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Why should we do
Ibadah of Allah?
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Contents
Introduction
Explanation of Allah
a. Meaning of the word Allah
b. Who is Allah?
c. Where is Allah?
d. Does Allah have an Image?
Explanation of Ibadah
Why should we do Ibadah of Allah?
a. He is worthy to do ibadah
b. He created us only for doing His ibadah
c. Due to the bounties He has given us
d. For living peacefully in this world
e. Hoping for Jannah & refuge from Hell fire
Summary
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In the Name of Allah the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
Introduction
Before discussing the reason why should we do ibadah of Allah? it will be logical if we first
understand about Allah? & what is the meaning of ibadah? Because without understanding
who Allah is and what ibadah actually means in Islam, we will not be able to do justice with
this topic.
Explanation of Allah
Meaning of the word Allah
In Arabic, the word Allah means God and it is used by all arabs including Muslims &
Christians. The same word is used in Islam also for referring God. Although Muslims and
Christians use the word Allah, the definition of Allah is different in Islam & Christianity.
Who is Allah?
When we ask common Muslims who is Allah? Many of them will say that Allah is our
creator or he is the lord of the worlds, cherisher, sustainer etc. Although these statements
are true, it is not correct to define Allah by associating Him to His creations. Allah is not
dependent on His creation to define Himself; He should be defined independently, as He has
defined Himself in Surah Ikhlas 112:1-4:
` ` ` ` `` ` ` ` `` ` ` `
Say, "He is Allah the One & only, Allah, the absolute & eternal, He begets not nor He is
begotten, there is nothing like unit Him"
In addition to the above definition Allah has given Himself 99 different attributes to make us
understand him more. Some of His attributes are Ar Rahman (The most merciful), Al
Muntaqim (The punisher), Al Adl (the just), Al Qadir (the all-powerful), etc. We as Muslims
should have a balanced approach towards the attributes of Allah. It is not fitting to rely
solely on one attribute & ignore the other.
Where is Allah?
There is a misconception among many Muslims that Allah is everywhere (omnipresent),
which is incorrect.
Allah is not omnipresent but He is in the heavens above the throne (Arsh). When we say
this we dont mean that he is sitting, standing or lying down. We mean He is above the
throne & how he is there we dont know and there is no need for us to know as the prophet
(pbuh) did not explain this. Following are some evidences to prove this point:
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Hadith of the prophet regarding a slave woman (Sahih Muslim)
Muwaiyah bin Al Hakam: I had a maid-servant who tended goats by the side of Uhud and
Jawwaniya. One day I happened to pass that way and found that a wolf had carried a goat
from her flock. I am after all a man from the posterity of Adam. I felt sorry as they (human
beings) feel sorry. So I slapped her. I came to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) and felt (this
act of mine) as something grievous. I said: Messenger of Allah, should I not grant her
freedom? He (the Prophet) said: Bring her to me. So I brought her to him. He said to her:
Where is Allah? She said: He is in the heaven. He said: who am I? She said: Thou art the
Messenger of Allah. He said: Grant her freedom, she is a believing woman.(Sahih Muslim:
Book of Prayer: Hadith No. 1094)
Jesus (pbuh) was raised up (Surah Nisa 4:158)
`` ` ` `
But Allah raised him [Jesus] up (with his body and soul) unto Himself (and he is in the
heavens). And Allah is Ever All-Powerful, All-Wise
Prophet (pbuh) looked towards heaven to change Qibla (Surah Baqarah 2:144)
` ` ` ` ` ` `
` `
We have certainly seen the turning of your face, [O Muhammad], toward the heaven, and
We will surely turn you to a qiblah with which you will be pleased. So turn your face toward
al-Masjid al-Haram.
Prophet (pbuh) went to Mehraj
The fact that the prophet (pbuh) was taken to the heavens to speak with Allah is strong
evidence that Allah is in the heavens.
Allah says that He is in the heavens (Surah Mulk 67:16)
` ` ` ` ` ` ``
Do you feel secure that He who [holds authority] in the heaven would not cause the earth
to swallow you and suddenly it would sway?
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Does Allah Have an Image?
The prophet (pbuh) said we can see Allah in Hereafter (sahih Bukhari)
The people said, "O Allah's Apostle! Shall we see our Lord on the Day of Resurrection?" He
replied, "Do you have any doubt in seeing the full moon on a clear (not cloudy) night?" They
replied, "No, O Allah's Apostle!" He said, "Do you have any doubt in seeing the sun when
there are no clouds?" They replied in the negative. He said, "You will see Allah (your Lord)
in the same way. (Sahih Bukhari: Book of characteristics of Prayer: 771)
Allah says we will be able to see him in the hereafter (Surah Qiyaamah 75:22-23)
``` ` ` `
Some faces will be radiant on that day, gazing at their Lord.
