ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books A General Look At Rites Worship and Senses Man's perception is not merely by his senses, nor is it merely an intellectual and non- material reasoning either! It is a mixture of reasoning plus material and non-material feeling.

When worship is required to perform its func- tion in a way with which man interacts perfect- ly, and whereby it harmonizes with his charac- ter, worship is composed of a mind and senses; worship then must contain a sensitive aspect and a non-material intellect, so that worship will be compatible with the worshipper's person- ality, and the worshipper, while performing his worship, lives his attachment to the Absolute with all his existence.

From here, the intention, as well as psy- cholological contention of worship, always rep- resents its intellectual and non-material aspect, for it links the worshipper to the True Absolute, the Praised, the High, and there are other aspects of worship representing its material aspect.

The qiblah, towards whose direction each worshipper must direct his face while praying; and al-Baytu'l-haram, visited by both those who perform the pilgrimage and those who do the umrah, around which they both perform tawaf; and the as-safa and al-marwah, between which he runs; and Jamratu'l- aqabah, at which he casts stones; and the Mosque, which is a place especially made for adoration wherein the wor- shipper practises his worship . . .

all these are things related to the senses and tied to worship: there is no prayer without a qiblah, nor tawaf without al-Baytu'l-haram, . . . and so on, for the sake of satisfying the part related to the senses in the worshipper and giving it its right and share of worship! This is the midway direction in organizing worship and coining it according to man's in- stincts as well as his particular intellectual and sensual make-up.

Two other directions face him: one of them goes to the extreme in bringing man to his senses, if the expression is accurate at all, treating him as though he had been a non- material intellect, opposing all sensual expres- sions of his in worship's sphere, for as long as the True Absolute, the Praised One, has no li mited place or time, nor can He be represent- ed by a statute; then His worship has to stand on such a premise, and in the manner which enables the comparative thinking of man to address the Absolute Truth.