A Heartfelt Plea

Increase your passion for Worship

Maulana Muhammad Imran Attari

(Supervisor of the Central Executive Committee of Dawat-e-Islami)

Develop your passion for worship!

The primary reason for our existence is to recognise Allah through worship. By sincerely worshipping Him in the truest sense of the word, we draw closer to Him, the Unique and Unparalleled. Both the Quran and Sunnah repeatedly guide us to dedicate our worship to the one true Lord. Just as Allah Almighty states:

یٰۤاَیُّہَا النَّاسُ اعۡبُدُوۡا رَبَّکُمُ الَّذِیۡ خَلَقَکُمۡ

“O people! Worship your Lord Who has created you and those before you”[1]

Allah Almighty also says:

وَ مَا خَلَقۡتُ الۡجِنَّ وَ الۡاِنۡسَ  اِلَّا لِیَعۡبُدُوۡنِ  ( ۵۶)

 “And I have created Jinn and human beings only for this, that they should worship me”[2]

He also mentions in relation to how long this worship should continue for:

وَ اعۡبُدۡ رَبَّکَ حَتّٰی یَاۡتِیَکَ الۡیَقِیۡنُ  (۹۹)

 “And remain worshipping your Lord, until death.”[3]

Unfortunately, there are many who have given precedence to this world over the Hereafter, leading them to become involved in useless activities and sins, and thereby becoming heedless of that ultimate purpose.

Worshipping Allah Almighty does away with dependency

The final Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم says, “Allah Almighty states, ‘O son of ˈĀdam! Devote yourself for my worship; I will fill your chest with richness, and I will close the door of your dependency. And if you do not do this, then I will fill both your hands with [fruitless] preoccupations and not close the door of your dependency.’”[4]

The purport of this narration is:

Dedicate your heart to the worship and obedience of Allah, meaning, engage in your daily tasks with your hands while keeping Him in your heart. This does not suggest that we neglect our worldly responsibilities or deprive ourselves and our dependents of sustenance. The realm of the heart operates differently. If we can truly embrace this approach, our lives will, by Allah’s grace, be blessed and our hearts will find peace.

However, if you occupy yourself with the concerns of the world, allowing them to take root in your heart, then you will work and worry more, but you will only receive that which is destined for you; you will remain ‘poor’ despite being wealthy. Tranquillity of the heart is an immense bounty of Allah Almighty; it is attained through remembering Him.[5]

We must also keep in mind that we must not worship Allah Almighty out of ostentation and to gain the approval of people, rather, we must worship Him to attain His pleasure. Let us read the benefits in the Hereafter of such worship:

Sincere worship will take one to Paradise

On the Day of Judgement, Allah Almighty will address the one who sincerely worshipped Him: “By My Might and My Glory, what was your intent by worshipping me?”

He will reply, “By Your Might and Your Glory, You know my intention better than me. My intention in worshipping You was to remember You and [gain] Your pleasure.”

Allah Almighty will say, “My slave has spoken the truth. Take him to Paradise.”[6]

Those who possess knowledge of the Quran and Hadith, and act by them, have a unique way of performing worship. Other than carrying out their obligatory and necessary acts of worship, earning a sufficient livelihood and fulfilling the rights of people, they spend their entire lives learning and teaching sacred knowledge, performing abundant voluntary acts of worship, observing voluntary fasts, and reciting the Quran day and night.

The four Imams and their love for worship

Imam Abū Ḥanīfa رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه: He continuously fasted for 30 years, offered Fajr with the ablution of Isha for 40 years, completed the entire holy Quran in one cycle of prayer for 30 years, and finished a recital of the sacred Quran every morning and night during Ramadan, as well as on the day of Eid al-Fitr. He completed 7,000 recitals of the noble Quran in the place he passed away.[7]

Imam Mālik رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه: He would spend the entire first night of the Islamic month and the night of Friday in worship, as well as a part of the other nights of the month. He would also recite a portion of the noble Quran at the time of dawn.[8]

Imam ShāfiꜤī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه: He would finish a recital of the noble Quran every night, as well as completing one every night during Tarawih in Ramadan. Earlier on (during his student years), he would spend a third of the night in worship, a third in sleeping, and a third in seeking knowledge. Later on, he would spend the whole night in worship, and this remained his practice until he left this world.[9]

Imam Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه: He would recite the whole Quran in the day and night. He would also recite a seventh of the holy Quran every day, and like this, would complete another recital every seven days. After Isha, he would briefly sleep before spending the rest of the night in heartfelt salah and supplication until dawn. He never left night vigil, and offered 300 cycles of ṣalāh in every day and night.

When he was jailed for 28 months due to his unwavering adherence to the truth in a certain matter, he was whipped, cut with swords, and tortured in other ways, causing him to fall ill and become weak, yet he continued to offer 150 cycles of voluntary prayers every day and every night.[10]

Shaykh ꜤAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī’s passion for worship

Shaykh Abū Abdullāh Muhammad b. Abi al-Fatḥ al-Harawī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه states, “I served Shaykh ꜤAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ for forty years. During this time, he would offer Fajr with the ablution of Isha. Whenever his ablution would become invalid, he would renew it at once and then offer two cycles of (voluntary) salah.”[11]

It is my appeal to all devotees of the Prophet that you worship your Lord sincerely, whilst acting upon the noble Quran and sacred hadith, and adopting the way of the pious predecessors. May Allah Almighty grant us all the ability to act upon this.

اٰمِیْن بِجَاہِ خاتَمِ النَّبِیّیْن صلَّی اللہ علیہ واٰلہٖ وسلَّم