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Worship is the Road to Allah
Author : Dr. Safwan Odaybat
Date Added : 13-02-2023

 

There is no doubt that drawing nearer to Allah can`t be accomplished except through acts of worship that He has legislated and this can`t be known save through the revelation sent down on Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). Allah said to him (Prophet Mohammad): "And thus have We, by Our Command, sent inspiration to thee: thou knewest not (before) what was Revelation, and what was Faith; but We have made the (Qur’an) a Light, wherewith We guide such of Our servants as We will; and verily thou dost guide (men) to the Straight Way,- The Way of God, to Whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on earth. Behold (how) all affairs tend towards God!" {Al-Zukhruf/52-53}.

 

Worship is Allah`s Right over His slaves. He, The Almighty Says {What means}: "O ye people! Adore your Guardian-Lord, who created you and those who came before you, that ye may have the chance to learn righteousness; Who has made the earth your couch, and the heavens your canopy; and sent down rain from the heavens; and brought forth therewith Fruits for your sustenance; then set not up rivals unto God when ye know (the truth)." {Al-Baqarah/21-22}.

 

Allah The Almighty is Addressing all the people (Adore your Guardian-Lord) since all of you are His slaves and He alone is Your Lord, so if you deny that, then think: Who created you from nothing? Who transferred you from the phase of nothingness to the phase of existence? The answer is (Almighty Allah). Therefore, worship Your Lord because He is Your Lord (who created you and those who came before you, that ye may have the chance to learn righteousness). Even after He created you, you are still in need for Him. Rather, you are still and will always be in need for Him, His Teaching, His Provisions and Mercy. This is why He Says (What means): (Who has made the earth your couch, and the heavens your canopy; and sent down rain from the heavens; and brought forth therewith Fruits for your sustenance). If you need Allah this much, then (set not up rivals unto God when ye know (the truth)). {Adapted from the book [Drawing Closer to Allah: Virtue, Methods and Ranks] by Sheikh Abdullah Siraj Uldin, pp.13-14}.

 

Worshipping Allah is the essence of slavery and a slave must worship his/her Lord for in this lies pride and dignity. Humbling oneself to Allah is an act of pride and dignity and if one isn`t a slave of Allah, then he/she is a slave of other than Allah; namely wealth, desire, power or people. Therefore, one must be a slave of none but Allah alone.

 

What is the meaning of worship? Worship is performing what Allah Commanded in terms of sayings and actions while observing slavery to The Lord of The Worlds. Worship is a set of sayings and actions a slave performs out of love and lowering him/herself before Allah and drawing closer to Him.

 

This last condition sets the difference between acts of honoring and sayings of glorifying and between acts and sayings of worship to The Lord of The Worlds.

Angels bow down Before Allah in worship. He The Almighty Says {What means}: "Those who are near to Thy Lord, disdain not to do Him worship: They celebrate His praises, and bow down before Him." {Al-`Araf/206}.

 

And they bowed down before Adam to honor him. Allah Says {What means}: "When I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him of My spirit, fall ye down in obeisance unto him." {Al-Hijr/29}.

 

In Islam, it is prohibited to prostrate before other than Allah since the Prophet (PBUH) said: "If I were to order anyone to prostrate himself before another, I would have ordered a woman to prostrate herself before her husband." For more details in this regard, kindly refer to {Sunnan Al-Baihaqi: Chapter on the Greatness of Husband`s Right over his Wife}.

 

In brief, worshipping Allah, The Exalted rests on three principles:

 

First: Worship of heart, i.e. having firm belief that there is no God Worthy of Worship except Allah and there is no Lord but Him.

 

Second: Worship of acts, i.e. performing acts of worship Enjoined By Allah such as establishing prayer, giving Zakah, fasting Ramadan, performing Hajj, in addition to other obligatory and voluntary acts of worship.

 

Third: Verbal worship, i.e. performing acts legislated by Almighty Allah such as recitations, supplications and remembrance Of Allah as stated in {"Drawing Closer to Allah: Virtue, Methods and Ranks" by Sheikh Abdullah Siraj Uldin, pp.19-20}.

