2: Pre-requisites of Worship
Let's dissect and analyze the two pre-requisites to better understand them.
1. Sincerity
Sincerity is one of the distinguishing traits of Islaam. Any worship of a Muslim is always marked with the essence of sincerity, for deficiency in this category is akin to shirk which is a grave sin in the religion.
Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
قَالَ اللَّهُ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى أَنَا أَغْنَى الشُّرَكَاءِ عَنْ الشِّرْكِ مَنْ عَمِلَ عَمَلًا أَشْرَكَ فِيهِ مَعِي غَيْرِي تَرَكْتُهُ وَشِرْكَهُ
Allah Almighty said: Verily, I have no need of any partners. Whoever performs a deed in which he associates another besides me, I will abandon him and his partner.
(Saheeh Muslim 2985)
If sincerity is lacking in our worship, Allah will abandon us and leave us with what we worshipped besides Him. It will mean nothing. All those years of action, running around, crying, and worshipping will be rendered worthless.
Allah says,
وَقَدِمْنَا إِلَىٰ مَا عَمِلُوا مِنْ عَمَلٍ فَجَعَلْنَاهُ هَبَاءً مَّنثُورًا
And We will regard what they have done of deeds and make them as dust dispersed.
-Surah Furqan, Ayah 23
Imagine, actions shall become null and void due to it not meeting the first essential criteria of sincerity.
So, what is Sincerity?
Sincerity (Ikhlaas) means that you cleanse your heart and purify it from everything else except Allah. An action of sincerity is an act that was done for Allah alone.
Allah says,
وَمَا أُمِرُوا إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ
And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, [being] sincere to Him in religion
-Surah Bayyinah, Ayah 5
Why is this point being stressed?
Because there are people who do a lot of worship so much so that they spend days and nights on it. Yet, what they are doing is for other than Allah.
Allah says,
قُلْ هَلْ نُنَبِّئُكُم بِالْأَخْسَرِينَ أَعْمَالًا الَّذِينَ ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ يَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ يُحْسِنُونَ صُنْعًا
Say, [O Muhammad], "Shall we [believers] inform you of the greatest losers as to [their] deeds? [They are] those whose effort is lost in worldly life, while they think that they are doing well in work."
-Surah Kahf, Ayah 103-104
The concept of sincerity is so important that all the prophets were sent to establish this very factor. Allah says,
وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِي كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَّسُولًا أَنِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ وَاجْتَنِبُوا الطَّاغُوتَ
And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, [saying], "Worship Allah and stay away from Taghut."
-Surah Nahl, Ayah 36
{Taghut refers to any person/thing that is worshipped and is pleased with being worshipped.}
The message of all the prophets, from Adam AS to Muhammad ﷺ was to worship Allah alone without partners; To worship him in sincerity.
Allah says,
وَاعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ وَلَا تُشْرِكُوا بِهِ شَيْئًا
Worship Allah and associate nothing with Him
-Surah Nisa, Ayah 36
2. In accordance with Sunnah
This means Allah is not worshipped except in the manner He has ordained and sanctioned through Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. In fact, one of the four constituents that believing in Prophet ﷺ entails is that we not worship Allah except in the way he ﷺ legislated.
Allah says,
قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Say, [O Muhammad], "If you should love Allah, then follow me, [so] Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."
-Surah Al-e-Imran, Ayah 31
If these two decisive conditions are present, then our actions will no doubt be one of the best, In shaa Allah.
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top