Ibadah refers to worship or servitude. The Arabic word “Ibadah” is derived from “Abd” which means slave or servant. Put simply, a servant is the one who obeys the commands of his master. According to Al-Quran, there are 3 steps to obeying a command –

1. Learn – Learning and understanding the command to combat ignorance
2. Remember – Remembering the command to combat forgetfulness
3. Implement – Most important is the obeyance of the command itself

For instance, if the master says “remember the grass in the yard”. This is a reminder from the master to maintain the grass appropriately. First step was to learn and understand the implementation of the command. Secondly, the servant has to remember this command by reminding himself constantly and keeping it fresh at heart. This is preparation for the final and most important step – implementation of the command. In this instance, implementation of the command entails performing the action of maintaining grass in the yard. Achievement and/or maintenance of the desired state is the resultant of step-3 i.e. implementation. Imagine if the servant performed steps 1 & 2, but lacked in its implementation. Either because he lacked understanding of the command, or was heedless. Would this be considered obeyance of masters’ command? Because implementation of the command was not completed, the yard was not maintained. The command went ignored.

A point to note is that the master/slave bond we have come to know among the common folk is rooted in injustice, racism, toxic superiority, pride and arrogance. Whereas the Lord and slave relationship between God and people is rooted in the betterment of the people. God created us and everything around us. Only He knows what’s good and bad for us, He is All-Knowing (ٱلْعَلِيمُ). We are not capable of understanding all the implications of our thoughts, words, and actions in our lives and others. Something we know to be good may actually be bad for us and something we know to be bad may actually be good for us. If we solely follow our instincts absent direction from our Creator, we will end up destroying ourselves, everyone and everything around us. It is in our best interest to have complete faith in our Creator and follow His commands to be successful in this life and the hereafter.

وَعَسٰۤى اَنۡ تَكۡرَهُوۡا شَيۡـــًٔا وَّهُوَ خَيۡرٌ لَّـکُمۡ​ۚ وَعَسٰۤى اَنۡ تُحِبُّوۡا شَيۡـــًٔا وَّهُوَ شَرٌّ لَّـكُمۡؕ وَاللّٰهُ يَعۡلَمُ وَاَنۡـتُمۡ لَا تَعۡلَمُوۡنَ‏

Al-Qur`an 2:216

It could be that you dislike something, when it is good for you; and it could be that you like something when it is bad for you. Allah knows, and you do not know

The 3 steps, LRI – learning, remembrance and implementation are required for the completion of any activity. Lets take another example, we are all taught from a young age about the importance of going to school and learning. This is step-1. Step-2 is the act of attending school and furthering our studies. Step-3 is the implementation of this knowledge. The final result is we get rewarded and paid for this effort. If someone misunderstood and thought going to school and learning was in itself the implementation, they may prematurely consider the activity complete before its implementation. Thereby never applying that knowledge and benefitting from it. So proper understanding and completion of all 3 steps is required. Similarly, an act of ibadah is incomplete until all 3 steps related to that ibadah have been completed. It is imperative upon us to think, reflect and understand the specifics of these steps for each act of ibadah. One of the most common cases is partial understanding of the command of Allahﷻ. Then the individual may perform step-2, and either partially attempts implementing it or worst yet, implementation lacks completely due to ignorance. Yet, others ignore all 3 steps, a solution to this is constant repentance (asthaghfar).

We have to look at each command of Allahﷻ and try to understand the specifics of all the steps involved in completing that act of ibadah. This isn’t just about understanding the motions involved in performing an act (jurisprudence i.e. fiqh), but to understand its objective and purpose. Why we were commanded by Allahﷻ to perform an act in the first place, and how can we fulfill its ultimate purpose. Without this investigation and understanding, we will end up reducing ibadah to merely a bunch of motions and words to be repeated. This is a sad state of affairs. This is one of the reasons people unfortunately end up committing grave sins even though they are regular in their salah and other ibadah. Because the implementation of ibadah was either not understood or was plainly ignored due to heedlessness. To understand all 3 steps related to an act of ibadah we have to categorize the command itself into one of the steps. Then understand the other two steps related to it from Al-Qur`an and Sahih Sunnah of Prophet Muhammadﷺ. Only these are our authentic sources. Each command is unique and requires proper understanding of all the related steps. For instance, the basic expectation of a Muslim is –

• Shahadah – Submit his will to God
• Salah – Perform 5x daily prayers
• Zakat – Give charity
• Sawm – Fast in the month of Ramadan
• Hajj – Perform pilgrimage to Mecca atleast once in his life

Let us examine the command regarding daily salah as it is the first and foremost act of ibadah that Allahﷻ will question us about on judgement day. Why does it have such high importance. We learned from Al-Qur`an and Sahih Sunnah that 5 daily prayers are mandatory. We then learned about the specifics regarding performing ablution and salah. Understand that performing salah is only one step of the ibadah. We need to understand its purpose so we can try to complete the overarching command of Allahﷻ.

فَوَيۡلٌ لِّلۡمُصَلِّيۡنَۙ‏ ٤ الَّذِيۡنَ هُمۡ عَنۡ صَلَاتِهِمۡ سَاهُوۡنَۙ‏

Al-Qur`an 107:4-5

So woe to those who pray, yet are unmindful of their prayers

Allahﷻ clearly states that just praying salah is not considered job done. Salah itself is a reminder for the overarching command of Allahﷻ. So we need to understand its implementation.

اِنَّ الصَّلٰوةَ تَنۡهٰى عَنِ الۡفَحۡشَآءِ وَالۡمُنۡكَرِ​ؕ وَلَذِكۡرُ اللّٰهِ اَكۡبَرُ

Al-Qur`an 29:45

Indeed, prayer should deter from indecency and wickedness. The remembrance of Allah is even greater

Allahﷻ says salah should prevent one from corruption. So the prevention of corruption and purification of self would be the implementation of salah i.e. step-3. Because this is the desired state prescribed by our Creator. Which means salah itself has to be a reminder of ibadah i.e. step-2. There are no less than 67 aayah in Al-Qur`an mentioning the importance of salah. Furthermore, Allahﷻ mentions his dislike of corruption no less than 50 times. Allahﷻ gave us salah as a reminder against the spread of corruption in the land and self. Salah is a reminder. Purification of self and prevention of corruption is its implementation. How does salah accomplish this objective? A required portion of performing salah is the recitation of various portions of Al-Quran. These aayah from Al-Qur`an are the commandments from our Lord to be acted upon. Salah is a reminder for reminders. We can call it a super-reminder. Allahﷻ gave us salah in the form of a seed. When you sow the seed and take proper care, it can grow into a plant and yield fruits which in-turn yield more seeds to be planted. This cycle continues until the entire piece of land is lush and green with no shortage of tasty fruits to keep us nourished and satiated. So if one deems ibadah to be complete after performing salah, it would be equivalent to reminding oneself about maintaining the yard, yet failing to maintain it. Implementation is still pending. One of the many reminders during a salah is surat-ul-fatiha which is a required component.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ (١) ٱلۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلۡعَـٰلَمِينَ (٢) ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ (٣) مَـٰلِكِ يَوۡمِ ٱلدِّينِ (٤) إِيَّاكَ نَعۡبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسۡتَعِينُ (٥) ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ (٦) صِرَٲطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنۡعَمۡتَ عَلَيۡهِمۡ غَيۡرِ ٱلۡمَغۡضُوبِ عَلَيۡهِمۡ وَلَا ٱلضَّآلِّينَ (٧)

Al-Qur`an 1

‏In the Name of Allah—the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful. All praise is for Allah—Lord of all worlds, the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful, Sovereign of the Day of judgement. You alone we worship, and from You alone we seek help. Guide us to the straight path. The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have earned [Your] anger or of those who are astray

Surat-ul-fatiha starts by praising Allahﷻ and the focus immediately shifts to His mercy. Then His position on the day of judgement is mentioned to remind us of the objective of life – Prepare our provisions for the ultimate day. In the next aayah we make a promise to Allahﷻ – You alone we worship, and from You alone we seek help. Then we are taught about the application of this promise, by supplicating to Him – Guide us to the straight path. How do we identify this straight path O`Allahﷻ? Allahﷻ answers in the next aayah, the straight path is the path of His favored ones. Every book has an introduction, a preface to set the scope for the rest of the book. Surat-ul-fatiha means “the opener”, an introduction to the subject of Al-Qur`an. And it just beautifully set the stage for us to explore the lives of these favored ones of Allahﷻ to be followed, His prophets. And take extreme caution regarding the disobedient ones. Allahﷻ has detailed all of this in the rest of Al-Qur`an. Lets go back to the promise we made in the 5th aayah to only worship Allahﷻ and seek only His help. This promise is a reminder to be understood and implemented.

