Allah had created us and gave us all we need to survive food, clothing, shelter, etc. But He didn’t just leave us like this, instead, He sent us prophets to show us the way to Him, to teach us the purpose of our existence.
Allah said in chapter 51:56: (I have only created Jinns and Humans only to worship me).
Abdullah Ibn Abbas (RA) said every time Allah mentions the word worship in Quran it’s to mean to single out Allah in worship, meaning if you worship Allah but at the same time you appoint partners to him your deeds will be rejected because your worship to Allah will only be beneficial to you if there was no Shirk in it.
Allah said in chapter 5:72 (whosoever sets up partners in worship with Allah, then Allah has forbidden Paradise for him, and the Fire will be his abode. And for the Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers) there are no helpers).
In the Quran Allah mentioned to us that all prophets came to their people with the same message, they all preached Tawheed which is to worship Allah Alone without partners, Allah said in chapter 21:24 (And We sent not before you any messenger except that We revealed to him that, “There is no deity except Me, so worship Me).
If we take a moment after reading this verse, and the two verses mentioned earlier we can understand two important things.
1- The importance of Ebada (worship).
2- The danger of Shirk.
And that is actually the meaning of Tawheed, which is also the right of Allah upon his slaves. It was narrated by Mu’adh bin Jabal (RA): I was riding a pillion with the Prophet (PBUH) on a donkey. He (PBUH) said, “O Mu’adh, do you know what is the right of Allah upon His slaves, and what is the Right of His slaves upon Allah?” I said: “Allah and His Messenger know better”. Upon this, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, “Allah’s Right upon His slaves is that they should worship Him Alone and associate nothing with Him, and His slaves’ right upon Him is that He should not punish who does not associate a thing with Him.” He (Mu’adh) added: I said to the Messenger of Allah: “Shall I give the glad tidings to people?” He (PBUH) said, “Do not tell them this good news for they will depend on it alone”. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
There are important things that we can understand from this Hadith.
1. Who purifies Tawheed (from Shirk..etc) will enter Paradise without giving an account, which is the good news Mu’ahd (RA) wanted to tell everyone.
2. Tawheed cannot be established without worship, so one must worship Allah to complete his Tawheed.
3. We can also understand that the biggest sin is Shirk.
If we understood that there is one important thing that we must know, WHAT IS EBADAH (WORSHIP).
Ebada (worship) means humiliation to Allah Almighty out of love and veneration, by doing His commands and avoiding His prohibitions, in the manner in which His laws came, It is also the comprehensive name for all that Allah obliges and is pleased with of words and actions, both inward and outward, such as prayer, zakat, fasting, Du‘aa (supplication), Tawakkul (trust and reliance), Isti‘aanah (appealing for aid and assistance), Isti‘aadhah (seeking refuge), Istighaathah (seeking deliverance and rescue), Dhabh (sacrificing) and other types of worship which Allaah has commanded, all of them are to be done exclusively for Allaah the Most-High.
We all know about Prayers, Zakat, and fasting but some people don’t consider Tawakkul or Isti‘aanah or supplication for example as a type of worship which is why we see many people who are committing Shirk without even knowing it.
In this article, we will see evidence from the Quran that proves all of these actions are actually types of worship we should not ascribe any of them to anyone but Allah.
- The evidence that supplication is worship is what Allah said in chapter 40:60 (Your Lord has said: ‘Call on Me and I will answer you. Those who are too proud to worship Me shall enter Gehenna utterly abject) Also in chapter 72:18 (And the places of worship are for Allah (alone): So invoke not anyone along with Allah).
- The evidence of Tawakkul is what Allah said in chapter 5:23 (And in God you must place your trust if you are [truly] believers!).
- The evidence of Isti‘aanah is what Allah said in chapter 1:5 (You (alone) we worship; and You (alone)we rely on help).
- The evidence of Isti‘aadhah is what Allah said in chapter 113:1 (Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of the Mankind).
- The evidence of Istighaathah is what Allah said in chapter 8:9 (Remember when you sought the aid and deliverance of your Lord, and He responded to you).
- The evidence of Dhabh is what Allah said in chapter 6:162 (Say: My prayer and my sacrificing and my living and my dying are all for Allaah alone, the Lord of the whole of creation).
After knowing what Ebada (worship) is, our top priority must be to avoid Shirk which is ascribing any of these kinds of worship to anyone with Allah. Some people when they have a problem or want something whether in this life or the afterlife, instead of calling upon Allah directly they actually take mediators between them and Allah, by calling upon the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) or righteous people and relying on them, and seeking refuge and help from them, not knowing that this is Shirk, because they say we are not worshiping them we only ask them because Allah loves them and we want them to get us closer to Allah, and they forget that the people of Quraish at the time of the prophet used to do the same thing about their idols except the people of Quraish knew that this was worship.
Allah said in chapter 39:3 (Sincere and true obedience is due to Allâh alone. Those who choose others as a patron beside Him (say), `We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allâh in the station.’ (It is absolutely wrong.) Allâh will judge the differences between these (believers and disbelievers). Indeed, Allâh does not guide him to success who is a liar, and highly ungrateful).
Allah also said in chapter 10:18 (They worship, other than Allah, that which can neither harm nor benefit them and say: ‘These are our intercessors with Allah. ‘ Say: ‘Will you tell Allah of something He does not know about either in the heavens or earth? Exaltations to Him! Exalted be He above what they associate!’).
These two verses show us that the pagans of Quraish didn’t think that their idols were equal to Allah, but when they call on them and gave blood sacrifice to them Allah showed us that this is Shirk and called them liars and disbelievers and promised them Hell-Fire if they didn’t repent.
The right of Allah upon His creation is to worship Him sincerely and not assign any partners to Him in any kind of worship.
Allah said in chapter 30:38:
(And if you asked them, “Who created the heavens and the earth?” they would say, “Allah.” Say, “Have you considered those you call upon, apart from Allah? If Allah desires some harm for me, could they remove His harm, or if He desires some mercy for me, could they withhold His Mercy?” Say, “Allah is enough for me. On Him, the reliant rely”).
Allah also said in chapters 27:61-62
(Or Who is it that made the earth a resting place; and made the rivers flow in it, and raised (on the earth) firm mountains for its advantage, and put a barrier between the two glasses of water? Is there a god with Allâh? Nay, not so, yet most of them do not know the truth. (61) Or Who is it that answers the distressed person when he calls on Him and removes (his) distress? And Who is it that makes you (the) rulers in the land? Is there any other god with Allâh? Little is the heed you take!).
In these two verses, Allah is teachings us something really important, that the one who created the earth and heaven and controls everything is the one we should call upon, depend on and rely on, seek for help and refuge so if we need something we must only ask Allah, if we are sick we ask Allah to heal our sickness if we want to do something we rely and depend on Allah knowing that nothing could happen unless Allah wills it to be.
