Worship in Islam

An In-Depth Study of 'Ibadah, Salah and Sawm

Sayyid Abul A'la Mawdudi, Ahmad Imam Shafaq Hashemi

• Publisher: The Islamic Foundation
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9780860376408
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Islamic Theology

With a focus upon the social dimension of worship Mawdudi's original approach to religious ritual and self-purification considers worship's transformative role in social life, as well as on the spirit. This work offers an illuminating and unique study of the nature and significance of Islamic spirituality by a leading Muslim intellectual from the twentieth century.

PART ONE

SPIRITUALITY AND THE ISLAMIC WAY OF LIFE

1 Islam and Man

Islam is dīn – a way of life and a complete code of conduct, unlike so many other religions. A religion is generally defined as the belief in the existence of God or gods and the activities that are connected with the worship of them. The sets of beliefs, rites and rituals that distinguish one religion from another have hardly any concern with man’s worldly affairs and his life on the planet called Earth. Even the concepts related to the metaphysical world are virtually of no practical worth, and are much beyond the realm of reason and can lead to the traditional conflict between science and religion.

Islam is not a ‘religion’ in its conventional sense, but it is the religion. It is the religion of truth that upholds and promotes everything true and right and rejects and prevents everything false and wrong. It is dīn al-fiṭrah, the religion of nature that is in no conflict with the world of nature or science and offers guidance in all walks of life. It is the science that helps man understand his relationship with his Creator, his assigned role in this physical world of nature and the reward or punishment waiting for him in the Afterlife that he earns by the way he performs his role here. It is the religion to which each and every baby is born. Every newborn is thus a Muslim by birth until such time his parents and guardians convert him to Judaism, Christianity or idol-worship. The holy Prophet, may Allah bless him and give him peace, said:

Abū Hurayrah narrated that the holy Prophet, may Allah bless him and give him peace, said: ‘Every newborn child is born on the religion of nature [Islam]. His parents [and the environment around him] then turn him into a Jew, a Christian or a Magian [adherent of Mazdaism or Zoroastrianism], like the animal that always gives birth to an animal. Do you ever see his newborn offspring physically mutilated?

(Bukhārī and Muslim)

1.1. Man’s Relationship with God

Islam impresses upon humans the importance of their relationship with their Creator and how they must take due care of this relationship, because on its strength or weakness depends the success or failure of their life in this world and in the Hereafter. Islam does not deal with man in isolation but as a bondsman and slave (ʿabd) of his Lord, the Master, Creator, Sustainer and Dispenser of his destiny. It tells him that Allah Most Exalted alone is worthy of his worship (ʿibādah) and He is the sole authority to determine how His bondsman is to worship Him.

Islam is thus the way of life approved by the Lord. Any attempt to turn away from it is a rebellion against Allah, the Most Exalted and Glorified. It is a rebellion against our master and guide the Messenger of Allah as well, because it is only through him that humanity has rediscovered the lost way of happiness and bliss everlasting. No other way of life is now worthy of approval by the Lord:

And whoever seeks a way other than this way of submission – Islam – will find that it will not be accepted from him and he will be among the losers in the Life to Come.

(Āl ʿImrān 3: 85)

Etymologically, the term ‘Islam’ comes from the root s–l–m. The root word al-silm, which is synonymous to Islam, means submission, peace, and safety. Islam may thus be defined as the religion that requires the human being to submit his entire self to the Will of God and thereby to ensure for himself a life of peace and safety in this world as well as in the Hereafter.

