ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Taqwa (Piety) Advice of Piety in Worshipping ======================== One of the other subjects that have been ordered in the Holy Quran and the Sunna to observe Taqwa in is worshipping. It means that we should know Whom we are worshipping and Who deserves to be worshipped. It is then that we will find out the only being before whom we should be humble, to be devoted sincerely, and whom we should obey is God. Can human beings arbitrarily worship God?

Can man bow to anyone and anything he relishes? Should the act of worshipping be done with sound motivation? Does an idol made by man, a tree planted by him, a cow fed by him, the sun and stars which appear and disappear, Satan or a human who cannot keep a fly or gnat away from himself deserve to be worshiped? All the prophets have been ordained to remind human beings not to worship anything other than the All-wise, the All-knowing, the All-Powerful and the Ever-living God.

The prophets’ calls were to worship God’: “And to Ad (We sent) their brother Hud. He said: O my people, serve Allah! You have no God other than Him. Will you not then guard (against evil)?” [^1] or “And certainly We sent Noah to his people and he said: O my people, serve Allah! you have no God other than Him.

Will you not then guard (against evil)?” Imam Ali (AS) has been reported as saying: “So fear Allah Who benefits you with His advice, preaches to you through His Messenger, and endowed you with His favors. Devote yourselves to His worship, and fulfill His rights on you as He deserves.”[^2] Truly, only God deserves to be worshipped as we recite in our prayer: “Thee (alone) do we serve and thee (alone) do we beseech for help.” ^3 The worshipping of God should be practiced sincerely.

In this relation, Lady Fatima (AS) says: “One who sends up his sincere devotion to God, God the Honored the Glorified will send down what is best for him.”[^4] Worshipping God should be based on love and gratitude.

In this relation, Imam Sadiq (AS) has reported the Holy prophet (SAW) as saying: “The best of people is one who is a real lover of the worship of God, one who hugs it, one who loves it from the bottom of his heart, who attends it mindfully, who seeks relief in it, and is not afraid of ease and hardship of the world.” [^5] Imam Sadiq (AS) has divided worshippers into three groups; “The first group are those who worship God out of fear, and this is the worship of slaves.