Assalamualaikum,
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The Position of Ibadat in Islam
In the syariat, the ibadat(worship) is of uppermost importance because it is through it the relationship between Allah and His creations finds its most candid and intimate expression, it also plays a vital role in the uplift and reformationof all other departments of human existence (Nomani, 1977).
Ibadat in Islam denotes acts a person performs solely with the objective of paying his humble homage to the Glory and Magnificence of Allah by acknowledging and affirming his own helplessness, humility, submissiveness and devotion, and of gaining His pleasure and earning nearness to Him.
Recalling the duniawi-ukhrawi paradox, it must be remembered that anything that is done which falls into the category of good deeds or maaruf is an ibadat, and basically it is the duties of the parts of the human body. Prof. Ash Siddieqy (1964) divided the ibadat according to the parts of the human body:
1. Ibadat for the tongue: Examples include testifying the syahadah, tilawat(recitation) Al Qur'an, Zikrullah (repeating the names, attributes and priases of Allah).
2. Ibadat for parts other than the tongue, which can be divided into: (a) for own-self. Examples include Taharah (cleanliness), covering 'aurat (covering forbidden parts of the body from the sight of someone who one can enter into matrimonial relationship), solat, zakat, saum and haj. (b) for the family. Examples include marriages, education of the members of the family. (c) for the society. Examples include establishing government which is 'adil (just), decision making process through syura (council), amar makruf, nahi mungkar (promotion of virtuesprevention of vice).
The very core of ibadat are the pillars of Islam, viz; solat(prayer), zakat (poor-due), saum(fasting), and haj(pilgrimage). These form the basic tenets of Islam and are of extreme importance to it. These are the pillarson which the whole edifice of iman (faith) is raised.
It must be understood here that the four pillars form a small portion of the ibadat, and yet the ibadat is just a section of the syariah. To put the icing on the cake, the syariat is only one third of the deen of Islam.
...............to be continued
