BismiLlah wa alhamduliLah.

18:1. The praise is to Allah, the One who descended upon His slave the writ and made not unto it
crookedness.
18:2. Straightforward, to warn (of) vigorous toughness from His vicinity and (to) herald glad
tidings to the faithful, the ones who do righteousness, that for them is a fine reward...
18:3. ...they stay in it forever.

The book of Allah is straightforward to warn from a vigourous toughness from His vecinity and to
herald glad tidings to the faithful, the righteous. But what is the purpose of our lives? What is it that is
expected of us? What does it mean to be faithful and righteous?

18:7. Assuredly We made whatever is on Earth as a decoration for it to try them, which of them is
of finer deeds.
2:21. O mankind! Worship your Lord (Allah), Who created you and those who were before you
so that you may become Al-Muttaqun (the pious - See 2:2).
51:56. And I (Allah) created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me
(Alone).
3:185. Everyone shall taste death. And only on the Day of Resurrection shall you be paid your
wages in full. And whoever is removed away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise, he indeed is
successful. The life of this world is only the enjoyment of deception (a deceiving thing).

'Ibaadah is a comprehensive term that encompasses everything that Allah loves and is pleased with, of
both statements and actions, both the apparent and hidden. 'Ibaadah is categorized into 4 principles:
ascertainment of what Allaah and His Messenger love and are pleased with, the enactment of that in the
heart, the enactment of that upon the tongue, and the limbs.

'Uboodiyah is a term that embodies these four levels and the people of worship in truth are the people if
these four principles.

Prayer; zakaah; fasting; hajj; being truthful in speech; fulfilling one's trust; kindness towards parents;
maintaining relations with family; fulfilling pledges; commanding the good; forbidding the evil; being
beneficient towards the neighbour, the orphan, the poor person, the traveller and the animals we may
own; supplication; remembrance of Allah; recitation of Qu'raan and the likes of such are all types of
worship. Even eating, sleeping and sleeping with one's wife is an act of worship if it is done with the
intention of obeying Allaah, since He has told us to do so in His Qur'aan.

Likewise is the case with love of Allah and His Messenger; reverence of Allah; turning to Allah in
repentance; sincerity in the deen (Islamic religion, muslim way of life) for Him; patience with His
judgement; gratitude for His favours; contentment with His decree; tawakkul (putting ones trust in
Allah and rely on Him, that the heart would rely on Allah sincerely while doing one's part to attain
what we seek); hope for His Mercy; fear of His Punishment and the like of such are all forms of
worship of Allah.

This is so because worship of Allaah is the end objective that is beloved to Him and it is what pleases
Him. It is the purpose for which He created the creation, as Allaah subhana wa taalla has said:

(51):56. “And I have not created the jinn and mankind except that they should worship me alone”
He sent all the Messengers with this worship, as when Nooh said to his people:

(7):56. “Worhisp Allah, you have no other deity but Him”.

Likewise Hood, Saalih, Shu'ayb and others, said the same to their people. Allaah subhana wa talla says:

(16):36. “And verily We have sent among every nation a messenger (saying), 'Worship Allaah
(alone) and avoid all false deities.' Then of them were some whom Allaah guided and of them
were some upon whom the straying was justifed.”

Allaah says:

(21):25. “And We did not send any messenger before you (O Muhammad) but We revealed unto
him that none has the right to be worhipped but I (Allaah), so worhip Me (alone).”

The 'ibaadah pertains to the ilaahiyyah of Allah the Exalted (His Lordship) and this is why the epitome
of tawheed is La ilaaha illah Allah: 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah' in contrast to the
one who acknowledges Lordship of Allah but does not worship Him or one who worships alongside
Him another deity.
The ilaah is what the heart defies with total love, glorification, reverence, grandeur, fear, hope
and such matters.

Allah says in the Qu'raan:

7:59. Worship Allah, you have no other deity but Him.

