The concept of 'worship' (A Quranic perspective)
By: A Muhammad

The Quranic word 'Al-Ebadah' means the act of worship. To most people the act of worship is primarily prostrating and observing the prayer. However, the Quran enlightens us that the act of worship is a much more profound concept than just the act of prayer. The words of God to His chosen prophet Moses were:

I am God, there is no god except Me. Therefore, you shall worship Me and observe the Salat to commemorate Me. 20:14

The words "worship Me" and "observe the Salat", which are spoken of as separate acts, tell us that worshipping God is not confined to the ritual of Salat.

Whilst the Salat is a specific ritual decreed for specific times of the day, the act of worship is an uninterrupted state of the mind, body and heart. It is an exalted spiritual awareness and acceptance of God in our lives. In this sense, the act of worship is a very much needed nourishment for the 'nafs' (self). Without the act of worship, dedicated exclusively to God alone, one is unable to attain inner peace, and ultimately, true happiness. Our physical bodies, by submitting to God's will, are in a perpetual state of worship. All our body organs and tissue are ordained to function in a meticulous pre-ordained manner designed by God, over which we have no control whatsoever. Every organ and cycle in our body is in a ceaseless state of submission to the will of God. However, the self is given the freedom of choice. If the self chooses the same route as the ordained body, harmony will be struck between body and self, the reward of which will be true happiness. On the other hand if the self is rebellious, unappreciative or egoistic and elects not to worship God, true happiness can never be attained no matter how much wealth and status the human being may possess.

The Quran, being a fully detailed Book, provides the believers with the answer to the questions:
- Whom should we worship?
- Whom should we never worship?
- How should we worship?

Most believers will seem offended by the first question. They will say, 'Of course we worship God!' However, the Quran indicates that what the human being worships is not necessarily what he says he worships, but is what or whoever occupies his mind most of the time.

Who are we warned not to worship?

The Quran states that the human being is prone to worship any one, or all of the following:

1- Material possessions:

If the only thing you think of is money and how to make money, if your mind is primarily occupied with issues such as: 'how much will I make out of this deal?' and 'what will I gain out of this person?' etc, if everything in your life is assessed according to its material benefit, then it is said that you worship money. If your business or your property distracts you from worshipping God, then you worship your possessions.

a- The following parable in Sura 18, portrays the tale of the man who was so occupied with his garden to the extent of setting it up as his idol, arrogantly boasting about it to his friend, saying that it will never cease to yield its crop. Consequently, God wiped it out as a punishment and a lesson for his idol worship:

His fruits were totally ruined, so he started wringing his hands over what he had spent on it, as now it had fallen on its trellises, and said, "I wish I had not associated anyone with my Lord." 18:42

b- The story of Solomon and the horses that distracted him from worshipping God goes as follows:

Solomon allowed material possessions to distract him from worshipping God. When he realised his error, the sun had already set causing him to miss his Salat! As a result, he repented. Realizing that nothing should have distracted him from worshipping God, he got rid of the horses.

c- Indeed the righteous in the sight of God are described in Sura 24:

Men who are not distracted by trade or sale from the remembrance of God. 24:37

2- Children and spouse:

The Quran warns strongly that our offspring and spouses are a 'Fetnah' (test) of our true Worship. Are we going to become totally wrapped up in them to the extent of being distracted from worshipping God? Consider the following verses:

a- .......when she got heavier, they implored God their Lord: "If You grant us a good one, we will be among the thankful." Then when He granted them a good one, they set up partners to Him in what He has given them. Exalted is God, far above whatever they associate with Him. 7:189-190

b- Your wealth and children are but a test, and with God lies a great reward. 64:15

3- One's own ego:

The Quran also warns against worshipping our own self. People with inflated egos are the ones most prone to such behaviour. They will idolize themselves and live in a permanent illusion of vanity:

a- Have you seen the one who has taken his personal desire as his god? Would you be his trustee? 25:43

b- The Quran states that to protect one's self against this danger we should always behave with modesty and humility. God does not like the conceited and egotistic:

God does not like the arrogant, boastful. 31:18

The close connection between worshipping God alone and being humble is also made evident in the following words:

Worship God and do not associate anything with Him ...... God does not like the ones who are arrogant and boastful. 4:36

c- A case of a whole people ending up worshipping themselves is narrated in the Quran in relation to the Jews. Their vanity and illusions of superiority deluded them into thinking that they were guaranteed God's mercy to the exclusion of all other people:

Say, "O you who are Jewish, if you claim that you are allies of God, to the exclusion of all other people, then long for death if you are truthful." 62:6

Equally, their vanity and egotism eluded them, proclaiming that Paradise was exclusively reserved for them!

