IBADAH = SERVICE

IBADAH - One of the most important words of Islamic theology and also one of the most
misunderstood word by the so called Muslims. Traditionally “Muslims” interpret ibadah as an
act of ritualistic performances to please “God” which they term as WORSHIP and according to
them it’s a supreme act of “obedience to the Almighty.”

The common Muslims think that Ibadat (worship) is an easy tool by which they can please or
twist the arm of the “God Almighty” to change His decisions.

According to Oxford dictionary the word worship means the feeling or expression of reverence
and adoration for a deity or god, to admire greatly, take part in rituals.

The word ibadah and its derivatives are mentioned 275 times in the “Quran”. By this we can
judge its gravity and importance to the message of the “Quran”.

The root word of ibadat is ‫ ع ب د‬- ʿayn bā dāl- The basic meaning is to serve, adore and to
worship. The most suitable and apt meaning of a b d is to serve because sincere service to Rabb
only can take us to our respective goals. We cannot fool the Rabb by mere rituals, lip service or
some exercise recognize by us as an act of worship. The requirement for the fulfillment of our
goal is sincere service with full devotion towards Our Rabb. We cannot establish our relation on
the basis of mere rituals and sycophancies and expect miracles to happen. This is a very wrong
concept of service generally recognized as Ibadah (worship) by Muslims.

Sincere service is the only eligibility for his help and guidance that will yield right results… َ‫ِإيَّاك‬
ُ‫ستَ ِعين‬ ْ ‫الص َِّرا َط ا ْل ُم‬
ْ َ‫ – نَ ْعبُ ُد َوإِيَّاكَ ن‬It is You we serve and You we ask for help - ‫ستَ ِقي َم‬ ِ ‫ – ا ْه ِدنَا‬Guide
us to the established path.

Ibadah is a simple Arabic word which means service, whether you serve yourself,
your employer, your family or your Rabb this word can be used in that context. Can we
fool our employer by just praising him day and night and expecting him to pay us the
salary, can we serve our family by doing nothing except indulging in rituals. We cannot
even fool our own stomach by just pretending to eat, for that we have to actually serve it
with food, rituals will not work there. So how can we expect to fool our Rabb by just
performing rituals and not doing any actual work or service?

I am compelled to say that the term IBADAH if interpreted as worship is an insult to human
intellect and indirectly questions the Justice and Wisdom mechanism of Almighty God. The term
servant (abd) is also used for enemies who will overcome the believers (17:5). The purpose
of the Book and the Revelation is to serve Allah (39:2) that does not mean we should indulge
ourselves in senseless rituals to please Him. For sincere and devoted service to our Rabb we
should first understand Al-Kitab (The Book) and the Revelation (Nazil) to know the
facts (Haq) before the act of service.

Misinterpretation of this simple word Ibadah is the cause of all the turmoil in the “Muslim
World”. “Muslims are under the impression that their rituals are the best in the world and on the
basis of performing mere rituals they can please their “God” and excel in the world and
"hereafter". Can only rituals be sufficient enough to change anybodies plight? Why do we recite
the surahs five times a day and offer praises; weren’t the surahs actually meant for us. Then why
do we recite it to “God” when actually it was sent for mankind to understand and act in that
manner. What type of service is this? Isn’t it blind worship? Are we not making a fool of our
intellect ? No logic, in fact just keeps us preoccupied. Reciting “Blanket, blanket, blanket,
blanket,….” for even a thousand times will not make you warm, for getting over the cold you
have to get up and go get a blanket for yourself. It’s as simple as that. Why can’t the “Muslims
use their brains and introspect?

People who don’t subscribe to their rituals or cannot recite the verses of “Quran are termed as
ignorant or hiding the truth (Kafir) and they are meant to be killed to earn a place in “paradise”,
situated at 7th heaven. This type of killing in the name of “God” is also considered as ibadah.
How can killing of the innocent be an act of worship. The fact is they only emphasize on rituals
of reading the “Quran” without understanding it and they foolishly have termed it as an act of
Ibadah. Relying on fake scholars or rote reading of “Quran” is not Ibadah or service. We very
well know that it does not serve the purpose, still we are fooling ourselves.

Dear brothers and sisters wake up from the slumber please don’t fool yourself, understand the
real ibadah which can work wonders for you. This futile ibadah in the name of rituals is taking
you nowhere. It is just wasting your time, energy and resources. We cannot be content by merely
performing the rituals and satisfying ourselves that fine I have performed the rituals and now I
will get what I have wished for. No! You cannot ‘Buy’ or ‘Bribe’ the omniscient “God” with
your senseless rituals; we have to work for it honestly. Your Lord God is wise, you are just
fooling yourself.

This world is your field, if you cannot deliver your responsibilities and duty, then you are
َ ‫سنَةً َو ِقنَا‬
َ َ‫عذ‬
a failure in this world and the hereafter - ‫اب َر َّبنَا آ ِتنَا ِفي ال ُّد ْن َيا‬ َ ‫سنَةً َو ِفي ْاْل ِخ َر ِة َح‬
َ ‫َح‬
‫ النَّ ِار‬2:201 – The word world comes first in this prayer then the word hereafter or last
period of your life, if you didn’t pay attention to your world then nobody can help you.
Allah helps those who help themselves (8:53, 13:11). Service to self is the service to
God is the short message of these verses.

