What is the formal Namaz? It is a special form of supplication to the Divine, but people consider it to be a tax that is due to kings. These foolish people do not even know that God Almighty has no need for such things. What need does His Independent Being have for man to pray to Him, extol His glory and praise Him, besought of all as He is?
In fact, it is man who derives benefit and reaches his objective through these means. It gives me great pain to observe that in this day and age there is no love for worship, virtue and piety.
The reason for this is the poisonous, widespread effect of evil custom. It is for this reason that the love of Allah Almighty is falling cold and people do not experience the pleasure they ought to in worship. There is nothing [in the world] which, according to the design of Allah the Almighty, does not give pleasure or satisfaction in some form.
A person who is ill cannot derive pleasure from even the most exquisite and delicious food, and considers it to be bitter or completely tasteless. So too is the case with those people who derive no pleasure and delight from the worship of God. Such people should worry about their ill state.
For as I have just said, there is nothing on earth, which Allah the Exalted has not instilled with the characteristic of granting pleasure in some form or other. Allah the Exalted has created man so that he may worship Him. Why then would there be no pleasure and delight in this worship? There is definitely pleasure and delight in worship. If only there were those who would take it. Allah the Exalted states:
وَ مَا خَلَقۡتُ الۡجِنَّ وَ الۡاِنۡسَ اِلَّا لِیَعۡبُدُوۡنِ
“And I have not created the Jinn and the men but that they may worship Me.”
Now when the very purpose of man’s creation is worship, it is necessary for there to be immense pleasure and satisfaction in worship. We can appreciate this very well from our daily observation and experience.
For example, grain, along with all the things that we eat and drink, has been created for humans. Do they not then derive a pleasure and satisfaction from these things? Does man not possess a tongue so that he can experience the taste, flavour and sensation that is associated with these things? Does man not derive pleasure from looking at beautiful things, whether plants or minerals, animals or other human beings? Do the ears not derive pleasure from attractive and beautiful voices? Then is any further argument required to establish the fact that there is pleasure to be derived in worship?
Allah the Exalted states, “We have created man and woman as mates and we have inclined man towards his mate.” God has not made it so by way of coercion, but rather, He has encouraged by way of pleasure. If procreation and reproduction was the only intended purpose, this would not fulfil the actual objective.
In a state of nakedness, shame would prevent a man and woman from having intimate relations with one another. However, God has made this process a source of pleasure and satisfaction for both man and woman. This pleasure and satisfaction is so great that there are some ignorant people who do not even care for children, and the only thing that they are interested in is pleasure.
The actual purpose of God Almighty was the continuation of human beings, and for this objective, He fostered a relationship between man and woman and as a secondary element, invested this relation with pleasure, which for many unwise people has become the only intended purpose.
In the same manner, bear well in mind that worship is no burden or tax. This too possesses a pleasure and satisfaction; and this pleasure and satisfaction is far greater than all the delights of this world and all carnal pleasures.
Although there is pleasure in the mutual relation between man and woman, only such men can derive satisfaction from this who are in the full possession of their faculties. An impotent man or a eunuch cannot find pleasure in such relations.
Moreover, just as an ill person remains deprived of the pleasure of even the finest and most exquisite foods, so too is precisely the case with the unfortunate person who does not find pleasure in worshipping Allah.
(Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, Malfuzat, Vol. 1, p. 156-157)