Acts of Worship in Islam and its esoteric Message

As soon as a person becomes a Muslim by declaring "There is no god except Allah", he is required to start praying five times day, fast in the month of Ramadan, pay alms to poor, and make pilgrimage (Hajj) to the House of Allah in Mecca. It is reported in countless narrations that those who will perform these obligatory acts, will have their religious obligations fulfilled. However, as there is a body and a soul of a human being - a body without a soul is no human at all - so also all the acts of worship have their corresponding effects. Unless those acts of worship (body in this case) produce the desired effects, they will be considered deficient. We will now explore each act of worship separately insha'Allah.

Prayer (Salah in Arabic, Namaz in Farsi, Urdu, Bangla):

Islam has commanded its followers to pray five times a day observing all the obligatory actions in the prescribed ways. Prayer is the best among all acts of worship. The Holy Prophet of Islam (SAW) says:

"Prayer (Salat) is such a pillar of religion that if it is accepted by Allah other deeds are also accepted but if it is rejected other deeds are also rejected ".

Almighty Allah says in a sacred tradition:

Allah, the Exalted said: I made five times' prayers obligatory on your people, and I took a guarantee that if anyone observes them regularly at their times, I shall admit him to Paradise; if anyone does not offer them regularly, there is no such guarantee of Mine for him. (Sunan Ibn Ma'jah)

The Holy Qur'an has mentioned about performing prayer in more than eighty places. So, what is it that makes the prayer so important in Islam?

The people of Paradise will ask each other about the guilty ones in Hell:

What has brought you into hell? They shall say: We were not of those who prayed (Qur'an 74:42-43)

Just as when a man bathes five times during the day, his body becomes clean, similarly, five-time daily prayers cleanses a man of his sins. But one thing should be borne in mind that if a person who offers prayers but does not devote attention to it is like a man who is not offering prayers at all. In the Holy Qur'an, Allah says:

Woe to the worshippers who are unmindful of their prayers. (Qur'an 107:4-5)

Apparently the hypocrites during the time of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) used to pray just to be seen and hence they prayed only sluggishly:

Surely the hypocrites strive to deceive Allah, and He shall requite their deceit to them, and when they stand up to prayer they stand up sluggishly; they do it only to be seen of men and do not remember Allah save a little. (Qur'an 4:142)

Prayer must be offered with hearts concentrated on Allah with utmost humility. If prayer is offered in such a way, Allah guaranteed success:

Successful indeed are the believers, who are humble in their prayers (Qur'an 23:1-2)

Once when the Holy Prophet (SAW) arrived in the Mosque, he saw a man who while offering his prayers was not properly performing Ruku' and Sijda (Bowing and Prostration). He then said: "If this man dies under this condition, he will not die as a Muslim."

It is incumbent upon Muslims to offer their prayers honestly and sincerely and while doing so they must remember as to whom they are addressing themselves, and should be fearful of properly performing the acts of prayers so that they may be rewarded with the full benefits of offering prayers.

Regarding the benefits of offering prayers the Holy Qur'an says:

Surely prayer keeps (one) away from indecency and evil, and certainly the remembrance of Allah is the greatest, and Allah knows what you do. (Qur'an 29:45)

Honestly speaking it is exactly the same because the discipline and orderliness in offering prayers are such that if one strictly follows them he can never fall a prey to evil deeds.

To cite an example, one of the precepts of prayer is that neither the place nor the dress worn by the worshipper should be illegally obtained, so much so that even if a single thread that is woven into his dress is illegally obtained his prayers would not be accepted. Moreover, prayer is only acceptable when man is free from greed, jealousy and other evil intentions. As a matter of fact, greed and jealousy are the sources of many other evils.

If certain people despite offering their prayers, indulge in evil deeds, the reason is that they have not given due consideration to the conditions for prayers. This results in the non-acceptance of their prayers and consequently they are deprived of its benefits.