 

Two conditions must be met in order for worship to be accepted:

 

First: It is purely for the sake of Allah and this condition applies to worship of heart through having firm belief and testifying that there is no god worthy of worship except Allah. This purifies one`s heart and intentions from Riyaa` (Showing-off of good deeds/Being hypocrite), hidden Shirk (Polytheism) and pleasing other than Allah.

 

Second: Imitation, i.e. worshipping Allah through what He legislated. Therefore, beware not to perform an act that has no origin in Islam and consequently become an innovator. This condition applies to practical and verbal worship.

 

Worship has great effects on a Muslim`s life. Prayer refines self since Allah Says {What means}: "Recite what is sent of the Book by inspiration to thee, and establish regular Prayer: for Prayer restrains from shameful and unjust deeds." {Al-Ankabot/45}. Zakah purifies a Muslim and teaches him/her to love that which is good and beneficial to others. Fasting is forgiveness, Mercy and Pleasure From Allah towards a Muslim. Hajj illuminates a Muslim`s heart and settles his/her relationship With Allah, and the same goes for the rest of the acts of worship.

 

There are two methods to draw closer to Allah:

 

First: Through prescribed acts of worship. This is an obligation and loved by Almighty Allah (And the most beloved thing with which My slave comes nearer to Me is what I have enjoined upon him). This includes prescribed acts of worship, practical, moral and verbal commands, and things that must be deserted because they are forbidden.

 

Second: Through Nawafil (prayers or doing extra deeds besides obligatory acts of devotion). They are called as such because they bring to a person a lot of good things that none knows but Allah.

 

Abu Hurayra (May Allah Be Pleased with him) narrated: "Allah The Exalted Has Said, on the tongue of His Messenger (PBUH), (What means): "I will declare war against him who shows hostility to a pious worshipper of Mine. And the most beloved thing with which My slave comes nearer to Me is what I have enjoined upon him; and My slave keeps on coming closer to Me through performing Nawafil (prayer or doing extra deeds besides what is obligatory) till I love him. When I love him I become his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his leg with which he walks; and if he asks (something) from Me, I give him, and if he asks My Protection (refuge), I protect him." {Related by Al-Bukhari / Modesty chapter}.

 

This Hadith summarizes great meanings in little words. Before addressing methods that draw a Muslim closer to Allah, He The Most Exalted, Said (What means): "I will declare war against him who shows hostility to a pious worshipper of Mine). If this is the case, then nothing will avail such a person (One who shows hostility to a pious worshipper of Allah)."

 

Accordingly, the first step in drawing closer to Allah is not declaring war against a pious worshipper of His. Pious worshippers of Allah are hidden amongst His creatures. According to the general concept of guardianship, every Muslim is a pious worshipper Of Allah.

 

Therefore, one should have good thoughts concerning every Muslim and avoid harming him/her. At that point, Allah Will not Declare war against you; rather, He Will Bless you with peace and tranquility, so you will worship Him with high moral and try to draw closer to Him eagerly. 

 

And all perfect praise be to Allah The Lord of The Worlds. May His Peace and Blessings be upon Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.

 

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Summarized Fatawaa

What is the ruling on praying behind a disliked Imam?

 

 
Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
 
It is mildly disliked (Makruh Tanzihan) for a man—other than the permanent designated Imam (Imam Ratib)—to lead people in prayer if the majority of them dislike him due to a religiously blameworthy reason (Amr Madhmum Shar‘an), such as associating with open sinners (Fussaq), for example. As for the followers who dislike him, the prayer behind him is not disliked for them. However, if less than the majority dislike him, or if the majority dislike him for a reason that is not religiously blameworthy, then his leading the prayer is not disliked. And Allah the Exalted knows best.

Is it permissible for the guardian to give Sadaqa (voluntary charity) from the money of the orphans?

It is impermissible for the guardian to donate from the money of the orphans because he is entrusted with the safekeeping of that money, and is prohibited from donating it.

What should a person who was favored from Allah with a newborn, but couldn`t afford an Aqeeqah, do?