Allah says He will come surrounded with angels (Surah Al Fajr 89:22)
' `
And thy Lord shall come with angels, rank on rank
Allah has an image, but we dont know how it is
We will be able to see something only if it is visible, if something is visible then it should
have some form or image. Also when Allah says in 89:22 that he will come surrounded by
angels, it means He has some form / image.
Although Allah has an image, we humans dont know how the image looks like, since no one
has seen Allah. So we say that Allah has an image but we dont know how it is, we will be
able to see it only in the hereafter. In this world it is haram to assume an image for Allah
since Allah says in Surah Ashuarah (42:11)
` `
There is nothing like unto Him
Explanation of Ibadah
Ibadah comes from the Arabic root word abd which is associated with slavery & in Arabic
language Ibadah means obedience and humility. In Islamic terminology it means obedience
to Allah in all aspects of life which includes religious affairs & also worldly affairs.
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It is unfortunate that the term Ibadah is now a days used only for religious affairs i.e acts of
worship. This has gone to such an extent that if you talk to a common Muslim about ibadah,
he thinks about prayer, fasting, zikr, etc. This is the caner of this generation. We have to
prevent this cancer from getting into us by understanding the true meaning of Ibadah.
Ibadh means obedience to Allah in religious as well as worldly affairs
Why should we do ibadah of Allah?
Although there are various reasons for doing ibadah of Allah and the list is endless, I have
just tried to mention a few reasons briefly here.
(1) Allah is the only one who is worthy of Ibadah
The first and foremost reason for doing ibadah of Allah is that He alone deserves to be
worshipped, all other reasons are secondary.
`` `` `
"Know, therefore, that there is no God Who deserves to be worshiped except Allah" (Surah
Mohammad 47:19)
Ila in Arabic means a deity with is worthy of worship. So, Allah Himself declares that there
is No one worthy of worship except Him.
Although it is impossible to quantify how much worth is Allah for our worship, we can surely
get a glimpse of his worthiness by looking into the following two best examples:
Example-1: The best human being who ever lived on the face of the earth is our prophet
(pbuh) He has shown utmost obedience to Allah in acts of worship as well as worldly affairs,
but yet he said: I have not worshipped you as you are supposed to be worshipped
Example-2: Even the angels who were created only for worshipping Allah, who do not do
another thing except worshipping Allah 24X7 will say on he Day of Resurrection Glory be to
You, we did not worship You as You deserve to be worshipped
Needless to elaborate more on this issue when our prophet (pbuh) & also the Angels
themselves testify that they have not worshipped Allah as He deserved to be worshiped.
(2) Sole purpose of creating Humans is to do Allahs ibadah
` ` ```
And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me (Dhariyaat 51:56)
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It is unfortunate that most of the translations have used the word worship for ibadah. This
has misled many of the Muslims. If Allah means only worship by the term ibaadah, this
aayah is pointless as even the prophet (pbuh) was not doing acts of worship 24X7.
As we have already discussed, the meaning of the above aayah should be Allah created
jinn & humans to obey him in all aspects of life (religious & worldly affairs).
Story of Iblees
To understand this issue better let us remind ourselves of the story of iblees. Allah created
Adam (pbuh) and asked iblees to prostrate before him, Iblees refused. Why Iblees did not
prostrate to Adam?
`` `` `` ``` `
`
[Allah] said, "What prevented you from prostrating when I commanded you?" [Satan] said,
"I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay."(Araaf: 7:12)
Allah declares him to be kaafir:
``` ` ` `
And [mention] when We said to the angels, "Prostrate before Adam"; so they prostrated,
except for Iblees. He refused and was arrogant and became of the disbelievers. (Surah
Baqarah 2:34)
Moral of this incident
Iblees did not do anything wrong with regards to the worship of Allah. His status with
regards to his worship can be understood by the fact that Allah permitted him to be with the
Angels. Although he was good in his worship, he did not obey Allah when he was asked to
prostrate to Adam. He used his intelligence against Allahs commandment. For this reason
Allah calls him kaafir.
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Remember, Iblees did not say that there is no Allah; he did not say that there are two
Allah; he did not deny that Allah deserves worship. His mistake was he thought that with
regards to worldly affairs He can use his intelligence against Allahs command. This is where
he went wrong.
