Editorial

Understanding Why We Worship

For thousands of years, worshipping Allah has been the central message of every prophet He has sent to mankind. This common message holds several key components that enable us to construct an understanding of what worship is and why we are blessed with this solemn duty. In essence, worship is devotion, dedication, the giving of one’s self, and obedience. Allah has created humanity with the ability to choose its direction by bestowing intellect and free will upon every human being. However, He also clearly specified the path He desires us to take with the revelations He sent to His prophets. The Noble Qur’an, Allah’s final message to humanity that was revealed to the last Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), puts this into perspective in an unequivocal way:

“And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me” (Adh-Dhariyat, 56).

We either obey this command and form an awareness of what it means to worship Allah or let our worldly desires and concerns take the wheel and steer us away from the only path that deserves our undivided, unwavering devotion. So, let’s think for a moment about how we worship Allah to determine whether we are abiding by this divine decree as we are supposed to. Do we allow other pursuits in life to take a higher priority than the orders of our Creator, or do we take His message to heart and praise Him above all else by dedicating ourselves to Him above everything else and worshipping Him? Do we let our wants and needs in worldly life muddle our thoughts in worship, or do we retain our awareness that we are in His presence when worshipping Him? And do we stop to think about why we worship Him? He who needs no other but whom all of creation desperately needs demands worship from us. Of course, this is unarguably His due since He is the only one worthy of worship as the One Creator, the Almighty, whose glory is endless.

Be that as it may, there is more to His rightful demand for worship than it being His due; Allah commands us to worship Him because, in His infinite benevolence, He wants us to lift ourselves up from a base and meaningless existence and raise ourselves to the highest honor of being His servants. Moreover, He could have easily established worship only as a path to salvation, a way to enter Jannah, and avoid Hellfire but bar all of creation from ever truly being with Him. Instead, Allah made worship a means of drawing close to Him; He made His love, His jamal, and His divine personage the ultimate goal. So, we should be eternally grateful that He chose us as His servants and fully commit our hearts, minds, and bodies to work tirelessly for His rida, His good pleasure. Let us never forget that the path to Allah’s pleasure is paved with heartfelt worship instilled with keen, unbroken awareness.

I hope to see you in the October issue inshallah.

M. Galip Dönmez