Tag Archives: salah

Pillars of Ibadah (Worship)

Posted in Ibadah by

As worship was the sole reason for our creation. It is important for us to make sure that all our are acts of worship are performed in a correct manner. In order for an act of worship to be complete it must contain three vital elements:

1) Fear – which repels a person from those things that anger Allah.

2) Hope – which causes a person to anticipate the mercy of Allah.

3) Love – causes the hearts to be content with the commands and prohibitions of Allah.

So these three are the pillars of Ibadah (worship). Understanding how to combine these three qualities into the worship (ibaadah) of Allah is one of the most essential things that every Muslim must grasp, not least because every sect which has drifted from the Straight Path has strayed in the aspect of worship.

This can be seen through contemplation of Surat Al-Fatihah.

First ayah: “All Praise is for Allah, Lord of the worlds” (1:1)

We praise him for his favours he bestows upon us, his kindness and good treatment. So this necessitates that we have Love for Allah.

Second Ayah: “The Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy” (1:2)

Allah is the Most merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. So we hope that Allah has mercy upon us.

Third ayah: “Master of the Day of Judgement ” (1:3)

This contains intimidation and fear from the day of ressurection, and the verdict we may face due to our evil actions.

So if someone observes only one of them he is astray. Whoever worships Allah with love only, resembles the soofiyah, who say ‘we don’t worship Allah fearing the fire, or hoping in his mercy we only worship him because we love him. ‘ This is a clear error as the messengers and angels (the best of creation), fear Allah and place hope in him.

“Verily, they used to hasten to do good deeds, and they used to call on us with hope and fear, and used to humble theselves before us” (21:90)

“those whom they call upon (besides Allah) desire (for themselves) means of access to their lord, as to which of them should be the nearest. And they hope in his mercy and fear his punishment” (17:57)

Whoever worships Allah upon Hope only, resembles the murj’ah, those who depend on hope only, not fearing their sins and disobedience.

Whoever worships Allah upon fear only resembles the khawarij, those who adhere to the texts of threat only, and abandon the texts of the promise, forgiveness and mercy.

After these three verses, the next ayah is:

“You alone we worship, and your aid do we seek” (1:4)

‘You alone do we worship’, so we worship Allah with these three, love, Hope and fear. Because al-Ibadah is not actualised without these three. So these are the pillars of worship, love, Hope, and fear. And directing these to other than Allah is shirk.

[Source: Some of the Benefits of Surat Al-Fatihah, by Skaykhul-Islam Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahaab. Explained by Skaykh Saalih Ibn Fawzan al Fawzan. Publisher: Troid]