Now let us look at ourselves
Dear Muslims, the saddest part of our ummah today is that many Muslims have the same
attitude that Iblees had. They are ready to do all acts of worship to Allah, but with regards
to worldly affair they are using their intelligence against Allahs commandments.
Let us take the example of interest; although Allah & His messenger (pbuh) have explicitly
prohibited interest, still we are having loans & credit cards justifying them
' ` ` ` ` ` ` '
` ` ` ` `
O you who have believed, fear Allah and give up what remains [due to you] of interest, if
you should be believers. And if you do not, then be informed of a war [against you] from
Allah and His Messenger (Surah Baqarah 2:278-279)
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said, "There are seventy
degrees of usury, the least of which is equivalent to a man having intercourse with his
mother" (Sunan Ibn Majah: Book of Business Transactions: Hadith No. 2274)
Although there are such severe warnings in Quran & hadiths many of us are not ready to
give up riba. We are okay to commit adultery with our mother if we get some money but we
are not ready to give up riba? This is shameful!
We are finding ways & means to use our intelligence to justify riba. This is the foot step of
Iblees. It is sad that many of the Muslims chose Mohammads (pbuh) sunnah to worship
Allah but with regard to wordly affairs many have chosen the sunnah of Iblees.
Dear Muslims, riba is just an example, we have to come out all such sins which Allah and his
messenger has stopped us from. We have to obey allah in all aspects of life. We should not
limit ibadah to masjid alone, we have to make each & every aspect of our life an act of
ibadah.
The prophet (pbuh) said: A man's sexual Intercourse (with his wife) there is a Sadaqa. They
(the Companions) said: Messenger of Allah, is there reward for him who satisfies his sexual
passion among us? He said: Tell me, if he were to devote it to something forbidden, would it
not be a sin on his part? Similarly, if he were to devote it to something lawful, he should
have a reward. (Sahih Muslim: Book of Zakah: Hadith No. 2198)
Let us remember that even eating, drinking, sleeping & even marital relations is counted in
the scale of his good deeds.
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(3) Due to the bounties He has given us
'` ` `` ` ` `
If you were to count Allah's favors, you would not be able to number them; most surely
humanity is very unjust, very ungrateful (Surah Ibrahim14: 34)
We were not existent, He brought us to existence. We have been created as human beings
and honored. We have been given the intellect & all physical facilities, we cant even count
the blessings given to our soul & body. When we look outside of us, the entire world is a
blessing, the earth, the sky, the sun, the moon, the air, etc, etc. It is impossible even for a
supercomputer to count the blessings of Allah on us.
We can never ever worship Allah to the extent that we repay Him for what He has given. It
is impossible, that is why the prophet (pbuh) said that None can enter Jannah with only his
deeds, he will enter only with the mercy of Allah
I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "The good deeds of any person will not make him enter
Paradise." They said, 'Not even you, O Allah's Apostle?' He said, "Not even myself, unless
Allah bestows His favor and mercy on me." So be moderate in your religious deeds and do
the deeds that are within your ability: and none of you should wish for death, for if he is a
good doer, he may increase his good deeds, and if he is an evil doer, he may repent to
Allah."(sahih Bukhari: Book of Patience: Hadith No. 5309)
A story of a worshipper
There was once a worshipper in the Bani Israel who worshipped Allah for 500 years. On the
Day of Judgment, Allah acknowledges that all his 500 years of worship is acceptable. Allah
says Go to Jannah due to My mercy. He replies back saying Ya! Allah, everyone is going
to Jannah due to your mercy, please send me to Jannah based on my deeds. Allah again
says Go to Jannah due to My mercy. The man further insists that he wants to go due to
his deeds.
Allah accepts his plea & asks the angles to bring the meezaan (balance). Allah commands to
keep all his 500 years of accepted ibadah in one pan & he asks the angels to remove one
eye of the man & keep in the other pan. His whole ibadah goes up like a bunch of cotton as
the niyamah of one eye was more than his 500 years of worship. Now the man says Ya!
Allah please send me to Jannah due to your mercy
Note: This story actually appears more in detail in an unauthentic narration attributed to
Angel Gibril & our prophet (pbuh). We have just taken this story as a story for
understanding and not as a hadith. Our prophet (pbuh) has given us permission to narrate
stories of the Isralities for learning or understanding purpose. We are just understanding
about Allahs niyamah and our deeds through this story and we are not establishing any fiqh
or aqeedah based on this.
So, dear Muslims we are not doing ibadah of Allah to repay what he has done to us, but to
thank him for what he has done to us.
