IMPORTANCE OF WORSHIP IN ISLAM BY GULFAM

Concept of Worship In Islam : 

Concept of Worship In Islam Submitted By: GULFAM ASAD Submitted To: SIR IJAZ ATHAR

INTRODUCTION : 

INTRODUCTION The definition goes something like this: “Worship is an all inclusive term for all that God loves of external and internal sayings and actions of a person.” In other words, worship is everything one says or does for the pleasure of Allah. This of course, includes rituals as well as beliefs, social activities, and personal contributions to the welfare of society.

LINGUAL MEANINGS : 

LINGUAL MEANINGS . The word which the Holy Quran has used for worship is ‘Ibadat, which means submission to God and service to Him. The word “worship” denotes in the English language what is termed as “adoration\admiration.” The word ‘Ibadat denotes the act of becoming ‘Abd, namely, slave. Consequently, the full connotation of the term ‘Ibadat is to hand over or deliver oneself solely to God. In other words, the worshipper has to negate himself entirely and affirm the supremacy and absolute authority of God in all respects.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPORTANCE : 

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPORTANCE The importance of worship may be seen in the fact that it has been prescribed by God in all religions prior to Islam.  God said in the Quran: “And assuredly We have sent among every people a messenger (with the command): worship God…” (Quran 16:36)

Cont……….…… : 

Cont……….…… The most general meaning of worship in Islam is inclusive of everything which is pleasing to God, whether they deal with issues of belief, or deeds of the body.  It may include everything a person perceives, thinks, intends, feels, says and does.  It also refers to everything that God requires, external, internal or interactive.  This includes rituals as well as beliefs, work, social activities, and personal behavior, as human being is a whole, such that every part affects every other.

Prescribed Ways of Worship : 

Prescribed Ways of Worship The Five Pillars Of Faith: Prayer “ Sallah” Fasting “ Sayam” Charity “ Zakat” Pilgrimage “Haj” Jihad

Prayer “ Sallah” : 

Prayer “ Sallah” Salah is the daily ritual prayer enjoined upon all Muslims as one of the five Pillars of Islam.  It is performed five times a day by all Muslims.  Salah is a precise worship, different from praying on the inspiration of the moment.  Muslims pray or, perhaps more correctly, worship five times throughout the day: ·   Between first light and sunrise. “ Al Fajr” ·   After the sun has passed the middle of the sky. “Al Zuhr” ·   Between mid-afternoon and sunset. “ Al Asr” ·   Between sunset and the last light of the day. “ Al Magrib” ·   Between darkness and midnight. “ Al- Isha”

Importance of Sallah : 

Importance of Sallah Aaayah: “Verily, I am Allah. There is not God but I: So serve thou Me (only) and establish regular prayer for celebrating My praise.”11 “Successful indeed are the Believers, those who humble themselves in their prayers.” [Al-Qur’an 23:1-2] Hadith- Nabwi: The Prophet (p) further emphasized: “Those who offer their salah with great care and punctuality, will find it a light, a proof of their faith and cause for their salvation on the Day of Judgment.”

Fasting “ Sayam” : 

Fasting “ Sayam” Fast of Ramadan, occurs once each year during the 9th lunar month, the month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar in which: “…the Quran was sent down as a guidance for the people.” (Quran 2:185)   Fasting in Islam involves abstaining from all bodily pleasures between dawn and sunset. Fasting helps Muslims develop self-control, gain a better understanding of God’s gifts and greater compassion towards the deprived. All things which are regarded as prohibited is even more so in this month, due to its sacredness..  Each and every moment during the fast, a person suppresses their passions and desires in loving obedience to God.  This consciousness of duty and the spirit of patience helps in strengthening our faith

Importance of Sayam: : 

Importance of Sayam: Aayat: “O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint.” [Al-Qur’an 2:183]

CHARITY “ ZAKAT” : 

CHARITY “ ZAKAT” Zakah (obligatory annual charity) is an important pillar of Islam. In the Qur’an, Salah and Zakah have mostly been mentioned together. Like Salah, Zakah is a manifestation of faith that affirms that God is the sole owner of everything in the universe and what men hold is a trust in their hand that God expects them to discharge.

Slide 12: 

Zakah is a means of redistribution of wealth in a way that reduces differences between classes and groups. It makes a fair contribution to social stability. By purging the soul of the rich from selfishness, and the soul of the poor from envy and resentment against society. Aaaya: Hadith- Nabwi S.A.W:

HAJ : 

HAJ Al-Hajj (pilgrimage to the House of God in Makka). This very important pillar of Islam manifests a unique unity, dispelling all kinds of differences. HOUSE OF GOD BASIC PRINCIPLES OF HAJJ EQUALITY FREE FROM ALL SINS IMPORTANCE OF HAJJ

Slide 14: 

The Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) is the fifth of the fundamental Muslim practices and institutions known as the five pillars of Islam.  Pilgrimage is not undertaken in Islam to the shrines of saints, to monasteries for help from holy men, or to sights where miracles are supposed to have occurred, even though we may see many Muslims do this.  Pilgrimage is made to the Kaaba, found in the sacred city of Mecca in Saudia, the ‘House of God,’ whose sanctity rests in that the Prophet Abraham built it for the worship of God.  God rewarded him by attributing the House to himself, in essence honoring it, and by making it the devotional epicenter which all Muslims face when offering the prayers (salah).  The rites of pilgrimage are performed today exactly as did by Abraham, and after him by Prophet Muhammad, may God praise them. Pilgrimage is viewed as a particularly meritorious activity.  Pilgrimage serves as a penance - the ultimate forgiveness for sins, devotion, and intense spirituality.  The pilgrimage to Mecca, the most sacred city in Islam, is required of all physically and financially able Muslims once in their life.  The pilgrimage rite begins a few months after Ramadan, on the 8th day of the last month of the Islamic year of Dhul-Hijjah, and ends on the 13th day.  Mecca is the center towards which the Muslims converge once a year, meet and refresh in themselves the faith that all Muslims are equal and deserve the love and sympathy of others, irrespective of their race or ethnic origin.  The racial harmony fostered by Hajj is perhaps best captured by Malcolm X on his historic pilgrimage: ‘Every one of the thousands at the airport, about to leave for Jeddah, was dressed this way.  You could be a king or a peasant and no one would know.  Some powerful personages, who were discreetly pointed out to me, had on the same thing I had on.  Once thus dressed, we all had begun intermittently calling out “Labbayka! (Allahumma) Labbayka!” (At your service, O Lord!) Packed in the plane were white, black, brown, red, and yellow people, blue eyes and blond hair, and my kinky red hair - all together, brothers!  All honoring the same God, all in turn giving equal honor to each other . . . That is when I first began to reappraise the ‘white man’. It was when I first began to perceive that ‘white man’, as commonly used, means complexion only secondarily; primarily it described attitudes and actions.  In America, ‘white man’ meant specific attitudes and actions toward the black man, and toward all other non-white men.  But in the Muslim world, I had seen that men with white complexions were more genuinely brotherly than anyone else had ever been.  That morning was the start of a radical alteration in my whole outlook about ‘white’ men. There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world.  They were of all colors, from blue-eyed blonds to black-skinned Africans.  But we were all participating in the same ritual displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to believe never could exist between the white and the non-white...  America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem.  Throughout my travels in the Muslim world, I have met, talked to, and even eaten with people who in America would have been considered white - but the ‘white’ attitude was removed from their minds by the religion of Islam.  I have never before seen sincere and true brotherhood practiced by all colors together, irrespective of their color.” Thus the pilgrimage unites the Muslims of the world into one international fraternity.  More than two million persons perform the Hajj each year, and the rite serves as a unifying force in Islam by bringing followers of diverse backgrounds together in worship.  In some Muslim societies, once a believer has made the pilgrimage, he is often labeled with the title ‘hajji’ ; this, however, is a cultural, rather than religious custom.  Finally, the Hajj is a manifestation of the belief in the unity of God - all the pilgrims worship and obey the commands of the One God. At certain stations on the caravan routes to Mecca, or when the pilgrim passes the point nearest to those stations, the pilgrim enters the state of purity known as ihram. In this state, the certain ‘normal’ actions of the day and night become impermissible for the pilgrims, such as covering the head, clipping the fingernails, and wearing normal clothing in regards to men. Males remove their clothing and don the garments specific to this state of ihram, two white seamless sheets that are wrapped around the body.  All this increases the reverence and sanctity of the pilgrimage, the city of Mecca, and month of Dhul-Hijjah. There are 5 stations, one on the coastal plains northwest of Mecca towards Egypt and one south towards Yemen, while three lie north or eastwards towards Medina, Iraq and al-Najd.  The simple garb signifies the equality of all humanity in God’s sight, and the removal of all worldly affections.  After entering the state of ihram, the pilgrim proceeds to Mecca and awaits the start of the Hajj.  On the 7th of Dhu al-Hijjah the pilgrim is reminded of his duties, and at the commence of the ritual, which takes place between the 8th and the 12th days of the month, the pilgrim visits the holy places outside Mecca - Arafah, Muzdalifah, and Minaa - and sacrifices an animal in commemoration of Abraham’s sacrifice.  The pilgrim then shortens or shaves their head, and, after throwing seven stones at specific pillars at Minaa on three or four successive days, and heads for the central mosque where he walks seven times around the sacred sanctuary, or Kaaba, in the Great Mosque, and ambulates, walking and running, seven times between the two small hills of Mt. Safaa and Mt. Marwah.  Discussing the historical or spiritual significance of each rite is beyond the scope of this introductory article. Apart from Hajj, the “minor pilgrimage” or umrah is undertaken by Muslims during the rest of the year.  Performing the umrah does not fulfill the obligation of Hajj.  It is similar to the major and obligatory Islamic pilgrimage (hajj), and pilgrims have the choice of performing the umrah separately or in combination with the Hajj.  As in the Hajj, the pilgrim begins the umrah by assuming the state of ihram.  They enter Mecca and circle the sacred shrine of the Kaaba seven times.  He may then touch the Black Stone, if he can, pray behind the Maqam Ibrahim, drink the holy water of the Zamzam spring.  The ambulation between the hills of Safa and Marwah seven times and the shortening or shaving of the head complete the umrah.

JIHAD : 

JIHAD

Role of ISLAM in our different fields of life. : 

Role of ISLAM in our different fields of life. Economy Political System SCIENCE Sociology Economy Health History Political System SCIENCE Sociology

Economy : 

Economy Economic principles of Islam Economic life of Islam The major concept of equality

Political System : 

Political System Three basic principles of politics in Islam Tawhid (unity of ALLAH) Risalat (prophethood) Khilafit (vicegerency)

Science : 

Science The Quran amazing Formation of universe Evolution of stars Conquest of space

Sociology : 

Sociology Moral system of Islam What is the spiritual path in Islam and what is its place in the life as a whole? Power ball is fire ball