For a worshipper the correct way of worship is the basis of...

For a worshipper the correct way of worship is the basis of his education and spiritual development. It is a systematic instruction in liberal-mindedness, self-sacrifice, love of Allah, love of humanity, association with the right-thinking people, virtuousness and service to mankind. It is clear from what we have said that Islamic monotheism does not accept any motive other than gaining the pleasure of Allah. The evolutionary reality of man and the world is "to Him".

Anything which is not oriented to Him is false and opposed to the natural evolutionary course. From Islamic point of view whatever a man does, whether he does it for himself or for others, is for the sake of Allah. It is wrong to say that 'for the sake of Allah' is identical with 'for the sake of humanity' and that to do a thing for the sake of Allah minus humanity is nothing but mysticism and pedagogism.

From the viewpoint of Islam the only way is that of Allah and the only objective one should aim at is to please Him. Anyhow, the way of Allah passes through the people. To do a thing for oneself is egoism, to do a thing for the people is idolatry, and to do a thing for Allah and the people both is polytheism and dualism. The true monotheism is to serve oneself and others for the sake of Allah.

According to Islam the monotheistic way is to begin things in the Name of Allah, not in the name of the people or jointly in the Name of Allah and the people both. An interesting point may be derived from the Surah al-Ikhlas of the Holy Qur'an. The point is that there is a difference in being mukhlis, that is to do things purely for Allah, and being mukhlas, that is to be pure in oneself.

Unity and Singleness of the World Does the entire universe that is the temporal and spatial creations of Allah really form one unit? Does the oneness of Allah, that is the unity of His essence, the unity of His attributes and the unity of His work, necessarily require that His creation also should have some sort of unity? If the universe is a well-knit and coherent unit, what is the nature of its coherence?

Is it organic in the sense that the various parts of the universe stand in the same relation to the whole of it as the various limbs to a body, or is it mechanical and the various parts of the universe are like the various parts of a machine? We have discussed the nature of the unity of the world in our book, Principles of Philosophy.