إِيَّاكَ نَعۡبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسۡتَعِينُ

Al-Qur`an 1:5

This sentence could have been built in many ways, for instance the accusative pronoun كَ (you) could have been attached to the verb نَعۡبُدُ and نَسۡتَعِينُ like so – نَسۡتَعِينُكَ and نَعۡبُدُكَ this means “we worship you and we ask your help”. Instead Allahﷻ preceded the verb and nominative pronoun with accusative pronoun. This changes the sentence to “It is you we worship and it is you we ask for help”. In the first case, there is room for others to be included. But when the accusative pronoun precedes the subject and verb this leaves no room for others. The action is now made exclusive and only belongs to Him. It reads, we exclusively worship you and you alone and we exclusively ask you for help and you alone. No one else. No room for third parties or intermediaries. Similar placement of accusative pronouns are found all over Al-Qur`an.

اٰمَنَّا بِهٖ وَعَلَيۡهِ تَوَكَّلۡنَا​

Al-Qur`an 67:29

We believe in you and in you we trust

We believe in Him, His angels, His books and His Prophets so belief is not exclusive. We have to believe in all His articles. But when it comes to reliance and trust, Allahﷻ has switched the accusative pronoun to precede the subject and verb. So the trust, hope and reliance are exclusively and absolutely His and Him alone. The concept of intermediary (intercessor) is usually misunderstood to mean we the people can pick our intermediaries and go to them directly to protect us from the wrath of Allahﷻ. Nowhere is this prescribed in Islam. Instead Allahﷻ warns us against this many times. Intercession is only with His permission. If the permission is only from Him, who should the hope of intercession be put on? Him. For instance, if you expect a check in the mail from your employer, will you put your hope in the mailman or the employer to get the check? If the employer doesn’t approve a check for you, mailman has nothing to deliver. So the hope is in the employer. The mailman is responsible to deliver the check after the fact, so you must not be a jerk to him and disrespect him. We must respect the creation of Allahﷻ as He advises. And His Prophets are the best among us and exemplars for the rest of us, and they should be respected with utmost sincerity. This is a condition to gain His mercy.

فَلَا تُزَكُّوٓا۟ أَنفُسَكُمْ ۖ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنِ ٱتَّقَىٰٓ

Al-Qur`an 53:32

So do not elevate yourselves. He knows best who is righteous

الدُّعَاءُ هُوَ الْعِبَادَةُ

Tirmidhi 3247, Book 47:299

Prophet Muhammadﷺ said – Supplication is worship

وَيَعۡبُدُوۡنَ مِنۡ دُوۡنِ اللّٰهِ مَا لَا يَضُرُّهُمۡ وَلَا يَنۡفَعُهُمۡ وَيَقُوۡلُوۡنَ هٰٓؤُلَاۤءِ شُفَعَآؤُنَا عِنۡدَ اللّٰهِ​ؕ قُلۡ اَتُـنَـبِّـــُٔوۡنَ اللّٰهَ بِمَا لَا يَعۡلَمُ فِى السَّمٰوٰتِ وَلَا فِى الۡاَرۡضِ​ؕ سُبۡحٰنَهٗ وَتَعٰلٰى عَمَّا يُشۡرِكُوۡنَ‏

Al-Qur`an 10:18

They worship besides Allah others who can neither harm nor benefit them, and say, “These are our intercessors with Allah.” Ask ˹them, O  Prophet˺, “Are you informing Allah of something He does not know in the heavens or the earth? Glorified and Exalted is He above what they associate ˹with Him˺!”

اَلَا لِلّٰهِ الدِّيۡنُ الۡخَالِصُ​ ؕ وَالَّذِيۡنَ اتَّخَذُوۡا مِنۡ دُوۡنِهٖۤ اَوۡلِيَآءَ​ ۘ مَا نَعۡبُدُهُمۡ اِلَّا لِيُقَرِّبُوۡنَاۤ اِلَى اللّٰهِ زُلۡفٰى ؕ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ يَحۡكُمُ بَيۡنَهُمۡ فِىۡ مَا هُمۡ فِيۡهِ يَخۡتَلِفُوۡنَ ؕ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ لَا يَهۡدِىۡ مَنۡ هُوَ كٰذِبٌ كَفَّارٌ‏

Al-Quran 39:3

Indeed, sincere devotion is due ˹only˺ to Allah. As for those who take other lords besides Him, ˹saying,˺ “We worship them only so they may bring us closer to Allah,” surely Allah will judge between all regarding what they differed about. Allah certainly does not guide whoever persists in lying and disbelief

مَنۡ ذَا الَّذِىۡ يَشۡفَعُ عِنۡدَهٗۤ اِلَّا بِاِذۡنِهٖ​

Al-Qur`an 2:255

Who could possibly intercede with Him without His permission?