LET’S SEE SOME VERSES RELATED TO IBADAH AND HOW THEY ARE USED IN
THE “QURAN”:

1) ‫س َرا ِئي َل‬ َ ‫ي أَ ْن‬

ْ ‫عبَّدتَّ َب ِني ِإ‬ َ ‫ – َو ِت ْلكَ ِن ْع َمةٌ تَ ُم ُّنهَا‬Here the word Ibadat is used when Moses said to
َّ ‫ع َل‬
Pharaoh that you have enslaved Bani Israel (26:22) - 2nd person masculine singular
(form II) perfect verb

2) ‫ – َوالَ يُش ِْر ْك ِب ِعبَا َد ِة َر ِِّب ِه أَ َحدًا‬And not to associate anyone with the service of his Rabb –
(18:110) - Genitive feminine noun

3) َ‫ َو َما ِلي الَ أ َ ْعبُ ُد الَّذِي فَ َط َرنِي َو ِإلَ ْي ِه ت ُْر َجعُون‬- "It would not be reasonable in me if I did not serve
Him Who created me, and to Whom ye shall (all) be brought back (36:22)
 َ ‫ع ْبدًا ِ ِّم ْن ِعبَا ِدنَا آت َ ْي َنا ُه َرحْ َمةً ِم ْن ِعن ِدنَا َو‬
4) ‫علَّ ْمنَاهُ ِمن لَّ ُدنَّا ِع ْل ًما‬ َ ‫ فَ َو َجدَا‬- And they found a servant from
among Our servants to whom we had given mercy from us and had taught him from Us
a [certain] knowledge – (18:65)

5) ‫َص ًّيا‬ َّ ‫ش ْي َطانَ كَانَ ِل‬

ِ ‫لرحْ َم ِن ع‬ َّ ‫ش ْي َطانَ ِإنَّ ال‬ ِ ‫ َيا أَ َب‬- "O my father! Serve not Satan: for Satan is
َّ ‫ت الَ تَ ْعبُ ِد ال‬
a rebel against Most Gracious – (19:44)

NOW THE QUESTION IS HOW DO WE SERVE OUR RABB IF WE CAN’T SEE HIM?

We can serve our Rabb by serving it with good and positive thoughts. By using our mind in a
correct way is tantamount to serving Him and treading the straight path. Right service of Mind is
the most vital thing to operate the most complicated machine called Mankind.

Without the right and timely service we cannot operate any machine and mankind being the most
complicated of all machines. How can we expect to operate mankind with mere rituals that we
have wrongly termed blind rituals as Ibadah.

WHY PEOPLE INDULGE IN SENSELESS RITUALS THEY INTERPRET AS

IBADAH?

Greed for Paradise and fear for Hell is the main cause of blind worship
wrongly termed as Ibadah. Their each and every action is propelled by the
belief of earning brownie points they term as "sawab." The main purpose of
such worship is to attain a good place in "Paradise" and avoid burning in
"Hell." Blindly performing rituals such as rote reading of "Quran", praying
without understanding, revolving around a "House of Allah", Kissing stone,
throwing stone at shaitaan made of concrete and cement, running between
two mountains, killing those who don't subscribe to their ideology and many
more, comes under the category of worship they wrongly term as Ibadah.

As I said earlier the correct meaning of Ibadah is to serve. Do we find any iota
of service in the above rituals? Do we find such rituals of any benefit to
Mankind or "God"? The reward is connected with righteous action and not
with performing blind rituals.

‫صا ِل ًحا َو ََل يُلَقَّا َها ِإ ََّل‬

َ ‫َّللاِ َخ ْي ٌر ِلِّ َم ْن آ َم َن َوع َِم َل‬
َّ ‫اب‬ُ ‫ِين أُوتُوا ا ْل ِع ْل َم َو ْي َل ُك ْم ث َ َو‬
َ ‫َو َقا َل الَّذ‬
َ ‫صابِ ُر‬
‫ون‬ َّ ‫ – ال‬28:80 - But those who had been granted (true) knowledge said: "Alas for you!
The reward of Allah (in the Hereafter) is best for those who believe and work righteousness: but
this none shall attain, save those who steadfastly persevere (in good)."
WHAT IS SAWAB?

The literary meaning of Sawab (‫ )ثواب‬is coming back of knowledge to the intellect after one
looses peace of mind. When we rightly serve (Ibadah) our Rabb our intellect works in the right
direction and that is our main reward or sawab. Traditionally reward is termed as sawab in
Arabic which means the mind will fulfill our extreme needs and can overcome all our fears and
insecurities by guiding us to the established way. Worshiping the Rabb will not solve our
problems but thinking in a right manner is service to our Rabb our true Lord.

َ ‫ان ِإ ََّل َما‬

‫س َعى‬ ِ ‫س‬َ ‫ْلن‬ َ ‫( – َوأَن لَّ ْي‬53:39) - THAT MAN CAN HAVE NOTHING
ِ ْ ‫س ِل‬
BUT WHAT HE STRIVES FOR.