Say, "If the Abode of the Hereafter is yours at God, to the exclusion of all other people, then long for death if you are truthful." 2:94

4- Objects:

Perhaps the more familiar example in this category is the worship of stone idols and statues. Sadly, many sects are guilty of such transgression. The Quran warns very strongly against any association with stone, altars or monuments (5:90). In the world today there are those who still worship such objects as statues, the sun, fire, or even certain animals. All these groups are committing great acts of idol worship. We know that shirk (associating others with God) is the only unforgivable sin (4:48).

5- The angels, messengers and saints:

There is a very thin line between idolization and worshipping. What would you call those who kiss the ground which the Pope walks on? Are they idolizing the Pope or are they in fact worshipping him? What do you call those who visit the shrines of 'Al-Hussein' or 'El-Sayeda Zeinab' (Muslim saints) and call on them to answer their prayers or to intercede on their behalf! The Quran states categorically that to call on anyone other than God is to commit idol worship. The Quran warns very specifically against idolizing or worshipping God's messengers, the saints or the angels:

First

The Quran establishes the fact that no genuine messenger will ever command his people to glorify him or idolize him:

Nor will any genuine messenger ask for any kind of return for his services:

I do not ask you for a reward for it. My reward comes only from the Lord of the worlds. 26:109

Second

The Quran asserts that all those who died, whether they are saints, messengers or idols cannot hear us when we call on them:

On the Day of Judgment those who have been idolized will disown the ones who idolized them:

Third

The Quran warns very strongly against setting up God's messengers as idols:

Do those who disbelieve think that they can take My servants as allies beside Me? We have prepared Hell as hospitality for the disbelievers. 18:102

Fourth

Those who commit such transgressions will come up with the most outrageous excuses:

Unquestionably, it is to God that the pure religion is due. Those who take up allies besides Him: "We only worship them so that they may bring us closer to God." 39:3

In the same verse, God replies to these claims with the words:

6- The devil

There are various sects all over the world today who worship Satan (Iblis). They engage in all sorts of vile activities such as blood drinking, human sacrifices and carnal depravity. Indeed this is expected of the servants of the devil. The Quran states that the devil will order his followers to commit evil:

The devil promises you poverty and commands you to commit immorality. 2:268

We are given a reminder in the Quran that God took a very early oath from all of us, not to worship the devil:

Did I not take an oath from you, O Children of Adam, that you shall not worship the devil, for he is a clear enemy to you, and that you shall worship Me, for that is a straight path? 36:60-61

Anyone who takes the devil for an ally instead of God has indeed lost; a clear loss. 4:119

The words of Abraham to his father carried the same warning:

O my father, do not worship the devil. The devil is disobedient to the Almighty. 19:44

How should we worship God

If these are some of the temptations that can divert us from the 'Straight Path' and from worshipping God alone, what are we to do to be certain that we worship God alone?

The Quran lists no less than eleven separate acts. They are specific acts to be observed and at the same time they serve as genuine indications of the purity of our Worship. The "deen al-khalis" (pure religion) spoken of in the Quran (39:3) requires that every one of the eleven acts (below) must be dedicated exclusively to God alone. By taking each act separately and determining how much of it is observed for God and how much is dedicated to others (no matter who they are) provides us with a sound guideline for the purity of our Worship.

As an example, consider the second act which calls for the glorification of God alone. Every time we glorify anyone other than God we do in fact impair the purity of our religion (Al-Deen Al Khales). There is nothing wrong with giving praise to fellow humans when praise is due, but only God is worthy of glorification. Similarly, every act of the eleven acts will provide a genuine pointer to the purity of our Worship.