From Al-Qur`an and Sahih Sunnah we know Allahﷻ will grant the authority of intercession to many pious and righteous people and the best among them are His Prophets. Allahﷻ promised our Prophet Muhammadﷺ the right of intercession on the day of judgement for his followers. Yet Prophet Muhammadﷺ did not claim this position outright. He asked us to supplicate to Allahﷻ after every adhan, for him to be granted the right of intercession on our behalf (Sahih al-bukhari 614, Book 10:12). This is a lesson for all of us. Prophets did not come to teach us to rely on them. They were sent by Allahﷻ to teach us how to rely on Him and Him alone. To purify us and teach us tawheed. So we need to have complete trust and hope in Allahﷻ alone. Continue to strive for righteous deeds. Trust in Allahﷻ and His mercy. This was the message of all Prophets of Allah Alaihimussalam from Adam Alaihissalam to Prophet Muhammadﷺ. Our Prophetﷺ told us us that he will intercede on our behalf but he let it be clearly known that the ultimate decision is from Allahﷻ alone. This is the correct belief. This is so we turn our face towards Allahﷻ and not towards anyone else. Because the hope is from Allahﷻ and Him alone. This is the purity of religion of Islam in the light of tawheed, monotheism. We cannot make the mistake of putting Allahﷻ in the background and putting someone else in the foreground as an intermediary or otherwise. Tawheed should be protected at all costs from pollutants of all kinds. Losing it will mean losing the message of prophet Muhammadﷺ. Allahﷻ is the decider. Our direction and our address should always face Him. This is the purpose of life and our calling as His creation. He neither commanded us nor needs for us to choose our own intercessors. Instead it is Allahﷻ we have to face each and every time for the most trivial to the most critical needs.

وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادۡعُوۡنِىۡۤ اَسۡتَجِبۡ لَـكُمۡؕ اِنَّ الَّذِيۡنَ يَسۡتَكۡبِرُوۡنَ عَنۡ عِبَادَتِىۡ سَيَدۡخُلُوۡنَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِيۡنَ‏

Al-Qur`an 40:60

Your Lord has said, “Call Me, I will respond to you. Definitely those who show arrogance against worshipping Me shall enter Jahannam (Hell) with disgrace

If Allahﷻ so wills He will provide us with guidance and intercessors. Our trust is in Him and in Him alone. In our salah we invoke Him as the All-Knowing (ٱلْعَلِيمُ), the All-Powerful (ٱلْقَادِرُ), the All-Seeing (ٱلْبَصِيرُ), the All-Hearing (ٱلْسَّمِيعُ), the All-Merciful (ٱلْرَّحْمَـانُ). To complete our ibadah we need to implement these reminders of His attributes in our life. When we say He is All-Merciful (ٱلْرَّحْمَـانُ) then there is no need to rush towards others to find refuge from His wrath. We cannot carelessly disregard the attributes of Allahﷻ and still think we believe in all His attributes. If you say 1 ≠ 2 and yet when solving a math problem apply 1 = 2. This is a contradiction and a failed implementation. We need to reason as Allahﷻ invites us to logical thinking many times in Al-Qur`an. We cannot gamble upon our existence and afterlife. We need to understand and reason with the commands of Allahﷻ and implement our salah in our daily lives.

We need to take care of our parents as Allahﷻ stresses on this point and places it only next to His worship. This is the high status our parents are given in Islam. Giving charity and taking care of poor and orphans. Refraining from telling lies and speaking badly of others. Helping each other in goodness. Recognizing each others rights in relationships and neighbors. Refraining from haraam. Inviting others to goodness. Practicing patience. And as Allahﷻ commands us to follow in the footsteps of our cherished Prophet Muhammadﷺ. These and many others are all important reminders we recite during our salah. If we implemented our salah, overtime a purified self will start to emerge absent corruption. This has an effect on our surroundings, our community, and our nation as a whole will start to flourish. If Muslims implemented just our salah we would be a nation to be reckoned with. We cannot leave our ibadah incomplete, we need to implement it to serve our Creator, Allahﷻ.

لَقَدۡ كَانَ لَكُمۡ فِىۡ رَسُوۡلِ اللّٰهِ اُسۡوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِّمَنۡ كَانَ يَرۡجُوا اللّٰهَ وَالۡيَوۡمَ الۡاٰخِرَ وَذَكَرَ اللّٰهَ كَثِيۡرًا

Al-Qur`an 59:7

Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah you have an excellent example for whoever has hope in Allah and the Last Day, and remembers Allah often