The Islamic jurists have laid so much stress on prayers that one is not exempted from offering it even at his death bed. lf someone cannot utter Surah Hamd (the first chapter of the Holy Qur'an) and other supplications, he should do so in his heart. If he cannot stand in prayers, he can offer his prayers in a sitting position and if that is also not possible he can do so by lying down. In short, prayer is not exempted in any circumstance. If someone is in a state of emergency that is, he is in the battlefield or if he fears an attack from the enemy, and he cannot find a right direction to Qibla (Holy Ka'bah) he must offer his prayers in any direction out of sheer exigency. Thus the stress is on offering prayers in any condition or eventuality. Even if a man is drowning he should offer his prayers through signs.

As mentioned earlier, it is a condition of prayer that one must abstain from sinful deeds. So, if one sincerely perform prayers with the intention of nearness to Allah, he will surely be able to stay away from all forms of evil deeds and his prayer will be acceptable to Allah.

Fasting (Siyam in Arabic, Roza in Farsi, Urdu, Bangla):

Fasting (staying away from food, drinks and other things that invalidate fasting) is another important acts of worship in Islam. It is incumbent upon every adult person to observe fast during the month of Ramadan. That is, in obedience to Allah's command, he should, from the time of Adhan of morning prayers till the Maghrib (Dusk) time, abstain from things which invalidate the fasting. In Islam, the importance of keeping fast has been greatly emphasized. Islam, as a matter of fact, attaches great importance to this act. The spiritual reward for observing fast is so great that although Allah has fixed its reward beforehand, He ascribes it to Himself saying:

"Fasting is for me and I will give its reward."

Fasting with its specific conditions is very effective as it prevents man from sensual desires and purifies his soul from all pollutions. The Holy Prophet (SAW) addressing Jabir bin Abdullah Ansari said:

"O Jabir! This is the month of Ramadan. Anyone who observes Fasts during the day and keeps awake during the night in the worship of Allah, protects his stomach from the forbidden things, remains aloof from all corruptions and keeps a check on his tongue, will become purified of his sins at the termination of this month ". Jabir said: "O Holy Prophet of Allah! How good is this tidings? " The Holy Prophet replied: "O Jabir! But its conditions are very hard".

Similarly, Imam Ja'far Sadiq (A.S) says:

"Fasting is a strong shield against the blazing Fire of Hell".

In various narrations, the month of Ramadan has been given pleasant names such as "The Holy Month " and the "Spring-time of recitation of the Holy Qur'an " but "The Month of Allah" is by far the best and the most appropriate name .

There is no doubt that all months belong to Allah but because of its importance, the month of Ramadan is called the Month of Allah and this name in fact carries a special significance of spiritual distinction. It is this very month during which the Holy Qur'an was revealed:

The month of Ramadan is that in which the Qur'an was revealed, a guidance to men and clear proofs of the guidance and the distinction; therefore whoever of you is present in the month, he shall fast therein, and whoever is sick or upon a journey, then (he shall fast) a (like) number of other days; Allah desires ease for you, and He does not desire for you difficulty, and (He desires) that you should complete the number and that you should exalt the greatness of Allah for His having guided you and that you may give thanks. (Qur'an 2:185)

On the commencement of the month of Ramadan, the gateway to Divine Mercy is opened to Allah's servants. And the people who observe Fasts develop in themselves a passion for worship, and spiritual and moral refinement.

The Holy Prophet on the last Friday of the month Sha'ban said about the greatness and significance of the "Month of Allah" as follows:

"O people! The Month of Allah with all its blessings, bounties and means of salvation is approaching towards you. This is the month which is best of all the months in Allah's esteem. Its days are the best days; its nights are the best nights; and its moments are the best moments. This is the month during which you are invited by Allah as His guest and you have been blessed with His Mercy and Kindness. In this month every breath that you take carries a reward of glorification of Allah and when you sleep you will have a recompense of worship. In this month when you invoke and implore Allah, He will grant your invocation. Thus, with all your sincerity and purity of heart pray to Allah that He may grant you the willingness to observe Fast and recite the Holy Qur'an, because unlucky is the man, who deprives himself from receiving Allah's Mercy and salvation in this month ".