Act One: Recognition and Deification

This first act combines Faith and Worship, while as the next ten acts are solely acts of Worship. The first requisite for worshipping God is to recognize His Existence. The Quran provides a wealth of information that supports the believer, both the knowledgeable and the unlearned, to recognize the existence of God. For the benefit of the scientifically minded, there is ample scientific information testifying that the creation of the universe and its maintenance are precisely executed and could never be products of chance. The Quran refers to numerous fields of science such as, astronomy, physics, geology, biology, botany and embryology to name a few. For the unlearned reader of the Quran, there is a whole Sura that provides simple facts, all of which testify to the existence of God (Sura 55).

For more information about the scientific content of the Quran please see: Science in the Quran

The signs of God the Creator, are in everything around us. The following page contains interesting information about God's design in all things: The Designs of God

Once 'Recognition' is secured, the next step is the 'Deification and Apotheosis' of God.

Deification or Apotheosis means to instil in our hearts the realisation that God alone possesses the attributes to be a god and that there is no god other than He. These two facts are asserted in the words: "I am God" and "There is no god except Me" 20:14

Deification indeed is the acknowledgment that God is our Creator and the Creator of everything in the universe. Deification of God is to recognize His Oneness. The Quran asserts the fact that if there were other gods beside God the whole universe would be disrupted:

If there were other gods in them (heavens and the earth) besides God, they would have been ruined. 21:22

There are those who will acquire the 'Recognition' of the existence of God, but their minds refuse the 'Deification' of God. An example of those is given in Sura 23:

Another good example is that many scientists today concede that there is a force behind the creation of the universe, but perhaps are too vain to accept that this force is a Supreme God who controls every atom in the universe, including their own bodies.

Needless to say, without this crucial act of Deification, one is not able to observe any of the other acts of Worship. This act is the cornerstone and the foundation on which all other acts of worship originate from and are based upon.

Act Two: Glorification and Exaltation

The awareness of the vastness of our universe, which is only the innermost of seven universes (67:3), and the fact that all seven are all folded in the grip of God's hand (39:67), leaves the mind in a total state of awe. In addition to this vastness, God indeed controls every atom in every one of these universes. Many verses in the Quran point out that it is impossible for the human being to comprehend the greatness of God:

They did not value God according to His true worth. The whole earth is within His grip on the Day of Resurrection, and the universes are folded up in His right hand. Glory to Him and exalted is He, far above whatever they associate with Him. 39:67

There is not an atom's weight in the earth or in the heavens that is hidden from your Lord, nor is there anything smaller or larger than this, that is not recorded in a clear Book. 10:61

In due respect for our Mighty Creator we are commanded to constantly glorify and exalt Him:

Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High. 87:1

So glorify your Lord with praise, and be among the prostrators. 15:98

Indeed, the very last words revealed of the Holy Quran carry this same command:

Glorify your Lord with praise, and ask for His forgiveness. Indeed, He is Redeemer. 110:3

The Glorification and Exaltation of God are two fundamental elements of worship, so much so that everything in the heavens and the earth glorifies God.

Glorifying God is what is in the heavens and what is in the earth. 62:1

To be able to glorify God in a sincere manner we must always remember to curb our vanity and act modestly:

Those at your Lord are never too proud to worship Him; they glorify Him and to Him they prostrate. 7:206

God does not like the arrogant, boastful. 31:18

Those who are constantly enthralled in vanity and self-admiration are often the ones negligent of glorifying God.

Act Three: Adoration and Veneration

The 'Adoration' of God is indeed the greatest love of all. The love of God is the noble driving force behind worshipping Him, upholding His Law, working righteousness and constantly seeking His approval. The true believers love God the most. Others, and to varying degrees, have set up idols whom they love equally if not more than God. The Quran is very clear in stating that we are not to love anyone as we should love God:

Among the people are those who take other than God as equals, loving them as the love of God. However, those who believe have much greater love for God. 2:165

It is the duty of every believer to love his brethren and be tolerant. Moreover, God has created for us our partners with whom we share love and affection (Sura 30, verse 21), yet all this love should always be exercised within its proper context. No matter how much we may love our children, our partners, or God's prophets whom He sent with guidance; we should never love them as our love of God. Only the love of God is worthy of being elevated to the state of adoration. There is a very thin line between love and adoration.

