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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books A Study of Polytheism and Idolatry in the Qur’an Chapter 11: The Etymological and Juristic Meaning of Worship [‘ibādah] The term worship [ ‘ibādah ] and its various derivatives have been employed in a lot of Qur’anic verses. It is for this reason that its meaning has to be well clarified.

Some people imagine that worship means a particular deed and action, like performing the ritual prayers or paying the zakāt [^1] or prostrating, but that is not the case. The term worship has to be studied in more detail. The etymological meaning of worship [‘ibādah] We will initially quote the etymological meaning of worship [ ‘ibādah ] from wordbooks and thereafter quote Qur’anic verses to clarify its denotation.

Hereunder, we have cited quotations from the Book “ Al-Tahqīq fī Kalamāt al-Qur’ān ”, written by Hasan Mustafawī, in which he recounts the opinions of a number of etymologists. It has thus been written in “ Misbāh al-Lughah ” of Qayyūmī, “Worship [ ‘ibādatallāh ] denotes submitting and yielding to Allah.

Its subjective noun is worshipper [ ‘ābid ], whose plurals are ‘ibād and ‘abad (worshippers).” It has thus been written in “ Maqā’īs al-Lughah ”, “The word ‘ ‘abd ’ (servant or adorer) denotes one who is submissive and obedient.

A docile and obedient camel is called ‘ mu‘abbad ’ and an even road is also called ‘ tarīq mu‘abbad ’ (even path) because such a path has become even as a result of being traversed a lot and it has thus become submissive to travelers.” The term worship [‘ibādah] in the Holy Qur’an What can be gathered from the aforementioned wordbooks is that worship denotes obedience, submission and docility, and the types of worship such as prostration, the ritual prayers and other than these are instances of submission, and that this denotation is compatible with the concept of prayer which we will deduce from Qur’anic verses.

Some people have interpreted worship [ ‘ibādah ] as ultimate humility and the utmost level of submission, which is the same as prostration. First verse: “Did I not exhort you, O children of Adam, saying, ‘Do not worship Satan. He is indeed your manifest enemy. Worship Me.

That is a straight path’?” [^2] In the book of exegesis “ Kishāf ”, this verse has thus been explained, “Worshipping Satan means obeying and listening to his orders in affairs which tempt or seduce man.” It can be inferred from this verse that worship means mere obedience, not utmost obedience.