In the Holy Qur'an, Allah says:

O you who believe! fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may guard (against evil). (Qur'an 2:183)

Islam commands its followers to observe Fast during the month of Ramadan. By keeping one month's Fast, Muslims in fact are able to inculcate in themselves the spirit of Taqwa (Piety), because when a man restrains himself from fulfilling his body's natural demands, he can as well equally abstain himself from following the dictates of his temptations. There is no doubt about it that Islam for the purpose of enabling the man who observes Fast to attain the exalted position, not only considers it good enough for him to abstain from eating and drinking but it also ordains that man should control himself from all those things which tempt him to commit sins or let him go astray in following the satanic temptations and the unbridled wicked desires.

Scholars of Islam have recorded countless traditions describing the benefits of Fasting. Some of them are recounted below:

The Holy Prophet said:

Engage yourself in self-struggle (Jehad-e-Nafs) through the means of hunger and thirst, whose reward is equivalent to the reward of those who participated in the armed struggle for Allah’s sake. There is nothing more superior before Allah’s sight than tolerating hunger and thirst during fasting.

He also said:

The one who tolerates more hunger as well as ponder deeply about Allah as compared to others, will be assigned higher exalted positions before their Lord on the Day-of-Judgment.

Also, he said to Asma:

Oh Asma! If you may act in a manner in a manner that when the angel of death approaches you, he should find you hungry and thirsty. If you do it you will attain the most exalted positions, will join the ranks of prophets, will make angels happy, and will earn the divine salutations for yourself.

And said:

Keep your stomachs hungry and thirsty, and make your bodies used to handships, perhaps your hearts will then have a chance of seeing Allah’s glory.

Allamah Tabatabai has narrated the following story in his book "Light Within Me":

Once during the days of the former Prophets three persons were traveling together. At nightfall they set out in three different directions with a view to get food, but agreed to assemble next morning at a particular place at an appointed time. One of them was already invited by some person. The second man also by chance became the guest of someone. The third man had no place to go to. He said to himself that he should go to the mosque to be the guest of Allah. He passed the night in the mosque, but could get no food. Next morning they assembled at the appointed place and each one of them related his story. At that time the Prophet of the time received a revelation to the following effect: "Tell Our guest that We were his host last night and wanted to provide him with sumptuous food, but found that there was no food better than hunger.

Also, in the narration of Prophet’s heavenly journey (Meraj) the following have been narrated:

Oh Ahmad! Do you comprehend the outcome of fasting? ‘No.’ Replied the Holy Prophet (SAW). ‘The outcome of fasting is less-eating and less-talking.’ Replied Allah, then explained the outcome of silence and less-speaking as follows:

The result of silence is wisdom; the result of wisdom is enlightenment; the result of enlightenment is certainty; and when a person attains the exalted position of certainty, then he does not care how does he start his day, whether with ease or hardship, and tragedy or comfort. Such is the state of those who have attained the position of content, and whoever attains this position acquires three inseparable characteristics: thanks (shukr) not contaminated with ignorance, invocation (dhikr) not mixed with forgetfulness, and love not mixed with the love of others.

Whoever love Me in this manner do not intermingle the love of others with My friendship; I too love him and make others to love him; would make his heart’s eyes opened, so that he could witness My Splendor and Majesty; would not deprive him for the knowledge and enlightenment bestowed by Me upon others; in the midst of night’s darkness as well as during the brightness of the day I would whisper and communicate with him, so that he becomes disgusted with other’s company; would have him listen to My speech as well as the speech of My angels; My secrets which I keep hidden from others would become manifested upon him. Would saturate his wisdom with My enlightenment (marefat) and would sit Myself in place of his wisdom; would make the pang of death and its hardships easier for him so that he would enter inside the Paradise with ease and comfort. When the angel of death would descend upon him would speak to him: Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Allah is anxiously waiting for you.’

The narration continues:

At this point Allah would speak to him: ‘this is My Paradise, make yourself at home, and this is My neighborhood in which you would be dwelling forever.’ Then the soul would say: ‘Oh my Lord! You have introduced Yourself to me and after identifying You I became detached with your entire creation. By Your Splendor and Majesty I swear that in order to earn Your pleasure if I have to be slaughtered seventy times with extreme suffering and tortures, even then Your consent would have been the most dearest and desirable thing for me.’ At this point Allah would speak to him: ‘I swear with My Splendor and Majesty that from now on there will never be any veil between Me and you, that you may see me whenever you desire so; that is the way I treat My friends.’

