Sulaimon Dhikrullah
Ibaadah literally means submission or humbling one’s self. It is the total submission to the will of Allah, Arabs use tareequ muabbad to mean smooth surface, the “muabbad” there is same as “ibaadah” and it means “smooth” this is because the surface submits itself for those working on it which made it smooth. Ibadah therefore implies the total submissiveness to the will of Allah in all we do.
Technically, Ibaadah implies two things. Firstly, it means the action of a person in terms of deeds that amounts to worship. This is why Allah said in Surah Al-Hijr, Verse 99 thus: “And serve your Lord until there comes to you that which is certain”. (English – Shakir). This tells us that the actions of a man to please Allah is ibaadah such as prostrating, bowing, obedience to Allah’s command and more.
The second meaning of Ibadah is the act itself, the act of praying, the act of paying Zakaat, the act of saying the truth and more are also regarded as Ibadah. We should know that Ibadah is the purpose of creation and this is established by Allah in Surah Adh-Dhariyat, Verse 56 thus; “And I have not created the jinn and the men except that they should serve Me. (English – Shakir).
The above verse establishes that the sole purpose for creating mankind and jins is to worship Allah. The same fact was established in Suratul Tabarak where Allah says He had created life and death to know the best among mankind in deeds. We should ensure all our deeds are done to worship Allah which makes them Ibadah and all ibaadah shall be rewarded with jannah (Paradise) in the hereafter.
How do we worship?
Worship is not restricted to the regular rituals we do such as praying, fasting and more. Ibn Taymiyyah described worship as the entirety of what we do with the sole aim of pleasing Allah. Every deeds of a Muslim must be for worship; it must be for the sole aim of pleasing Allah.
This is why Allah commanded the holy prophet in Suratul An’am, Q6:162 thus: “say, indeed my prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death is for Allah, the Lord of the universe…”.
We therefore worship Allah via the statutory rituals such as praying the five daily prayers, fasting, pilgrimage, paying Zakaat etc and we also worship via the ma’malaat meaning our life endeavours by living to please Allah such as sleeping, eating, drinking, speaking and more. Uboodiyyah is the totality of ibaadah meaning devoting the whole of one’s life to the worship of Allah, this is why muadh bn jabal said “I seek refuge for my sleep just like I seek reward for qiyaamul layl” even on sexual intimacy, the prophet said “in intimacy is also sadaqah”.
All of these references further buttress the fact that everything we do to seek the pleasure of Allah is ‘Ibaadah.
What are the conditions for worship in Islam?
Worship must be in accordance with shariah (Islamic law) in terms of reason, meaning the reason for every act that could be regarded as Ibaadah must be to please Allah.
Secondly, it must be in accordance with shariah in terms of its type meaning every act that could be regarded as ibaadah must be found or categorised under the recommendations of the Qur’an and sunnah such as salat, fasting Shawwal and more.
It must also be in accordance with shariah in terms of its amount or number such as the number of fast to observe in Ramadhan, the number of rakaah to observe in each prayer and more.
It must also be in accordance with the shariah in terms of the manner at which it’s done, it must be done as prescribed by Allah and His messenger, salat must be observed in the right manner and a believer must not innovate.
Finally, it must be in accordance with the shariah in terms of time that is the time it should be done and this is why Allah said regarding salat thus:’ “indeed salat has been ordained on the Muslims at a prescribed time”. These are the conditions for validity of any act of worship in Islam.
In conclusion, every Muslim must know that ibaadah is as important as life and without ibaadah there is no life. I urge everyone to live his life as an act of ibaadah by ensuring all his endeavours goes in line with the conditions of ibaadah in order to get the desired reward from almighty Allah.
