheism in whichever forms and to
whatever extent they may be found. For example, Islam does not permit
the performance of Salah in front of a tomb, nor does it permit a person
to swear in the name of anyone except Allah.
When
Caliph Omar saw that some Muslims began to sanctify the tree under
which the Companions had pledged to lay down their lives in the way of
Allah on the occasion of Hudaybiyah, he had it cut down because he
feared that the sanctification of that tree might corrupt the beliefs of
the people.
Worship in Islam has distinctive characteristic features which are as follows:
Freedom from Intermediaries
First
of all, Islam has liberated "worship" from the bondage of
intermediaries between man and his Creator. Islam seeks to create a
direct link between man and his Lord. There is no need to the
intercession of any intermediaries.
Religious
scholars in Islam are not intermediaries between man and God nor they
are considered to be entitled to accept or reject acts of worship on
behalf of God. They are equal to ordinary human beings in the sight of
God.
Rather, they have been burdened with the
additional duty of providing knowledge to those who lack knowledge. They
will be deemed guilty if they hold knowledge back from those who seek
it.
The Islamic Shariah does not impose the
domination of religious scholars on the rest of the people. The function
and the duty of Allah said to the Prophet:
"Remind them , for you are but to make them remember, you are not at all dominant over them." 88/21.22 "
The Prophet also said to his own daughter Fatima: O Fatima , daughter of Muhammad: I shall be of no help to you before Allah.
This shows that all human beings stand on a footing of complete equality before God.