Imam Jafar Sadiq said:

The fast-observer should consider himself as Hereafter’s traveler, should remain in the state of humility, fear, self-degradations, and like a servant fearing his master should remain afraid of Allah; his heart should remain pure from defects and contaminations, and his inner self should be free from every thing except Allah; must sacrifice his entire friendship and intentions for Him and must purify his heart from all other friendships except Allah’s; must surrender his eyes and soul to Him; must commit his soul for His remembrance; must utilize his body in Allah’s path and  must keep it distant apart especially the tongue from all sorts of sins and indecencies. Whoever has observed these limitations had indeed discharged his obligations from fasting properly, and whoever has shown negligence to discharge these obligations has wasted his fast and would not be benefited from its reward.

Paying Alms (Zakat/Khums):

Muslims are required to pay Zakat and Khums to the poor when their wealth is above a certain specified level at the end of year.

Most of the verses of the Holy Qur'an where Prayer has been mentioned, it has also mentioned about paying the poor-rate (Zakat):

And keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and bow down with those who bow down (Qur'an 2:43)

Surely they who believe and do good deeds and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate they shall have their reward from their Lord, and they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve (Qur'an 2:277)

Khums (one-fifth on certain items of earnings) has been mentioned in the Holy Qur'an:

And know that whatever thing you gain, a fifth of it is for Allah and for the Apostle and for the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer, if you believe in Allah and in that which We revealed to Our servant, on the day of distinction, the day on which the two parties met; and Allah has power over all things (Qur'an 8:41)

Paying alms to the poor has an element of purifying and cleansing:

Take alms out of their property, you would cleanse them and purify them thereby, and pray for them; surely your prayer is a relief to them; and Allah is Hearing, Knowing (Qur'an 9:103)

It must be remembered that paying alms does not mean that one can earn money in a forbidden way and paying Zakat will relieve him from the sin. Rather, Zakat should be considered as a thankfulness to Allah for providing the sustenance for us and we should hope that Allah will accept our alms and purify us from any unintentional deficiencies we had in our earnings. We should also pay the alms out of love for Allah:

It is not righteousness that you turn your faces towards the East and the West, but righteousness is this that one should believe in Allah and the last day and the angels and the Book and the prophets, and give away wealth out of love for Him to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for (the emancipation of) the captives, and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate; and the performers of their promise when they make a promise, and the patient in distress and affliction and in time of conflicts-- these are they who are true (to themselves) and these are they who guard (against evil) (Qur'an 2:177)

It should also be remembered that spending in the way of Allah must not be followed by injury:

(As for) those who spend their property in the way of Allah, then do not follow up what they have spent with reproach or injury, they shall have their reward from their Lord, and they shall have no fear nor shall they grieve. Kind speech and forgiveness is better than charity followed by injury; and Allah is Self-sufficient, Forbearing. O you who believe! do not make your charity worthless by reproach and injury, like him who spends his property to be seen of men and does not believe in Allah and the last day; so his parable is as the parable of a smooth rock with earth upon it, then a heavy rain falls upon it, so it leaves it bare; they shall not be able to gain anything of what they have earned; and Allah does not guide the unbelieving people. (Qur'an 2:262-264)

Pilgrimage (Hajj):

If prayer, fasting and alms-giving prepare a Muslim to stay away from evil deeds, make him fearful of Allah, Hajj (Pilgrimage) prepares a Muslim to completely surrender to Allah as is required of a Muslim:

O you who believe! enter into submission one and all and do not follow the footsteps of Satan; surely he is your open enemy (Qur'an 2:208)

The preparation for total submission begins even before one makes the journey for Hajj. First of all, he has to make a will for his property lest he not come back after performing Hajj. He asks forgiveness from all the members of his family and friends for anything he had previously done to them. He makes preparation so that his family will be well taken care of while he is gone for Hajj. He even gets in shape (physically) so as to perform all the rites of Hajj properly. His heart is filled with a great sense of longing to see his Host - and what a Host is He - Who has invited him to His House in Mecca to make the Hajj:

 Perform the pilgrimage and the visit (to Makka) for Allah (Qur'an 2:196)

And proclaim among men the Pilgrimage: they will come to you on foot and on every lean camel, coming from every remote path, that they may witness advantages for them and mention the name of Allah during stated days over what He has given them of the cattle quadrupeds, then eat of them and feed the distressed one, the needy. Then let them accomplish their needful acts of shaving and cleansing, and let them fulfill their vows and let them go round the Ancient House (Qur'an 22:27-29)

He learns well all the proper Adab (etiquettes) for Hajj and he just can't wait to benefit from them.