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4. Living peacefully in this world
' `
"Verily! Only in the Zikr of Allah will your heart find peace." (Surah Raad 13: 28)
Zikr is also not limited to prayer or tasbeeh, it means remembering Allah in all aspects of
life. We humans have Intelligence & desires; we can very well feel that some times there is
no proper balance between the two. Sometimes times desires control the intelligence and
sometimes the intelligence controls the desires.
For example: Intelligence says that smoking is harmful, but yet the desires force a person
to smoke. Sometimes a person will come to us for a help, your desire says you should help,
but your intelligence will say No because of some reasons.
Who is to decide when our intelligence should take precedence & when our desires should
take precedence? Only Allah can do it. Any logical human being will accept that he needs
some control over his intelligence & desire and this is achieved by ibadah.
For example one of the acts of ibadah is not to use if. If we apply this alone we can very
well feel that it leads our heart to the path of peace.
Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (pbuh) as saying: A strong believer is better and is
more lovable to Allah than a weak believer, and there is good in everyone, (but) cherish
that which gives you benefit (in the Hereafter) and seek help from Allah and do not lose
heart, and if anything (trouble) comes to you, don't say: If I had not done that, it would not
have happened so and so, but say: Allah did that what He had ordained to do and your" if"
opens the (gate) for the Satan. (Sahih Muslim: Book of Qadr: Hadith No. 6441)
So, if we do ibadah of Allah in a proper way, we will surely live peacefully in this world.
5. Hoping for a Jannah & refuge from hell fire
The title of this section may be little awkward for some, why should seek refuge from Hell
fire when we are already asking Jannah. The reason is if we ask only Jannah, Allah may give
us jannah but may send us through Hell. So, we ask allah for Jannah & also we ask His
refuge from Hell fire.
Jannah is the best abode
`' ` `` `` `` `
`
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And the worldly life is not but amusement and diversion. But the home of the hereafter is
best for those who fear Allah. So will you not then reason? (Surah al-Anaam 6: 32).
The prophet (pbuh) said: This world is a prison for a believer & a paradise for an
unbeliever (Sahih Muslim: Book of Piety & Heart softening: Hadith No. 7058)
Once Imam Ibn Hajar Asqalani was riding his horse in the market wearing a very beautiful
dress. A Jew who was a black smith was having his shop in the market, his dress was
shabby and face and body full of black spots. He came to Ibn Hajar and said your prophet
said that this world is a prison for a believer & paradise for an unbeliever, what kind of
prison are you in & what kind of paradise am I in? Imam Ibn Hajar smiled at him and said
Compared to what I am going to get from Allah in the hereafter, I am definitely in a prison
and compared to what you are going to get from Allah in the hereafter, you are surely in
heaven. The jew took a bath, came to the imam and accepted Islam.
Thus dear Muslims, this world is a prison for us and we have to do ibadah of Allah in all
possible ways to go to paradise (our permanent home). Nothing will aid us in the next life
except our worship and obedience to Allah in this life. We are working to earn for tomorrow,
sowing our seed that we may reap it tomorrow, and all that we do now we will be
recompensed for it tomorrow. So we should take from our worldly life for our hereafter. Like
how we earn here & send money to India, we have to earn deeds in the world and send our
deeds to the hereafter. With Allah the exchange rate is best & it goes up to hundreds of
times.
Refuge from Hell fire
Despite of taking us to Jannah our ibadah will also keep us away from Hell fire, this is a
promise of our Messenger (pbuh)
The Prophet said, "O Mu'adh! Do you know what Allah's Right upon His slaves is?" I said,
"Allah and His Apostle know best." The Prophet said, "To worship Him (Allah) Alone and to
join none in worship with Him (Allah). Do you know what their right upon Him is?" I replied,
"Allah and His Apostle know best." The Prophet said, "not to punish them (if they do so)."
(Sahih Bukhari: Book of Tawheed: Hadith No. 6897)
So we should worship Allah hoping for Jannah & seeking refuge from the Hell fire!
Summary
We have discussed briefly about Allah, about Ibadah & the five reasons for which we
worship Allah namely (1) Allah is only one worthy of worship (2) We have been created only
to do Allahs Ibadah (3) Due to the bounties he has given us, (4) For living peacefully in this
world & (5) Hoping for Jannah & seeking refuge from Hell fire.
Let us renew the meaning of our ibadah for Allah and from now on obey Allah in religious &
worldly affairs and let us stay away from the foot steps of Shaytaan. Ameen!
All truth in this article is from Allah & all mistakes are of mine only
Syed Shanawaz
Syed_shanawaz@ymail.com
Date: November 2012
