Syed Adil Ahmad, Missionary, USA
All of us are slaves to something. Instagram likes, shoe collections, athletes, the companies that we work for – slaves to ourselves even. As believers, we channel an intrinsic desire to humble ourselves by worshipping and submitting ourselves to the Creator of the heavens and the earth.
No one is ever actually free. There are billions of dollars poured into marketing and advertising every day, so that we can presume we bought or did something out of our own choice, when actually, we are being bought and sold by the second every waking moment.
The question is, how do we sell ourselves to Allah Almighty? Like any product that is brought into your possession when you purchase it, we need to become possessions of Allah Almighty. At every instance, the following thought must prevail in our minds, that “God owns me, and He’s watching me, and I have to answer to Him.”
The five daily prayers
One way to worship Allah, or in other words, show Allah that He owns you, is, of course, Salat – the five daily regular prayers. How great would we think we are if we had five meetings with Lebron James, Lionel Messi or Elon Musk every single day? If there was someone who met the president of the United States even just two times a day, faint whispers of jealousy and awe would follow behind them, as we relish over the opportunity to even daydream such a circumstance.
So then what about Allah, who created and brought into existence every particle around us out of nothingness? We get to meet Him five times a day. Is He not more powerful than Lebron James, Lionel Messi, Elon Musk and the president of the United States?
وَلِلّٰہِ مُلۡکُ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالۡاَرۡضِ ؕ وَاللّٰہُ عَلٰی کُلِّ شَیۡءٍ قَدِیۡرٌ
“And to Allah belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; and Allah has power over all things.” (Surah aal-e-Imran, Ch.3: V.190)
Do we want to be with someone who has actual power, or someone who has the illusion of power?
The Promised Messiahas stated the following:
“If even a single pious man lives in a village, then on account of that pious man and for his sake, Allah the Almighty protects that whole village from destruction. However, when destruction comes, it encompasses everyone. Nonetheless, through some way or means, God still saves His servants. It is the practice of Allah that even if a single pious person remains, others are also saved on their account.” (Malfuzat [1984], Vol. 3, p. 262)
This is the power that Allah can give us. Provided with our piety and righteousness, our single presence can protect our society.
People who are married know every single detail of their partner’s lives. They meet them every day. The more we meet Allah, the more we will know about Him, and a true slave never stops wanting to be near his master.
Worship of Allah means that we are also thankful for everything He has given us. If we are to become possessions of Allah Almighty, then we would not want to act in a way that Allah considers us impure, so as not to hold us in His merciful hand.
Profanity
One of our weaknesses is profanity. Freely throwing around curse words or partaking in futile idol talk because we want to fit in, or because we don’t want to sound too smart to not have any friends.
The Promised Messiahas has said: “Uttering profanities will foster hatred, therefore, always keep your tongue under control.” (Malfuzat [1984], Vol. 3, p. 346)
Profane language and the general lack of decent speech keep the mind at a low level. Petty fights, errant jealousies and a reactionary mindset become your character norm because of a literal inability to think at a higher level. Small words, small minds.
We can worship Allah Almighty by cleansing our speech. The cleaner our minds, the better we can absorb the greatness of Allah. You wouldn’t want to sleep in a room with a dirty carpet, so why would Allah visit you if your heart and mind are in the same state?
Allah Almighty paints various scenes of heaven in the Holy Quran. We will recline on couches, have rivers that flow underneath us, all sorts of fruits and foods, and He also says:
وَهُدُوٓاْ إِلَى ٱلطَّيِّبِ مِنَ ٱلۡقَوۡلِ
“And they will be guided to pure speech.” (Surah al-Hajj, Ch.22: V.25)
Pure speech is a reward that Allah will give us. Profanity keeps your mind shackled, so if we clean up our speech, we can have a part of heaven on earth.
