Islam is a holistic approach to worship
Islam
The Arabic word Islam literally means both peace, and submission to God. Those who submit to God and the guidance revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), are called Muslims. The word “Allah” is the name of God. It is a unique term which has no plural nor gender.
Islam is not a new religion. It is, in essence, the same message and guidance which God revealed to guide humanity through a chain of prophets and messengers which started with Adam (PBUH) and ended with Muhammad (PBUH).
“Say, we believe in God and that which has been revealed to us, and that which was revealed to Abraham and Ismael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes that which was given to Moses and Jesus and to other Prophets, from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him, we submit” (Qur’an 3:84).
Islam enjoins faith in One God, Who is Omnipotent, Merciful, Forgiving, and Loving. God created us pure with no original sin and He knows our weaknesses and therefore, forgives us if we sin and repent. The only unforgivable sin is to associate partners with Him.
“Say, “O My servants who have transgressed against themselves: do not despair of God’s mercy, for God forgives all sins. He is indeed the Forgiver, the Clement” (Qur’an 39: 53).
The relationship of Muslims with God is direct and intimate without intercessors. The closeness to God nourishes the souls of Muslims, seeds peace in their hearts and frees them from fear and superstitions.
“And when My servants ask you about Me, I Am near; I answer the call of the caller when he calls on Me. So let them answer Me, and have faith in Me, that they may be rightly guided” (Qur’an 2: 186).
Worship in Islam
Worship in Islam is a comprehensive meaning. It combines the mundane with the spiritual, the individual with the society, and the internal soul with the external body. Islam means to submit one’s entire life to the Will of God. Therefore, worship in Islam demonstrates this commitment and submission.
Worship includes both belief and deeds. In other words, it may include everything a person perceives, thinks, feels, says and does. It includes rituals, work, social activities, and personal behavior. Muslims are commanded to have mercy and compassion towards others, to love righteousness and hate sin. Muslims will be rewarded for all their deeds and not only the rituals.
Servitude to God
Worship entails that one obeys what God has commanded him and refrains from what God has forbidden. Therefore, worship entails the servitude to God. In fact, all creations of God submit, without choice, to the laws of God.
“To Him has submitted everything in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, and to Him, they will be returned” (Qur’an 3:83).
Muslims worship God and serve Him out of love and reverence.
Worship should be to God alone
Worship in Islam should be solely to God. This worship is direct without any intercessor. God does not tolerate any veneration of other deities besides Him. It is God alone who deserves our love and servitude. Veneration of prophets, angels, saints or martyrs, leaders, relics, statues or pictures is completely forbidden. All worship and obedience must be offered to God alone.
Faith should be confirmed by actions
Not only does Islam demands the Muslim to believe in the ultimate truths laid out in its doctrine, but it also demands that belief in God be confirmed by visible actions.
God has prescribed for Muslims five pillars. These have been prescribed on a daily basis like the daily prayers, annually like the fasting the month of Ramadan and Zakat or once in a person’s life, such as the Hajj.
Acts of worship must be done with full awareness of what one is doing and full awareness of the presence of God. Actions performed mechanically or as habits produce only automatons and do not facilitate spiritual growth.
“It is not righteousness that you turn your faces toward the East or the West, but righteous is he who believes in God and the Last Day and the Angels, and the Book and the Prophets, and gives his beloved money to his relatives and the orphans and the needy and for the ransoming of captives and who observes prayer and pays the poor-due; and those who fulfil their promises when they have made one, and the patient in poverty and affliction and the steadfast in time of war; it is those who have proved truthful and it is those who are the God-fearing” (Quran 2:177).
The purpose and benefits of Worship
God is not in need of our worship. Worship has been legislated in Islam and all other previous religions for the benefit of humanity. Worship is essential for the maintenance of spirituality in the life of Muslims. Worship in Islam trains the individual to love his Creator and to become righteous through the development of a constant and close contact with Him. God says:
“O, people! Worship your Lord who created you and those before you, that you may that you may become righteous” (Quran 2:21).
Muslims perform a minimum of five prayers daily. This maintains a close relationship with God. During these prayers, Muslims supplicate, implore, praise God, recites verses from the Qur’an. Through prayers, Muslims gain the sense of God’s presence with them at all times, i.e. God-consciousness.
Worship also creates the sense of avoiding evil within themselves and in their community and environment.
“Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing…” (Qur’an 29:45).
Performing daily acts of worship reminds the Muslim with the purpose of life and his destination which helps him to accord their lives to the Will of God.
Acts of worship are reflected in the society. When people are spiritually and morally upright, the society itself will also be upright. In such a society, kindness will be an inseparable adjective, and sin and vice will be confined and limited.
One may think that worship and obedience to God is a sort of imprisonment. On the contrary worship of God actually liberates humans from all types of subjugation except to God. Therefore, it is the true freedom that brings about security and contentment.
Intention turns our deeds into worship
Intention can turn all our deeds into acts of worship, as long as our aim is the pleasure of God. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said:
“Helping a man with his mount is an act of charity. A good word is a charity. Every step taken on the way to performing prayers is a charity. Removing an obstacle from the road is charity” (Narrated by Al-Bukhari).
Earning a living and even approaching one’s wife can become a form of worship.
“If he is working to support his small children, then it is for the sake of God. If he is working to support his elderly parents, then it is for the sake of God. If he is working to occupy himself and keep his desires in check, then it is for the sake of God. If, however, he is doing so to show off and earn fame, then he is working for the sake of Satan.” (Narrated by As-Suyuti)
“When one of you approaches his wife, it is an act of charity.” (Narrated by Muslim)
The same can be said for of eating, sleeping, working and good character traits, such as truthfulness, honesty, generosity, courage, and humbleness. All can become worship through sincere intention to satisfy God and deliberate obedience to God.
Conclusion
We may conclude that Islam is a holistic approach to worship. It combines the inner self and the outer deeds in a comprehensive concept of worship so that humans may fulfill the purpose for which God created them for.
“Indeed, my prayer, my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are for God, the Lord of the all that exists” (Qur’an 6:162).
When one achieves this state of the comprehensive way of worship, he becomes in harmony with the rest of God’s creation. All of God’s creation, submit to His laws of nature, and therefore, they are in a state of worship of God, as the Qur’an tells us.
“Do you not see that unto God bow down in worship (or submit in service and adoration) whosoever is in the heavens and whosoever is in the earth, and the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the mountains, and the trees, and the beasts, and many among mankind…” (Quran 22:18).