Ibadah in Islam is the purification of man's soul and his practical life. The basis of 'Ibadah is the fact that human beings are creatures and thus bond -servants of Allah, their Creator and their Lord, to Whom they are destined to return. Thus Man's turning towards Allah, in intimate communion, reverence, and in the spirit of devotion and humble submission, is termed 'Ibadah.
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, thus rendering the intercession of intermediaries unnecessary. Religious scholars in Islam, it may be pointed out, are neither intermediaries between man and Allah nor are Muslims considered to be entitled to accept or reject acts of worship on behalf of Allah. Instead, Muslims are equal to ordinary human beings in the sight of Allah. Rather, Muslims have been burdened with the additional duty of imparting knowledge to those who lack knowledge. Muslims will be deemed guilty if they hold it back from the seekers after knowledge. In other words, the Islamic Shari’ah does not impose the domination of religious scholars on the rest of the people. The function of these scholars is merely to guide people in the right direction. This is amply borne out by what Allah said to our Prophet, Nabi Muhammad in Surah 88: verses 21 – 22. Our Prophet (peace be on him) also addressed the following words to his own daughter Fatimah, which show that all human beings stand on a footing of complete equality before Allah: ‘O Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad; I shall be of no help to you before Allah’.
Secondly, Islam has not only liberated man’s Ibadah from the bondage of intermediaries; it has also liberated it from confinement to specific places. Islam regards every place - whether it is one’s dwelling place, the back of an animal, the board of a vessel on the surface of the sea, or a mosque specifically built for worship - as pure enough for the performance of worship. Wherever a man might be, he can turn towards ALLAH and offer his prayers to Him. The Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h) had expressed this idea beautifully: ‘the (whole of the) earth has been rendered for me a mosque; pure and clean’.
Thirdly, Islam has also considerably widened the scope of worship. In Islam, worship is not confined to specified prayers and litanies which are to be performed on particular occasions. Rather, Islam considers every virtuous action which has been sincerely performed and with the view to carry out the commandments of Allah and in order to seek His pleasure, an act of worship for which man will be rewarded. The fact is that even eating, drinking, sleeping and enjoyment of innocent recreation, even those worldly actions which satisfy man’s physical needs and even yield sensuous pleasures, become acts of worship provided they are performed with true religious motives. Yes, even those acts become acts of worship if the intention underlying them is to comply with the Will of Allah: that is, if one tries to satisfy one’s needs within legitimate means so as to keep oneself in check against indulging in things which are prohibited. It is also an act of worship to try to strengthen one’s body by providing it with its due of nourishment and sleep; by making it undertake exertion as well as giving it rest and recreation so as to enable it to shoulder the responsibilities which have been placed on man by Allah. In fact, if one does all that with the above mentioned intention, one’s action would be in harmony with the following saying of our Prophet (peace be upon him): ‘A believer who is possessed of strength is better and dearer to Allah than a believer who is weak’. In short, it is simply by purification of motives that the actions which are part of worldly life become acts of devotion and worship.
Thus, it is possible that a man should advance spiritually even while he is fully enjoying the pleasures of worldly life. The reason is that during all this enjoyment his heart will be in communion with Allah by virtue of the purity of his intentions, and owing to his having yoked himself completely to the service of Allah. It will enable him to remain perpetually in the state of submission, obedience and devotion to Allah - even during his working pursuits - and this is the very essence of worship.
For Islam, unlike other religions, does not anathematize gratification of man’s instinctive bodily appetites. Islam does not even consider abstention from the satisfaction of these desires to be in any way an act of greater piety and virtue than satisfying them. Islam wants man to enjoy the pleasures and good things of life provided he does not transgress the limits of legitimacy or the rights of others, nor trample upon moral excellence, nor injure the larger interests of society.
There is a profound wisdom and an important reason for this extension of the scope of worship. The reason is that Islam wants man’s heart to remain in perpetual contact with his Lord. Islam also wants that man should observe ceaseless vigilance over his desires so that his life may become a source of his welfare in the life to come as the Qur’an says:
“But seek with that (wealth) which Allah has bestowed on you, the home of the Hereafter, and forget not your portion of lawful enjoyment in this world; and do good as Allah has been good to you, and seek not mischief in the land. Verily, Allah likes not the Mufsidun (those who commit great crimes and sins, oppressors, tyrants, mischief-makers, corrupters).”(Qur’an, 28:77).
Now, when a person knows that even his enjoyments and pleasures can become acts of worship merely by virtue of purity of intention and motive, it becomes easy for him to render obedience to Allah continually and to direct all his attention in seeking divine pleasure. For he knows well that this devotion to Allah does not necessarily mean abandonment of worldly life, misery and wretchedness.
What does good intention lead to? It will prevent man from forgetting Allah because of excessive self-indulgence. The Holy Prophet said that (even) when a person affectionately puts a piece of food in the mouth of his wife in order to strengthen bonds of matrimonial love, he is rewarded for it. This is understandable for he is trying to fulfil the purpose of living together with love and affection, the purpose which, as the Qur’an says is the raison d'être of family life.
“And among His Signs is this, that He created for you wives from among yourselves, that you may find repose in them, and He has put between you affection and mercy. Verily, in that are indeed signs for a people who reflect“. (Qur’an, 30:21).
No comments:
Post a Comment