In answer to the video "The Sick Reason Why Allah Created Humans According to Islam"
God has entrusted mankind with a great responsibility, vicegerency in this world 2:30. This means we arent meant to live this life like the animals, without any higher outlook on life, but to make use of what we have been entrusted with, in God-consiousness, in respect of the commands and limits set by the True Owner
51:56"And I have not created the jinn and the men except that they should serve Me/yaabuduni".The root is Ain-B-D and it means slave or servant. Being a 'abd/slave of God is what each pious Muslim strives for and previous prophets all throughout the Hebrew Bible were refered to as God servants, including Moses or David. God Himself calls them
Jer29:19,2Kings17:13"My servants, the prophets".
The original Hebrew says abadi/my slaves and the Arabic rendition Ketab El Hayat (NAV) uses the same word ibaadi/slaves. Any regular person who is pious and humble before God, considers himself a slave to the Almighty, and this notion isnt specific to Islam or the Quran, see the Hebrew Bible in 1Sam1:11,3:9-10,23:10,2Sam3:18,7:20. Again, the Arabic Bible uses 'abd/slave, just as the original Hebrew says abdi/my slave or abdika/your slave.
The reason Moses was sent to free the enslaved Israelites was because their servitude was only God's prerogative "Let My people go, so that they may serve Me" as is stressed in
Lev25"It is to Me that the Israelites are slaves: they are My slaves, whom I freed from the land of Egypt".
As the prophet king Solomon is reported to have stated in his last words with which he concludes his book of
Ecclesiastes12:13-14"Fear God and keep His commandments for this is the whole purpose of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil".
The whole purpose of man is therefore to remain in fear of God, His judgement, and keep His entire commands which obviously is synonymous with worshiping Him with awe. In fact a Jew who does not busy himself with Torah and the commandments or who does not believe in the divinity of the Torah is like one who destroys the world, because all things, including non-Jews, were created for and are subordinate to it. This is the higher reality according to the Talmudic rabbis. Jews, according to them, are therefore the only nation destined to fulfil the goal of creation. And the entire universe is maintained solely so that Israel might fulfil its existential purpose Gen. R. 1.4.
As to the Quran, the word aAABUDA, the form of ain-b-d used in 51:56, is the action of making oneself slave. Conceptually, the term of "making oneself a slave" suggests becoming a slave voluntarily to an entity. That is the term used for worship since to make oneself a slave of an entity, voluntarily, is through love of that entity and through being in awe of that entity. That reality is captured in the opening sura, sura fatiha which expresses the believer's yearning to making himself God's slave. God's relationship with His slave isnt that of a cruel master, but that of a compassionate, forgiving, sustaining, and merciful one 39:53. He is al rahman and al rahim, as stated in sura fatiha where the person seeks servitude of the rahman and rahim, 2 words comprehensively containing all aspects of caring and goodness.
Ibada isnt simply the performance of religious rituals, or merely "worship". It denotes an unceasing mindframe in every deed
6:162"Say. Surely my prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are (all) for Allah, the Lord of the worlds".
In 22:77 the ritual acts of ‘bowing’ and ‘prostration’ are mentioned beside the word a‘budu/worship, showing that the word encompasses a larger scope than the ritual, worshiping aspect. Ibada is basically a way of life, the acceptance that in our relationship with God, we are the lowest and He is the Highest. The Quran instructs mankind to manifest this ibada in 2 ways, servitude to God through ritual worship, and servitude to the humans through acts of empathy and compassion, as God commands us to do
"And that you should keep up prayer and be careful of (your duty to) Him".
The Quran delves at great lengths upon the concept that worship of God is tied to goodness towards fellow men, placing it in some cases, as of equal importance to ritual worship. So important it is in fact that when defining Himself as the rahman/the most merciful, Allah places that characteristic as being the chief evidence by which His humble servants are recognizable in this world 25:60-77. Ibada is thus not merely ritual worship, but rather something that covers it, as well as other intricacies. God addresses Moses in a way that reflects that notion. As he was about to be imparted with divine wisdom, prophecy, miracles, Moses is told
20:14"Surely I am Allah, there is no god but I, therefore aAAbudni/enslave yourself to me, and keep up prayer for My remembrance.."
Again, we see that ibada is made distinct from worship. In another place, the concept of ibada is eloquently depicted as a manifestation of the dye/sibgha of Allah 2:138. It is as if the servant is immersed inside/out, by Allah with the religion of Islam.
36:60"Did I not charge you, O children of Adam ! that you should not serve ('ibadah) the Shaitan? Surely he is your open enemy. And that you should serve ('ibadah) Me; this is the right way".
By now, it has been made clear, "worship" doesnt capture the entire dimension of the word. Making oneself a slave is a timeless and unlimited condition, while worship is restricted in time. Finally, in order to further understand the intensity of the relation between Allah and a wilful servant of His, the verb aliha coming from ilah is the term used to describe the most intense level of love for an entity.
Although God could forcefully make one achieve that goal of creation, by for instance erasing all reasons for the spiritual dissensions among the humans 42:8, He has decreed in accordance with divine justice, moral accountability, and the overarching principle of no compulsion in religion 2:256,18:29 that we must maintain and nurture our own inner selves through tazkiya 87:14,91:7-10. The word stems from z-k-w, used concretely for a plant that matures well and bears fruit. It is metaphorically used for all religious directives, particularily charity/zakat, as they help one to grow spiritualy and bear fruit in the hereafter. Tazkiya is a process ultimately beneficial for one'self 35:18, manifesting itself in the above spoken notion of servitude to God. There is a reason the Quran constantly lays stress on God's transcendental oneness and uniqueness; the acceptance of that concept frees man from all sense of dependence on other influences and powers, and thus elevates him spiritually and brings about that tazkiya/purification, for Allah alone is the way to achieve that goal 4:49.
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