15:99. And worship your Lord until there comes to you the yaqeen (certainty or the hour that is
certain – meaning death).
40:60. And your Lord said 'Invoke Me, I will respond to your (invocation)'. Truly, those whos
scorn My worhip, will enter Hell in humiliation!
15:39,40. O my Lord! Because You misled me I shall indeed adorn (the path of error) for them
(i.e. Mankind) on earth and I shall mislead them all; save Your chosen, guided 'Ibaad (slaves,
worshipers) amongst them.

The Deen (Islam) in it's entirety, is embodied in 'Ibaadah.

It is established in the saheeh that once Jibreel came to the Prophet sallahu alehi wa salaam he asked
him about Islam, he answered: “Islaam is that you testify that none has the right to be worshipped
except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; that you establish prayer, give zakaah;
fast the month of Ramadaan and you perform pilgimrage to the house of Allah, if you are able to do
so.”

Jibreel then asked “And what is eeman (faith, creed)?” He replied: “That you have eeman in Allah, His
Angels, His Books, His Messengers, in the Resurrection after death and that you have emaan in al-
Qadar (divine decree), it's good and its bad.”

Jibreel then questioned: “and what is Ihsaan?” He answered “That you worship Allah as if you can see
Him and if you cannon see Him, then He indeed sees you.”
The prophet sallahu alehi wa salaam stated at the end of the conversation with Jibreel, “That was
Jibreel; he came to teach you your Deen.”.

The term ad-Deen embodies the meanings of lowliness, submission and humility. Thus the term 'Deen
of Allah' is worship, obedience and submission to Him. And perfecting this is to worhip Allaah as if
one can see Him and if one cannot sustain such high level then at least one should worship Him being
conscious that He is always seeing us.

As for 'Ibaadah it's original meaning also denotes lowliness and submission. One says, 'a pathway that
is mu'abbad' that is a path that has become smoothed out because of being treaded upon.

However, the 'Ibaadah that has been enjoined upon us encompasses the meaning of submission along
with the meaningof love. It embodies the utmost degree of submission to Allah the Exalted through the
utmost degree of love for Him.

The final level of love is at-Tatayyum (i.e enslavement, infatuation, captivation and adoration). Its
initial level is al-'Alaaqah (i.e. connection) because of the hearts connection to the beloved. Thereafter,
comes the level of as-Sabaabah (i.e. craving, longing and desire) as the heart starts to crave for the
Beloved. Next is the level of al-Gharaam (i.e. love, passion and fondness), which is the love that is
inseperable from the heart, and it's final level is at-Tatayyum. One says, 'taym of Allaa, i.e. The 'abd of
Allaah. Thus, thue mutayyam is the mu'abbad of his beloved.

One who submits to a person whilst possessing hatred for him is not an 'aabid (i.e. Worshipper) of him
and (in contrast) if he was to love someone and at the same time does not submit to him, he is likewise
not and 'aabid of him, as is the case of a mand who loves his child and friend.

Consequently, only for one of the two (qualities) is not sufficient as far as the 'ibaadah of Allah subhana
wa talla is concerned. Rather, it is necessary that Allah be the most beloved above all else to the 'abd
and that he holds Allaah to be the greatest of all. Indeed, none other than Alaah deserves total love and
submission.

Moreover, anything that is loved for other than Alhaah; love of such is unsound and will come to an
end, and anything that is glorified without the order of Allaah; glorification if such a thing is false.
Allah subhana wa talla says:

(9):24. “ Say, 'If your fathers; your sons; your brothers; your wives; your kindred; the wealth
that you have gained; the commerce in which you fear decline and the dwellings in which you
delight are dearer to you than Allaah and His Messenger and striving hard and fighting in His
cause, then wait until Allaah brings forth His Decision.'”

Thus, the genus of love should be for Allaah and His Messenger, as in the case of obedience; obedience
if for Allaah and His Messenger and pleasing of for Allaah and His Messenger:

(9):59. “...But it is more fitting that they should please Allah and His Messenger ...”

to be continued inshAllah ...