Therefore...

Therefore, in order for man’s life to be spent on the right course and not in vain, losing this vital asset, a person has to spend most of the moments of his life in devotional service to Allah, whether in its specific or general terms. He should try to perform that which has been legislated as worship according to divine law and/or perform related duties and acts with the intention of pleasing Allah in order to gain proximity to Him.

If a small or great deed is performed by man and he does not fit it into this framework of specific or general worship, it will be null and void and become a cause of regret on the Day of Resurrection. If, God forbid, an act were a sin and a cause of worldly and heavenly suffering and torment and eternal divine retribution, or if it were not a sin but neither good nor bad [ mubah ] or disapproved but not forbidden [ makruh ], it wastes man’s capital on something which has no benefit for him.

In divine law there is a great deal of recommendation to perform deeds which are essentially neither good nor bad, but if these deeds are done with the intention to obey this recommendation, they will be acts of worship.

Bearing in mind the Islamic and Qur’anic point of view regarding human life, the goal of life, the path of prosperity, one’s deeds and conduct, it is natural that the Islamic call ought to be such that one should worship more and better: with regard to quantity, all the deeds that man discharges can become acts of worship and in reality worship acquires such an expansive and wide scope that it encompasses all of man’s existence.

However, regarding quality (quality of worship is dependent on intention and knowledge [ ma‘rifah ])—the more a person’s awareness and his love for Allah increase, the more his intention in performing acts of worship become purer and the more he has presence of heart when worshiping, the greater the quality of his acts of devotion. Sometimes two cycles [ rak‘at s] of prayer have more divine reward than thousands of prayers.

This is something we all know and Islam has made us pay heed to the fact that we must try harder to make our deeds more divine and our lives entirely devoted to Allah because our perfection is found in spiritual service to Allah. The Noble Prophet (S) states: “The most worthy of people is he who adores worship, embraces devotional service to Allah and loves it with all his heart.