When he stops at one of the Meeqats (out side Mecca) to take off his stitched clothes and put on the Ihram (two white pieces of cloth), he makes firm determination in his heart as if he has taken off the clothes of defiance to Allah and put on the clothes of obedience to Him. He also makes intention to detach himself from show off, hypocrisy and controversial issues. When he washed himself before wearing the Ihram, he already made the intention to wash off his sins and wrongdoings. When he actually puts on the Ihram, he makes the intention of being cleansed with the light of absolute repentance to Allah alone and releases from all commitments towards anything other than Allah. As he prays the two Rakas (unit) of prayer and makes Tabbiyah (I am present at Your service, O Allah), he makes the intention of getting nearer to Allah which is the greatest of all virtues. While pronouncing the Talbiyah, he keeps on remembering that all obedience is to Allah alone and he also relieves himself from all disobedience to Allah.

He then proceeds to the Holy House of Allah (Ka'ba) in Mecca. His heart is beating fast. As he enters the Haram (Ka'ba), he makes the intention to make Haram (prohibited) on himself backbiting (Gheeba) his fellow Muslims. He feels in his heart that he is headed towards Allah.

Now, as he begins to do the Tawaf (circumambulation) of the Ka'ba, he makes the intention of escaping to Allah and he feels in his heart that Allah has acknowledged it from him. When he is about to touch the Hajar Aswad (Black-stone), he realizes its sanctity (Hurmah) and does not want to void it with disobedience to Allah or by earning his living from prohibited means. As he prays two Rakas at the Station of Ibrahim (A.S), he acknowledges that he has understood every obedience and distances himself from all disobedience. While he prays at that sacred place, he prays with the prayer of Ibrahim (A.S) and he defeats with his voice the Devil's nose.

He then proceeds to the well of Zamzam and looks into it and drinks from it with the intention of looking into obedience and lowered his gaze from disobedience. As he proceeds to do the Sa'iy between Safa and Marwa (two small hills), he realizes that a Muslim's station is between hope and fear. He hopes for absolute mercy of Allah and is fearful of His Wrath.

While proceeding to Minaa, he has decided in his heart to give all people the security (Amn) from his tongue, heart and body. As he proceeds to stand in Arafa and ascends the Mountain of Mercy, he realizes that Allah has the knowledge of everything and He knows his book of records and He even knows the secret of his heart. At the Mountain, he prays for Allah mercy upon all believing men and women.

He proceeds to Muzdalifa, prays two Rakas and picks up pebbles. He knows that this is prayer of thankfulness that erases all difficulties and brings all relief. When he passes by the two flags, he makes the intention not to divert neither right nor left off of the True Religion with his heart, tongue or limbs. His heart feels like the people of piety and fear for Allah.

He then proceeds to Minna to throw the pebbles, shave the head and do the sacrifice. He feels in his heart that Allah has already granted what he asked for and Allah has fulfilled all his need. When he throws the pebbles, he knows that he is indeed throwing at his enemy (Iblis) and realizes that he has disobeyed him (Iblis) by completing his Hajj. His shaving of his head symbolizes cleansing from all impurities and sinful deeds. His heart is now free of all sins as if he is a new-born child. He realizes the significance of the saying of the Prophet of being forgiven of all sins for an accepted Hajj.

As he slaughters the sacrifice, he knows that this symbolizes the slaughtering his own greed by the truth of piety by following Ibrahim's (A.S) Sunnah (way) of slaughtering his son who was his heart's fruits and flower.

Finally, he proceeds to Mecca to make the final Tawaf and say good-bye to the House of Allah. His heart is completely tranquil and he has realized his absolute dependence on Allah's mercy. He is in total obedience to Allah's will and he holds tightly to Allah's love. He fulfilled his obligations and feels that he has gotten closer to Allah as never before.

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the universe.