Anger
Another way to worship Allah, is to control our anger. Allah Almighty describes righteous people as the following:
الَّذِیۡنَ یُنۡفِقُوۡنَ فِی السَّرَّآءِ وَالضَّرَّآءِ وَالۡکٰظِمِیۡنَ الۡغَیۡظَ وَالۡعَافِیۡنَ عَنِ النَّاسِ ؕ وَاللّٰہُ یُحِبُّ الۡمُحۡسِنِیۡنَ
“Those who spend in prosperity and adversity, and those who suppress anger and pardon men; and Allah love those who do good.” (Surah aal-e-Imran, Ch.3: V.135)
When we get carried away with our anger, we begin to ascribe a sort of godliness to ourselves, presuming that we have the right to judge someone, get angry at them, and punish them for often trivial matters.
We cannot be like Allah Almighty in everything, but we can be merciful and forgiving. Anger is the easy path, but the reward lies in the struggle to overlook, forgive and move on. The lives of too many people, for too long a time, have been subjected to unwarranted trauma because of the anger they face, and even the anger they inflict.
Anger has the potential to destroy, but on the flipside, our mercy has the potential to build.
The Promised Messiahas has said:
“Often a battle ensues between ostentation and forbearance. At times, in contradiction to the Book of Allah, man shows anger. Upon hearing abuse, his inner self becomes incensed. Righteousness demands that one ought to suppress their anger, as stated in the Quran:
وَاِذَا مَرُّوۡا بِاللَّغۡوِ مَرُّوۡا کِرَامًا
‘And when they pass by anything vain, they pass on with dignity.’ (Surah al-Furqan, Ch.25: V.73)
“Many a time, an individual is also required to fight against impatience. This means that a person is confronted with such a multitude of difficulties whilst treading a path of righteousness that it is difficult to attain one’s objective, and thus, such a one becomes impatient. For example, if someone wanted to dig a well fifty cubits deep, but they stopped digging after a mere two or three cubits, this is mere pessimism. Now, the condition of righteousness is that one should fulfil the commandments that have been enjoined by Allah the Exalted to the end and not become impatient.” (Malfuzat [English], Vol. 1, p. 22)
Bonds of compassion
Lastly, another form of the worship of Allah is maintaining the bonds of compassion amongst ourselves.
اِنَّمَا الۡمُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ اِخۡوَۃٌ فَاَصۡلِحُوۡا بَیۡنَ اَخَوَیۡکُمۡ وَاتَّقُوا اللّٰہَ لَعَلَّکُمۡ تُرۡحَمُوۡنَ
“Sure [all] believers are brothers. So make peace between brothers, and fear Allah that mercy may be shown to you.” (Surah al-Hujurat, Ch.49: V.11)
This verse lays special stress on Islamic brotherhood. Allah Almighty has declared us in the Holy Quran as family until the end of time, which means we don’t decide who our family is; it has been decided for us.
The commentary on this verse is as follows:
“Islam tolerates no discord or dissensions between brothers. If there happens to arise a quarrel or dispute between two Muslim individuals or groups, other Muslims are bound at once to bring about reconciliation between the quarrelling parties. Islam’s real strength lies in this ideal of brotherhood which transcends all barriers of caste and color.” (Five Volume Commentary, Ch.49: V.11)
Malice and hatred for your own brother is a type of hell that we suffer from. This is one of the rewards of heaven mentioned by Allah Almighty:
وَنَزَعۡنَا مَا فِیۡ صُدُوۡرِہِمۡ مِّنۡ غِلٍّ اِخۡوَانًا عَلٰی سُرُرٍ مُّتَقٰبِلِیۡنَ
“And We shall remove whatever of rancour may be in their breasts [so that they will become] as brothers [seated] on thrones, facing one another.” (Surah al-Hijr, Ch.15: V.48)
The Promised Messiahas states:
“Our community cannot flourish until we truly have compassion for each other. We ought to use all our faculties to love those who are weak.” In other words, whatever abilities and faculties we have been granted, we should utilise those and show love to those who are weak, instead of displaying hatred or contempt.
“I often hear that when an individual sees another stumble, rather than extending him courtesy, that individual looks at him with abhorrence and disgust.”
The Promised Messiahas stated this is wrong, and further said:
“A community can only be formed when people conceal the faults of one another and treat one another like true brothers.” (Malfuzat [1984], Vol. 3, pp. 348-349)