Islam is no doctrine or faith that emerged with a particular race, tribe or person. It is the religion, which was revealed by Allah Most Glorified and Exalted to all His Prophets from our master Adam to our master Muhammad, Allah’s blessings and mercy be upon them all. Its sole objective has been to help mankind know right from wrong and virtue from vice and to facilitate everyone coming within its benign embrace to tread the path of true servitude to Allah Most High and thereby attain the happiness of this world and the eternal bliss of the Hereafter. Since no Prophet was to come after our master, the Messenger of Allah, the teachings and injunctions of Islam were meticulously preserved in the form of the holy Qur’an and its commentary the Tradition of the holy Prophet (Sunnah). Under Divine dispensation, humanity can follow so easily the religion of truth for all of its spiritual, moral, and material needs. Islam offers the Muslim man and woman, and society and state guidance in all spheres of life. Practical models of this guidance are available to mankind in the forms of Islamic social order, polity, governance and economy. These are all scientifically preserved and documented in the books of Qur’anic exegesis (tafsīr) Prophetic traditions (hadiths), biography and expeditions of the Messenger of Allah (Sīrah and maghāzī), and Islamic law and jurisprudence (fiqh).

Man has often been called a ‘social animal’. Islam, however, elevates him to the status of a moral being so much distinct and different from all other creatures including the animals. The quality of being ‘social’ is not exclusive with man, for every living being is a social being that evolves its own social pattern, as may be seen even in the tiniest creatures like ants and bees. Man is viewed by Islam as the caliph of the Lord on earth and to be worthy of that exalted position he has to free himself first from all other bonds in favour of the true bondsmanship of the One and Only God,

1.2. Two Dimensions of Man’s Personality

There are two dimensions of man’s personality. These are different from each other and at the same time also interlinked. On the one hand, he has a physical and animal side of his existence, which is governed by the same physical laws of nature that govern the entire physical and animal world. The functioning of man’s physical and animal existence is dependent, like other objects of nature, on material resources and the laws of nature, and is affected in its functioning adversely or favourably by the corresponding circumstances of the physical world.

The second dimension of man’s personality is his moral side.¹ He is not just a physical being but a moral being too. Far from being dependent on the physical laws of nature, the moral side of man’s existence has the power to control and put to better use the physical side of his own personality and the world of nature in general. His basic tools in this respect are the moral and ethical faculties endowed upon him by the Almighty Lord.

Both physical and moral dimensions are at work within the personality of the human being, and his success or failure and rise or fall in life depend on both material as well as moral forces. As both these forces are at work in the human world, he cannot escape the consequences of his losing grip on one or both of them. In practical terms, however, the moral aspect of his personality plays a decisive role in his life much more than the material side.

1.3. Basic Human Ethics

The moral dimension of man also has two distinct parts: one of basic human ethics and the other of Islamic manners and morals. Basic human ethics mean the moral dimension that serves as the foundation for man’s moral existence. Some essentials of basic human ethics are strength of willpower and the qualities of patience, forbearance, fortitude, courage, confidence, consistency, hard work, devotion to life objectives, correct vision, deep insight, sense of responsibility, the ability to make the right judgement at the right time, taking effective measures for the implementation of plans, keeping sentiments and emotions in check, and winning over the hearts of others.

Whoever is gifted with these basic human traits and attributes will reap the dividends regardless of whether he is a believer or an infidel, a Muslim or a Christian, cruel and tyrannical or a kind and courteous person.² A nation or society endowed with these qualities is similarly rich in human resources and is duly qualified to rise in the comity of nations by properly using its human assets. It is this aspect of basic human ethics to which the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and give him peace, referred to when he told his Companions:

The best of them during the pre-Islamic Days of Ignorance (Jāhiliyyah) is the best in [the glorious days of] Islam.

(Bukhārī)

1.4. Basic Islamic ethics

Let us now turn to basic Islamic ethics. Islamic ethics are nothing apart from the essentials of human ethics...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Transliteration Table
• Introduction
• Part One: Spirituality and the Islamic Way of Life
• Part Two: ʿIbādah: Its Significance in the Islamic Social Order
• Part Three: Responses to Some Critical Questions
• Appendix I: ʿIbādah – The Means as well as the Ends
• Appendix II: Sayyid Mawdūdī and Taṡawwuf
• Index