(‎يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اعْبُدُوا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ ﴿٢١

O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous –
In the law books , laws are stated without addressing people but Quran is a book that deals with people’s emotion / intellect / psych , therefore it addresses people when it talks about Sharia ( شريعة ) . 

Of course Quran addresses people depending on the message . Sometimes is for mankind and sometimes is for the believers ( مؤمنين ) . 

The purpose of the creation of man and cosmos is the perfection of mankind , or it means the purpose of creation is to benefit mankind . 

Allah ( swt ) says in the holy Quran , chapter 2 , verse 189 : ” And be careful ( of your duty ) to Allah , that you may be successful ” . 

QUESTION : 

Why do we worship God ? 

The answer of this question is in different verses of Quran . But I’ll answer it based on the same Ayah ( verse ) . 

A: because Allah is our creator and our lord ( ربّ  ) . 

أعبدوا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذي خَلَقَكُمْ

B: He is the provider of sustenance and security and well-being . 

فَلْيَعْبُدُوا رَبَّ هَذَاالْبَيْت@ الَّذِي أَطْعَمَهُمْ مِنْ جُوعٍ وَءَامَنَهُمْ مِنْ خَوْف  . قريش/٣،٤

C: there is no God other than him . 

لا إلٰهَ إِلَّا أَنَا فَاْعْبُدْنِي  .  طه/١٤ 

Worship God is the purpose of creation of Mankind not the purpose of the creator . He doesn’t need our actions of worship . Even if all people on earth become disbeliever still He is absolute unneed . Like if all people build their houses facing towards the Sun or facing a way from the Sun , has no effect on the Sun . 

وَقَالَ موسَي إِنْ تَكْفُرُواْ أَنْتُمْ وَمَنْ فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا فَإِنَّ اللّهَ لَغَنِيٌّ حَمِيدٌ . ابراهيم /٢٨ 

And Moses said if you show ingratitude , you and all on earth together _yet is Allah free of all wants worthy of all praise .

Although worshiping is wajib ( ablogation ) on us , due to Allah is granting us everything , and on top of that he rewards us for performing our duties . 

WHAT FORCES US TO WORSHIP ALLAH IS FOLOWING 6 POINTS : 

1: awareness to the blessing .

2: being aware of our privation . 

3: awareness of the blessing of worship .

4: being aware of the effects of abodoning worship . 

5: being aware of the praising and obedience on intire creation and being in harmony with the rest of creation . 

6: knowing that LOVE is ENGRAINED with worship ( عبادة ) . 

There is an interesting verse in the holy Quran ( chapter 16, verse 99 ) : 

وَاعْبُدْ رَبَّكَ حَتَّي يَأْتِيَكَ الْيَقِينُ 
And serve thy lord until there come unto thee the Hour that is certain . 

For example if someone uses a ladder to reach the top of a tree will he no longer need the ladder ? Who detaches himself from prayers is like one who falls through the sky . 

Plus the holy prophet ( PBUH&HF ) and the Ahlel Bait ( peace be upon them ) never abonanded worshiping Allah and we all know that they were on the peak of certainty . 

Therefore the intent of this ayah ( verse ) is to clarify the effect of worship not to express the boundaries of worship ( عبادة ) . 

The verses and Hadiths have stated the pathway methodologies and conditions for worship ( عبادة ) . 

 But since this verse is the first divine decree addresses to humans in Quran  , we need to explain some introductory remarks until he becomes clear how worship ( عبادة ) should be . 

1: WORSHIP BASED ON ” COMMAND : according to his orders and without  superstition . 

2: AWARENESS OF WORSHIPING : to know who to address and the lord . 

حَتَّي تَعْلَمُواْ مَا تَقُولُونَ . ( Chapter, 4 /Verse , 43 ) 

” Until you know what your saying  “

3: WORSHIP WITH SINCERITY : 

وَلَا يُشْرِكْ بِعِبَادَةِ رَبِّهِ أَحَدًا . ( chapter , verse , 110 ) 

” and not associate in the worship of his Lord anyone.”

4 : WORSHIP WITH HUMBULNESS : 

أَلَّذِينَ هُمْ فِي صَلَاتِهِمْ خَٰشِعُونَ . ( chapter , 23 verse , 2 ) . 

” They who are during their prayer humbly submissive ” 

5 : WORSHIP WITH LOVE : 

قَالَ رَسُول الله ( صلي الله عليه و آله ) : أَفْضَلُ النَّاس مَنْ عَشِقَ الْعِبَادَة 

The most virtues of mankind are those who is in LOVE with worship ( عبادة ) . 

The commander of the believers , Imam Ali ( peace be upon him ) says : O ‘ Lord ! I do not worship you for a desire of 

reaching heaven , nor do I worship you out of fear of hell , even if you would not creat heaven and hell , I would still 

worship you for I see you worthy of it . 

The summary of  our discussion : 

There are 3 conditions for worship ( عبادة ) : 

A : The condition of correctness : like Purity ( طَهَارَة ) and Direction ( قِبْلَة ) . 

B: The condition of acceptance : like Piety ( تقوا  ) . 

C : The condition of perfection : so worship ( عبادة  ) should be with knowledge , awareness , humdulness , secretly and 

with LOVE . These are the conditions of a perfect worship ( عبادة ) . 

I would like to end with a beautiful short prayer and supplication : 

اَللّهُم ارْزُقْنَا حَلَاوَةَ الْعِبَادَة 

O ‘ Allah ! Grant us the sweetness of worship ( عبادة ) . 

Thank you . 

With regards : Sayed Abazar ( Mahdi ) Wahedi ( Hussaini ) .

05/08/2017 .