When Almighty Allah asked us to perform all rituals (‘ibadat) such as offering prayers, giving zakah, observing fasting, performing pilgrimage, and so on, He did not mean by that mere meaningless rituals, affecting nothing in one’s inner and outer behaviour. This does not simply mean standing in prayer, giving away charity and suffering from hunger during fasting. Rather, He meant something beyond that: noble and spiritual goals of consciousness, self-discipline, total obedience, sincere worship and total surrender to the will of Allah, the Creator, the Kind, all-Aware, all-Wise and all-Knowing. All of which mean to achieve the state of being righteous and God-fearing. This is the real purpose of setting all this legislation, be it commandments or prohibitions, which we could call Fiqh al-Fiqh.
Hence, the seeker of knowledge and the wayfarer on the straight path, which leads to the pleasure of Allah, should not neglect this important aim and ignore this significant aspect while performing any form of worship. And he should not intend by performing these rituals just the mere riddance of obligatory duties upon him. Rather, he should recall the spiritual aspects of worship and its secrets. Additionally, he should multiply the intention when he rises to perform any kind of worship, in order for his deeds to be multiplied, his rank to be elevated and his faith and sincerity to increase. By achieving this, he will be of the believers whom Allah defined in His saying:
} إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِرَ اللَّـهُ وَجِلَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَإِذَا تُلِيَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُهُ زَادَتْهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَعَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ ﴿2﴾ الَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ الصَّلَاةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ ﴿3﴾ أُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ حَقًّا ۚ لَّهُمْ دَرَجَاتٌ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ وَرِزْقٌ كَرِيمٌ ﴿4﴾ {
‘The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, their hearts become fearful, and when His verses are recited to them, it increases them in faith; and upon their Lord they rely ﴾﴿2 The ones who establish prayer, and from what We have provided them, they spend ﴾3﴿Those are the believers, truly. For them are degrees [of high position] with their Lord and forgiveness and noble provision ﴾﴿4’ (Q, the Spoils of War. 8:2-4).
The one who contemplates the various forms of worship, one by one, finds this spiritual hint throughout the legislative texts that deal with the different aspects of these religious rituals. This led the first generation of the righteous predecessors, the Prophet’s Companions (May Allah’s mercy be upon them) to interact with these rituals. Most importantly, that interaction caused these rituals to have a deep influence and impact on them and on their lifestyles, as a result of these rituals being a coolness for their eyes and tranquility for their hearts.
Concerning the first practical pillar of this great religion, prayer, Almighty God explains that the purpose of prayer is to deter people from immoral behaviour and wrongdoing:
} وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ ۖ إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ تَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ ۗ وَلَذِكْرُ اللَّـهِ أَكْبَرُ ۗ {
‘And establish prayer. Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing, and the remembrance of Allah is greater’ (Q, the Spider. 29:45).
Therefore, the one whose prayer does not deter him from such bad actions should be more cautious and establish prayer as it should be established, since there must be a great fault and deficiency in him. In the sound tradition, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) says: ‘Everything has a pillar; and the pillar of the religion is prayer; and the pillar of prayer is al-khushu’ (consciousness and presence in prayer); and the best of you is the most righteous of you’. Another saying is the Prophetic tradition: ‘The one whose prayer does not prohibit him from immoral behaviour and sinful acts, it would distance him from Allah’.
On the zakah and sadaqah, Allah says:
} خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَتُزَكِّيهِم بِهَا {
‘Take sadaqah (alms) from their wealth in order to purify them and sanctify them with it’ (Q, the Repentance. 9: 103).
And on Siyam (fasting), He says:
} يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ ﴿183﴾ {
‘O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting, as it was decreed upon those before you, that you may become righteous﴿183﴾ ’ (Q, the Cow. 2:183).
Moreover, the Prophet (PBUH) states: ‘There is not [complete or acceptable] fasting without refraining from what Allah prohibited’.
Regarding pilgrimage, we find a repeated note explaining that the ultimate goal of this great form of worship is to attain piety:
} وَاتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّـهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ ﴿196﴾ الْحَجُّ أَشْهُرٌ مَّعْلُومَاتٌ ۚ فَمَن فَرَضَ فِيهِنَّ الْحَجَّ فَلَا رَفَثَ وَلَا فُسُوقَ وَلَا جِدَالَ فِي الْحَجِّ ۗ وَمَا تَفْعَلُوا مِنْ خَيْرٍ يَعْلَمْهُ اللَّـهُ ۗ وَتَزَوَّدُوا فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الزَّادِ التَّقْوَىٰ ۚ وَاتَّقُونِ يَا أُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ ﴿197﴾ {
‘And fear Allah and know that Allah is severe in penalty ﴾196﴿ Hajj is [during] well-known months, so whoever has made Hajj obligatory upon himself therein [by entering the state of ihram], there is [to be for him] no sexual relations and no disobedience and no disputing during Hajj. And whatever good you do - Allah knows it. And take provisions, but indeed, the best provision is fear of Allah. And fear Me, O you of understanding ﴾197﴿’ (Q, the Cow. 2:196 197). Similarly, the Qur’an says in the Chapter of Pilgrimage:
} لَن يَنَالَ اللَّـهَ لُحُومُهَا وَلَا دِمَاؤُهَا وَلَـٰكِن يَنَالُهُ التَّقْوَىٰ مِنكُمْ ۚ {
‘Their meat will not reach Allah, nor will their blood, but what reaches Him is piety from you’ (Q, the Pilgrimage. 22:37).
In the longest verse in the entire Qur’an (the verse of debt) which deals with juristic rulings on pure financial transactions, Allah the Exalted concludes this verse with the command to have piety, which results in beneficial knowledge, by the will of Allah:
‘And fear Allah. And Allah teaches you. And Allah is Knowing of all things﴿282﴾ ’ (Q, the Cow. 2:282).
More clearly, the Almighty states explicitly the grand and ultimate purpose of all rituals and forms of worship. This is at the outset of His glorious book, at the beginning of surat al-Baqarah (the Chapter of the Cow) when He says:
} يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اعْبُدُوا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ ﴿21﴾ {
‘O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous﴿21﴾ ’ (Q the Cow. 2:21).
Therefore, you should do nothing, O intelligent pursuer of knowledge, but recall in your worship these noble goals and great secrets. Therein, you would realise a real change in your worship and wonderful success in your dealings. In addition to that, what Allah concealed of wisdom is far greater; Allah says:
‘And of knowledge, you [mankind] have been given only a little85﴾ ﴿’ (Q, the Night Journey. 17:85).
Reference:
The Reliable Jurisprudence of Prayer; by: Al-Muatasim Al-Mawali
No comments:
Post a Comment