Aqeeqah (the sheep slaughtered on the seventh day from the child`s birth) is a desirable Sunnah for the financially able since Allah, The Exalted, charges not a soul beyond its capacity. Therefore, if the father couldn`t afford the Aqeeqah before the end of his wife`s confinement, then it isn`t due on him, and if he was able to afford it later on, then it is permissible, but if he didn`t until the child reached puberty, the latter can offer the Aqeeqah himself.

The Jurisprudential Significance of the Ḥadīth: "Whoever says, at the conclusion of the Fajr Prayer, while crossing his legs, before speaking..."
"Whoever says, at the conclusion of the Fajr prayer, while crossing his legs, before speaking: 'Lā ilāha illā Allāh, waḥdahu lā sharīka lah, lahu al-mulku wa lahu al-ḥamdu yuḥyī wa yumītu wa huwa ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīr' ten times — ten good deeds will be recorded for him, ten bad deeds will be erased from him, he will be raised ten levels, he will spend that day in protection from everything disliked and guarded from the devil, and no sin will be able to befall him on that day except associating partners with Allah" — does this noble ḥadīth apply to the imam, and what is meant by "extraneous speech"?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
It is recommended for both the imam and those praying behind him to recite, immediately after the final salām, the specific remembrance reported in the sunnah to be said before turning away from one's place of prayer. The imam then leaves his praying spot, and the act of "turning" is fulfilled when the imam faces the congregation — even without physically leaving his spot — by positioning his right side toward them and his left side toward the qiblah, and this applies even while he is engaged in supplication.
Al-ʿAllāmah Ibn Qāsim al-ʿAbbādī states in his Ḥāshiyah ʿalā al-Tuḥfah (Vol.2/P.105): "It is most virtuous for the imam, once he has given the salām, to rise from his place of prayer immediately afterward." He adds that an exception must be made for the remembrances that are specifically required to be recited before he turns away. He then notes, citing Sharḥ al-ʿUbāb: "Yes, an exception to this rising immediately after the salām applies to the Fajr prayer, due to the authentic report that the Prophet ﷺ, when he prayed Fajr, would remain seated until the sun rose." He further cites, from al-Khādim, the ḥadīth concerning one who recites, at the conclusion of the Fajr prayer while still in the position of crossing his leg to rise: "Lā ilāha illā Allāh, waḥdahu lā sharīka lah..." and the rest of the well-known ḥadīth. He comments that this makes explicit that this particular remembrance is to be recited before the worshipper turns his legs to leave, and the same applies to Maghrib and ʿAṣr, as reported in those contexts as well.
What is meant by "speech" in the relevant ḥadīth is extraneous worldly speech that is not called for after the prayer and for which there is no legitimate excuse. The remembrances reported to be recited upon concluding the prayer, however, do not fall under this category of extraneous speech, since they are themselves required by the sharīʿah.
Al-ʿAllāmah ʿAlī al-Shabrāmalsī states in his Ḥāshiyah ʿalā al-Nihāyah (Vol.1/P.551): "If someone greets a person with salām while he is occupied with reciting this remembrance [i.e., 'Lā ilāha illā Allāh...'], should he return the greeting — without this causing him to forfeit the promised reward, since he is engaged in an obligatory matter — or should he delay returning the greeting until he finishes, this being a legitimate excuse for the delay?" He continues: "I say: the more likely view is the former, and the prohibition on speech is to be understood as applying to extraneous speech for which there is no legitimate excuse. Based on this, should the worshipper give precedence to this remembrance ('Lā ilāha illā Allāh...') or to reciting Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ ('Qul huwa Allāhu aḥad')? This requires consideration, though it is not unlikely that the remembrance takes precedence, given that the Lawgiver urged hastening to it through his words 'while crossing his leg.' This is not considered ordinary speech, since it is not extraneous to what is required after the prayer."
Accordingly, it is recommended for both the imam and those praying behind him to recite this remembrance and to give it precedence over the other remembrances of the prayer, ensuring it is said before they move from their place. And Allah the Almighty knows best.

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