Love everybody and every good thing but adore only God.

Act Four: Commemoration and Remembrance

The commemoration of God can be done during the Salat as well as at any time of the day. The Quranic verses which invite us to commemorate and glorify God more or less speak of all times of the day.

Benefits of the Salat

The Quran mentions valuable benefits to be gained from observing the Salat.

1- The Salat protects against and prohibits immorality and evil:

Observe the Salat, for the Salat forbids immorality and evil. 29:45

2- The Salat helps the believers strengthen their faith and attain certainty:

So glorify your Lord with praise, and be among the prostrators, and worship your Lord in order to attain certainty. 15:98-99

3- The Salat provides believers with a great reward in the Hereafter:

4- Nourishment for the 'self' and closeness to God:

The most important objective of the Salat is to commemorate God.

Recite what is revealed to you of the Book and observe the Salat, for the Salat forbids immorality and evil, and the remembrance of God is of greater importance. God knows what you do. 29:45

I am God, there is no god except Me. Therefore, you shall worship Me and observe the Salat to commemorate Me. 20:14

Frequent Commemoration/remembrance

As mentioned, remembering and commemorating God is not restricted to the Salat, but is an act that sincere believers observe at all times of the day:

The men who remember God frequently and the women who also remember: God has prepared for them forgiveness and a great reward. 33:35

Those who remember God while standing, sitting, and on their sides. 3:191

O you who believe, remember God frequently. 33:41

O you who believe, do not let your wealth or your children distract you from the remembrance of God. Whoever does that, they are indeed the losers. 63:9

Rewards

Numerous rewards are given in the Quran for commemorating God:

1- Commemorating God will bestow a feeling of safety and tranquillity in the hearts of the believers:

They are the ones who believe and whose hearts are assured through the remembrance of God. Absolutely, through the remembrance of God do the hearts feel assured. 13:28

2- Commemorating the name of God on food will bless it and make it lawful (halal):

So eat from that upon which God's name has been mentioned, if you believe in His revelations. 6:118

Do not eat from that upon which God's name has not been mentioned, for it is vileness. 6:121

3- Frequent commemoration of the name of God will give the believer better chances of success in life:

Remember God frequently so that you may succeed. 62:10

4- Undoubtedly, the reward of the highest order is attaining God's approval and attaining closeness to our Creator:

So remember Me and I will remember you, and be thankful to Me and do not disbelieve. 2:152

Remember the name of your Lord, and devote yourself wholeheartedly to Him. 73:8

Penalties

On the other hand, for those who abstain from commemorating God, a terrible retribution awaits them:

As for the one who turns away from My remembrance, he will have a miserable life and We will summon him on the Day of Resurrection blind. 20:124

We presented Hell on that day, in clear display, to the disbelievers whose eyes were obscured from My remembrance and were unable to hear. 18:100-101

Commemorating God reaps great rewards, God will only gift the believers with such blessings. The ones who harbour disbelief and arrogance will be deprived by God of such blessing:

Do not obey one whose heart We rendered oblivious to Our remembrance, and who pursued his personal desire, and whose case has exceeded all limits. 18:28

Act Five: Obedience

In order to obey God wholeheartedly, it is first necessary to accept that God is the only lawmaker.

God's Law is the only Law:

Shall I seek other than God as a lawmaker when it is He who has brought down to you the Book fully detailed? 6:114

The Quran also tells us that the only Sunna (methodology/system) is that of God, and that it has no substitute:

You will find that there is no substitute for the Sunna of God. 33:62

Obeying God's Law:

One of the most frequent commands in the Quran is to obey God and the messenger. The Quran is very clear that obeying God and obeying His messenger are one issue and not two. The following verses all confirm such meaning:

1- He who obeys the messenger has obeyed God. 4:80

These glorious words confirm that the messenger preaches nothing but God's Law. If the messenger preached what is additional to the Quran then obeying the messenger would not necessarily coincide with obeying God. This message is well established through 6:114 (above) as well as a number of verses which stresses that the only duty of the messenger is to deliver the message of God, such as:

Obey God and obey the messenger, and beware: if you turn away, then know that the sole duty of Our messenger is the clear delivery. 5:92

For more details of this subject, please see: Obey God and obey the Messenger

2- You will find that there is no substitute to the Sunna of God. 33:62

As mentioned, to claim or believe that there are two Sunna's, one of God and one of the prophet, is in fact to disbelieve the Quranic words in 33:62.

