WORSHIP IN AHMADIYYA

Ahmadiyya Mosque, Sweden

Sufi Sage is a sports enthusiast who is currently studying at university. Over the last few months he has offered lovely articles to this site and this is his latest:

“And I have not created the Jinn and Man but that they may worship me.” (The Holy Qu'ran, 56:58)

Sooner or later in one’s life, we all ask ourselves a fundamental question that defines us as humans. This question is the root from which I believe the human race has developed and flourished over the ages. It is a question which is rooted in the deep crevice of our nature of being driven by either fear or love; and a man comes to this question either by suffering a trauma in his life or experiencing the Greatness of God and in awe comes to it. This question is one of definition and belonging and commonly finds manifestation in the words, what is my purpose?

For Muslims, the answer is written in the Holy Qur’an but its practical application has to be lived out by us in our daily lives. Allah the Exalted has mentioned that the purpose of our existence is to become righteous through worship; many rightly take this to mean that we must observe the five obligatory prayers. But for a Muslim who is concerned with his living relationship with God, how can merely observing the five daily prayers have an effect on his moral grounding and spiritual transformation? It is not possible for one who truly desires to seek a pure relationship with God to offer the lip service of prayers and when he is not praying, to be involved in sin. One must turn ones whole life into an act of worship by living the Holy Qur’an. But how to do so?

It was asked of our beloved Prophet Muhammad’s (saw) character to one of his wives, who aptly replied by saying- ‘His whole life/morals are the practical application of the Qur’an.’ This shows that The Prophet (saw) did not only worship his Lord by praying five times a day, but outside of that, he lived the teachings and physically gave shape to Islamic morality and righteousness. This is something we should all strive towards and in doing so will rightly live the following verse.

The very first commandment in The Holy Qur’an is found in verse 22 of Surah Al-Baqarah, the second and longest chapter of The Holy Qur’an stating: 

“O ye men, worship your Lord Who created you and those who were before you so that you may become righteous.” (The Holy Qu'ran, 2:22)

This verse of The Holy Qur’an is one of my favourite because it contains so much guidance for us in achieving the purpose of our life. It is the crux of moral and spiritual reform and for us to fully understand this verse is to lay the foundations of spiritual progress. I will try to expound some of the gems I have found and what correspond to my religious belief.

To begin with, it is worth noting that the verse, the words ‘O ye men’ indicate that this verse is addressing the whole of mankind and not to the Arabs only, which shows that Islam, from it’s very beginning claims to be universal. This gives the believer a universal scope to work with per se, for ones building of faith. Universality is important for a believer because it abolishes the ideal of national religion and conceives mankind as one brotherhood.

Another salient point to remember is that God uses His attribute of ‘Lord’ or ‘Rabb’ in this verse which means, He Who creates then develops by degrees. At the birth of man, the foundation is laid for his perfect future development. If worship on his part, does not lead to the perfection of his latent powers, that worship is no worship at all. It is a mere show or lifeless form. We should all take note then, that if every prayer, every fast or even every minute of every day is not propelling us to a higher gnosis of God, then we must reassess and align our morals so that it does.

When one actively seeks to get closer to God, He in turn becomes closer to us. In a famous Hadith Qudsi and also mentioned with variation in Bukhari, Our beloved Prophet (saw) said:

“If the servant draws near to Me a hand span, I draw near to him an arm’s length; and if he draws near to Me an arm’s length, I draw near to him a fathom’s length. And if he comes to Me walking, I come to him running.” (Muhammad s.a.w.)

It is proved, therefore, that we must try to further our belief in God by practical illustration of the commandments in The Holy Qur’an and also to try to bring a new level of quality to our prayers five times a day for ‘Prayer is the spiritual apex of the believer’- Hadith.

I will end this by a short excerpt from the founder of the Ahmadiyya community, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad on the effect of prayer:

Some types of miracles are in reality the acceptance of prayer. The source of thousands of miracles that were manifested by the Prophets and the wonders that have been exhibited throughout by the saints was prayer, and it is through the effect of prayer that extraordinary events display the power of the All- Powerful. Are you aware what was the wonderful event that happened in the deserts of Arabia, that hundreds of thousands of the dead became alive within a few days, and those who had been corrupted through generations took on divine colour, and the blind began to see, and the tongues of the dumb began to flow with Divine insights, and such a revolution took place in the world which no eye had seen and no ear had heard before? It was the prayers during dark nights of one who had been totally lost in God which created an uproar in the world and manifested such wonders as had appeared impossible in the case of that unlearned helpless one. I have experience that the effect of prayers is greater than the effect of fire and water. Indeed in the systems of natural means nothing has greater effect than prayer. (Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad)