Quranic concept of "Ibadah"
kash...@hotmail.com
"Ibadah"-Is it the same as "Worship" ?
[Note:Please read all the verses below in their Arabic]
The Arabic (Qur'anic) word 'Ibadah',comes from the word 'Abd' which means
'Slave' or 'Servant' ie a person who demonstrates complete obedience to the
Laws and commands of his master.[Al-Mawrid,Eng-Arabic Dictionary,pp 863,Al-
Asri Eng-Arabic Dictionary,pp 701,A Dictionary & Glossary of the Koran by
John Penrice,pp 94 etc]
Thus 'Ibadah' means "to be a slave or servant of-" ie "to be obedient to the
laws of-" or "to accept the sovereingty of-"
Let us see how this word has been used in the Qur'an itself and what meaning
do the Ayat of Qur'an give to the concepts underlying 'Ibadah':
In the Qur'an it is mentioned that when Moosa and Haroon delivered the
Message of God to the people of Firaun (Pharoah) their people replied (And
their reply establishes the meaning of the word 'Ibadat' 'Abada' etc):
[23:47] They said, "Shall we believe for two men whose people are
our SLAVES (AA'BI-DOON)?"
Above verse establishes the meaning of "Aa'bi-doon" as 'Slaves'.The people of
Firaoun had enslaved the Bani Israel and had made them obedient to the
dictatorial rule of Firaoun,further more this meaning is more clarified when
Moosa makes the following statement when confronting Firaoun;
[26:22]
"You are boasting that you did me a favor, while
ENSLAVING (ABU'DAT) the Children of Israel!"
In the above verses 'Aa'bid' has been shown to mean 'Slave' while 'Abada',
'to enslave'.To be kept in mind that a slave is one who is obedient to his
master and shows subservience to his laws.Now at many places in the Quran the
above words have occured ['Ibadah';'Abid';'Abd' etc] so where ever this word
occurs then it means subservience or obedience,ie accepting the sovereignty
and authority.The main message of the Qur'an is that obedience and authority
in all human affairs should be only of Allah's laws and not that of any human
being.This is clarified at many places in the Qur'an.We are reminded;
[18.110] "Say: I am only a mortal like you; it is revealed to me that your
god is one God, therefore whoever hopes to meet his Lord, he should do good
deeds, AND NOT ASSOCIATE ANY ONE IN THE SUBSERVIENCE (IBAD'ATI) OF HIS
SUSTAINER."
In above ayah it is said that we should not include any one in the 'Ibadat'
or Subservience of Allah,ie we have to follow and be obedient only to the
Laws of Allah (The Qur'an),and should not include anyone's authority upon
ourselves except that of Allah's.This is further clarified in the following
verse when it is clearly emphasised that Allah does not include anyone in his
Laws and His laws are to be obeyed in purity;
[18.26] "...and He associates in His government (HUKMIHI), no one."
Compare the arabic of the two verses quoted above.[18:110 & 18:26]
This concept of obedience of only the Laws of Allah is further clarified in
the following verse when it is said;
[3.79] "It is not meet for a HUMAN BEING that Allah should give him the Book
and the wisdom and prophethood, then he should say to MANKIND: Be Subservient
to me (IBAD'AN LI) rather than Allah; but rather (he would say): Become
sustenance providers (to mankind) because of your teaching the Book and your
studying (it yourselves)."
It is confirmed in the above verse that obedience and subservience is due to
Allah alone,and not to any human being,no matter how high a status he may
occupy.
The following verse again confirms that for Allah's 'Ibadat' the obedience is
of only the laws of Allah and no one else;
[12:40] "...Surely the Government (HUKM) is for none but Allah; He has
commanded that you shall not be subservient to (TA'BUDU) aught but Him; that
is the established 'Deen' but most of Mankind do not know:"
Above verses are very clear in describing that:
(a) Allah does not associate any one in his 'Hukm' ie Government.
(b) 'Ibadat' or subservience is only to Allah,ie we have to obey the laws
of Allah and not any human being.
Now how we become subservient to Allah's laws?,and accept his Authority
(Hukm) in our affairs is clarified in the following verse;
[6.114] "Shall I then seek a Governer (HAKAM'AN) other than Allah? When He
it is Who has revealed to you the Book (which is) detailed; and those whom We
have given the Book know that it is revealed by your Sustainer with truth,
therefore you should not be of those who doubt."
