Requirements of Worship
What Allah primarily and fundamentally requires from humans is that they humble themselves before Him, and this is the essence of worship (‘ibadah). However, a person was not created in a vacuum but placed in a world filled with diverse situations. Therefore, it is necessary for a worshiper’s sense of servitude (‘ubudiyyah) to be expressed in all aspects of life within the material world. This expression of worship takes several forms:
1. Obedience in Daily Life: One aspect of worship stems from external circumstances. Whenever a person faces a choice in life between following the path of God, their own self, or other false deities, their sense of service compels them to abandon all other options and select the one prescribed by their Lord. The God they devote themselves to should also be the one they demonstrate obedience to in practice. This form of worship, influenced by circumstances, is also known as “obedience.” This obedience applies at home, in the workplace, in the marketplace, in parliament, and in all other areas of daily life.
2. Calling Others to Worship: The second aspect is that which arises in relation to other human beings. All those people who live on this earth yet remain unaware of their Lord—and because of this unawareness are moving toward permanent failure in the Hereafter—create a serious concern in the heart of the believer. This realization compels him to strive to guide them as well to the path of God’s worship that he himself has chosen. This is the form of worship that manifests itself in relation to other human beings, and its other name is shahada (bearing witness) or tabligh (conveying the message of God).
3. Community within the Muslim Ummah: For those who have already embraced faith, Allah wants them to build a strong community with mutual support and advice. The Quran calls this tawasi bil-haqq (advising each other to truth) and tawasi bis-sabr (advising each other to patience). Another way to describe this is amr bil-ma‘ruf (enjoining good) and nahi ‘anil-munkar (forbidding evil). This represents the third form of a life of worship, relevant within the community of worshipers themselves.
4. Supporting the Religion of God: When God’s religion faces any form of threat, worship involves dedicating oneself to its protection. Although this is not a separate requirement, we highlight it under a distinct heading to emphasize its particular importance.
Let us understand each forms of worship mentioned above one by one in the next pages.