3- We brought down to you the Book with the truth so that you may judge among the people. 4:105 (also 5:48)

This verse decisively appoints the tool by which the messenger is to arbitrate among the people; this in our case is the Quran. In all the Quran, there is never any mention of any other tool or source.

Having established that the Law of God is contained in the Book of God and nowhere else, it is the duty of every Muslim to obey it. To worship God is to obey His Law, and to obey His Law is to obey the Quran.

The Quran is a complete source of law containing all the rituals and practices that are authorised by God (Salat, Hajj, Umrah, etc), plus all the prohibitions, code of conduct and so on. In the adherence and obedience to any one of these laws, whether it is related to one of the practices, or one of the prohibitions, is indeed an act of worship. Consequently, in order to worship God alone, it is imperative to follow God's Law and no other law.

The importance of obeying God's Law is highly emphasized in the Quran to the extent that it is stated in the Book that whoever advocates or rules by a law other than that of God is classed as a disbeliever.

Those who do not rule by what God has brought down, they are indeed the disbelievers. 5:44

In addition, all who follow laws which are not authorised by God in the Quran, are indeed setting up partners with God:

Act Six: Trust and Dependence

Worshipping God is both in action and in conviction. The conviction expression of worshipping God is in entrusting our lives to Him. This covers all aspects of our livelihood and well-being. To entrust our lives with God is an expression of our acceptance of God's absolute authority as well as our certainty that no one has any power that is independent of God. No one can harm or benefit us other than God.

The following verses stress the importance of fearing God:

Those who fear their Lord though unseen. 35:18

Those who fear God's punishment fear Judgment Day and fear Hell:

Say, "I fear, should I disobey my Lord, the punishment of a great Day." 6:15

And beware of the Fire that has been prepared for the disbelievers. 3:131

Beware of the Fire whose fuel is people and stones. It is prepared for the disbelievers. 2:24

The fear of God without seeing Him is a true indication of a strong faith as well as an act of Worship.

So do not fear them but fear Me instead, so that I may complete My blessings upon you and so that you may be guided. 2:150

So do not fear the people but fear Me. 5:44

The Quran tells us that it is the sincere believers who fear God:

It is but the devil who tries to frighten his allies, so do not fear them and fear Me, if you are believers. 3:175

The Quran also tells us that fearing God is the trait of those endowed with knowledge:

Only the knowledgeable among God's servants fear Him. 35:28

For those who fear God, there is promise of great reward:

Those who fear their Lord though unseen shall have forgiveness and a great reward. 67:12

Act Nine: Imploring and Beseeching

To implore and beseech God are indeed unquestionable expressions of Worship. The following verse asserts the link between Worship and Imploration:

Your Lord said, 'Implore Me and I will respond to you. Surely, those who are too arrogant to worship Me will enter Hell humiliated. 40:60

The deliberate linking of the words "Implore Me" and "Worship Me" in this verse confirm that imploring God is indeed an essential expression of worship. Those who do not implore God do not worship Him. God, being the Most Merciful, encourages the believers to implore Him so that He may bestow on them His mercy.