The above verse says that we have to seek Allah as a lawmaker by accepting
his fully detailed Book,thus it confirms that the Government or Authority of
Allah is established in human affairs by obedience to his Book,and not by
obeying any individual, or group of people,ie Dictators,Parliaments,
Theocracy etc.Allah does not communicate with us directly but has sent His
revelation in the form of Qur'an which establishes His laws in our lives.
Furthermore "Ibadat" or subservience to Allah is not limited to certain
activities only but encompasses all spheres of human life,be they matters of
social,economic or any other nature.Quran has guidance for all matters
requiring guidance and obedience to laws of Allah has to be in every facet
of society.There is no seperation between the worldly or spiritual according
to Quran,ie take the following verse:
[4:29]
"O you who believe, do not consume each others' properties
illicitly - only mutually acceptable transactions are
permitted. You shall not kill yourselves. GOD is Merciful
towards you."
If a person keeps the above given principle while conducting his business
then he is being a 'Slave' or 'Abd' of Allah as he is being obedient to the
Laws of Allah,and is not seeking his man made law in conducting his economic
affairs.In other words he is accepting the sovereignty of Allah in matters of
his life.
Similiarly for other social dealings, etc when we are passing judgement thru
the Book of Allah,then we are accepting the sovereignty of Allah in human
affairs.
The laws of Allah are for all levels of life and not restricted to a few
obligations only.'Ibadat' of Allah is in every department,and people who do
not govern their lives in accordance with the laws of Allah (Which is the
Quran) are identified as;
[5:44] "...Those who do not rule in
accordance with GOD's revelations are the disbelievers."
>From above verses the concept of 'Ibadat' is clarified as accepting the
sovereignty of Allah in all matters of life and being subservient and
obedient to His laws alone in all facets.
But unfortunately in many translations of the Quran this word "Ibadat" has
been translated generally as 'Worship' and this has completely changed the
concept of 'Ibadat' ie subservience and obedience to Allah alone,as given in
the Quran and changed it with that existing in man made religions.The term
'Worship' is not the correct representative of the Quranic
word'Ibadat'.'Worship' is defined as;
"Homage or reverence paid to a deity,esp in a formal service"-Oxford English
Dictionary pp 1414
"Reverence offered to a divine being or supernatural power; also : an act of
expressing such reverence: a form of religious practice with its creed and
ritual"-Websters English Dictionary
'Worship' is not being obedient and subservient to the laws of God but it is
just the reverence paid to a diety thruogh the formalistic performance of
some rituals and customs.Worship is what is known in the Urdu language as
'Pooja' and 'Parastish'.
If you observe and study the Religions of the world you will see that
'Worship' is the name of a private relationship between a worshipor and the
object of worship and is an expression of an internal feeling paying homage
to a deity through some rituals or performances.When a Hindu goes to a temple
he is going there for worship,same as Jews in a synagouge and Zoarostrians in
their fire temples etc.They don't go to their places of worship to take
guidance or become subservient to the laws of God in every matters of
life,but they go there to perform some rituals under the hope that these
rituals and creeds are what is required to get 'Salvation' in the
hereafter,and usually when the worship is completed they go back to their
daily activities and govern their matters of life in accordance with their
self made laws and standards.
In 'worship' (not 'Ibadat') ,every worshippor,be he a member of any religion
is under the assurance that he is on the right and has internal satisfaction
that he has performed his duties.There is no objective and external way to
acertain if the 'worship' of that person is producing results or not.However
a society which follows Quranic laws and are subservient to the law of Allah,
their progress can be measured and observed objectively.(How this is done? Is
a seperate issue requiring in depth analysis from some verses,which I'll
discuss some time later)
Total subservience to the Laws of Allah in all matters of life.That is what
is called 'Ibadah'.
By translating 'Ibadah' as worship the essence of Quranic laws is not
conveyed in its correct form.
People who uphold the sovereignty of Allah in their life are called in the
Qur'an as "Ibad Allah" and these are the group of people who enter into "al-
Jannah".What are their qualities? What objectives do they have ? This is a
detailed issue to be discussed seperately.
The Qur'an informs us very clearly that the very purpose of our creation is
that no human should make any other human his subject,but subjection and
subservience is due to Allah's laws only,willingly and on merit.
[51.56] "And I have not created the jinn and mankind except that they should
serve Me."
Kashif Ahmed Shehzada
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