Every Act is Worship
In the Islamic system, each and every human act can be
transformed into an act of worship. In fact, God commands the believers to
dedicate their whole lives to Him. In the Quran, God says:
“Say: ‘Surely my prayer, my sacrifice, my living and my dying
are for God, the Lord of all the worlds.’” (Quran 6:162)
However, for that dedication to be acceptable to God,
each act must fulfill two basic conditions:
1. First, the act must be done sincerely for the
pleasure of God and not for the recognition and praise of human beings. The
believer also has to be conscious of God while doing the deed to insure that it
is not something forbidden by God or the last Messenger, may the mercy and
blessings of God be upon him.
In order to facilitate this transformation of mundane
deeds into worship, God instructed the last Prophet, may the mercy and
blessings of God be upon him, to prescribe short prayers to be said before even
the simplest of acts. The shortest prayer which may be used for any circumstance
is: Bismillaah (In the name of God). There are, however, many other prayers
prescribed for specific occasions. For example, whenever a new piece of
clothing is worn, the Prophet, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him,
taught his followers to say:
“O God, thanks is due to You, for it is You who has
clothed me. I ask You for its benefit and the benefit for which it was made,
and seek refuge in You from its evil and the evil for which it was made.” (An-Nasa’i)
2. The second condition is that the act be done
in accordance with the prophetic way, called in Arabic the Sunnah. All of the
prophets instructed their followers to follow their way because they were
guided by God. What they taught were divinely revealed truths, and only those
who followed their way and accepted the truths would inherit eternal life in
paradise. It is in this context that Prophet Jesus, may the peace and
blessings of God be upon him, was reported in the Gospel according to John 14:6,
as saying:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man
cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Similarly, Abdullaah ibn Mas’ood related…
“One day Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and
blessings of God be upon him, drew a line in the sand for them and said, “This
is God’s path.” He then drew several lines [branching off] to the right and to
the left and said, “These are the paths [of misguidance] on each of which is a
devil inviting people to follow it.” He then recited the verse: ‘Verily, this
is my path, leading straight, so follow it. And do not follow the [other]
paths for they will scatter you about from God’s path. That is His command to
you in order that you may be conscious of God.’” (Ahmed)
Thus, the only acceptable way to worship God is
according to the way of the prophets. That being the case, innovation in
religious affairs would be considered by God among the worst of all evils. Prophet
Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, was reported to have
said,
“The worst of all affairs is innovation in
religion, for every religious innovation is a cursed, misleading innovation
leading to the hellfire.” (An-Nasa’i)
Innovation in the religion is forbidden and unacceptable
to God. The Prophet [may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him] was also
reported by his wife, Aa’ishah, to have said:
“He who innovates something in our religion, that
is not of it, will have it rejected.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)
It is fundamentally due to innovations that the messages
of the earlier prophets were distorted and the many false religions in
existence today evolved. The general rule to follow in order to avoid
innovation in religion is that all forms of worship are prohibited, except
those which have been specifically prescribed by God and conveyed to humans by
the true messengers of God.
The Best of Creation
Those who believe in One Unique God, without partners or
offspring, and do righteous deeds [according to the above-mentioned principles]
become the crown of creation. That is, although humankind is not the greatest
creation of God, they have the potential to become the best of His creation. In
the final revelation, God states this fact as follows:
“Surely, those who believe and do righteous deeds are the best
of creation.” (Quran 98:7)
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