And if My servants ask you about Me, I am near. I answer the caller's call if he calls upon Me. Therefore, they shall respond to Me and believe in Me so that they may be rightly guided. 2:186

Since imploration is an expression of Worship, and since we must worship God alone, it follows that we should implore God alone. The Quran is quick to ascertain this matter:

So you shall call upon God, devoting the religion purely to Him, even if the disbelievers dislike it. 40:14

The Masjids are for God, so do not call upon anyone else besides Him. 72:18

Do not call upon other than God what does not benefit you nor harm you. If you do, you will be among the transgressors. 10:106

The following verses specifically address those who implore dead people (saints, messengers of God, etc.) for help:

Those whom you call upon besides God are servants just like you. So go ahead and call upon them, and let them respond to you if you are truthful. 7:194

And those whom you call upon besides Him are unable to support you, nor can they support themselves. 7:197

The Quran tells us that with many people, whenever they face grave danger they will implore God alone but as soon as God rescues them they revert to associating partners with God:

When they sail onboard a ship, they implore God, devoting the religion purely to Him. Yet when He delivers them safely to the shore, they revert to associating partners with Him. 29:65

The explanation of this is that when the human being faces imminent life threatening danger, the mind is unable to think rationally from the shock, at that moment instinct takes over. By instinct, all people recognise God's absolute authority and that He alone has the power to save them:

So direct your face towards the religion as a monotheist. Such is the natural instinct that God instilled in the people. 30:30

To conclude, believers should implore God alone, as the act of imploring God is undoubtedly a true expression of Worship.

Act Eleven: Appreciation and Gratitude

The Quran confirms that the expression of appreciation and gratitude to God is indeed an act of Worship:

Give thanks for God's blessings if it is Him that you worship. 16:114

The act of appreciation and gratitude is in fact a four fold expression:

1- Remembering God's blessings:

The human being is to always remember God's blessings and not take it for granted:

O people, remember God's blessing upon you. 35:3

2- The realization that all blessings come from God:

Genuine believers have no doubt that all good things that come to them in life come from God alone, and that no human being has any power to benefit them except in accordance with God's will. This message is quite clear in the Quran:

Any blessing that you have is from God. 16:53

3- The expression of Appreciation and Gratitude:

The Quran stresses the importance of expressing appreciation and gratitude to God. This should be accompanied by a genuine contentment with ones fortunes. Those who are content with what they have are often the ones who find true happiness. Verily, happiness is not having what we want, but wanting what we have. The following verse ascertains the importance of appreciation, and its great reward:

And when your Lord proclaimed: "If you give thanks, I shall increase for you, but if you disbelieve, then My punishment is severe." 14:7

The Quran states that God's blessings are so numerous that the human being can never count them all:

If you were to count God's blessings, you could not encompass them all. The human being is indeed transgressing, unappreciative. 14:34

Sadly, many of these God given blessings are taken for granted by most people. If we consider our senses, to be able to hear and see, to be given a mind superior to all other creatures with which we are able to attain sovereignty on Earth, we find that many people take these for granted, then only realise their value if one of these senses is lost. All these blessings are God given.

God brought you out of your mothers' wombs knowing nothing, and He devised for you the hearing, the sight and the heart, so hopefully you may give thanks. 16:78

God is the One who rendered the night for you to rest therein, and the day for visibility. God is Possessor of great favour for the people, but most people do not give thanks. 40:61

4- Proclaiming God's blessings:

The fourth expression of appreciation is to constantly proclaim God's blessings to others.

By proclaiming God's blessings, we express both our gratitude and our worship of God.

Act Twelve: Devotion and Dedication

This last act is undoubtedly the most noble of all the acts of worship. This is the act of those who dedicate their lives and money to the cause of God. Those are the ones who constantly strive to preach the way to God; they are promised the highest reward:

Those who believed, emigrated and strove in the cause of God with their money and themselves hold the greatest rank with God. Those are the winners. 9:20

No words are better than those words that preach the way to God:

Who is better spoken than one who invites to God, does good deeds, and says, "I am one of the Submitters"? 41:33

The invitation to devote and dedicate ourselves and our money to the cause of God is also found in 22:67 and 28:87.

The great value of such work is evident considering that such commands of dedication and devotion are often addressed to God's own messengers. The following verse is addressed to prophet Muhammad:

O you prophet, We have sent you as a witness, a bearer of news, a warner, and a caller inviting to God with His permission, and an illuminating lamp. 33:45-46

The Quran also provides the optimum method of preaching and inviting to God:

Invite to the path of your Lord with wisdom and advice, and debate with them in the best possible manner. 16:125

Conclusion