9th Word
-
Is working a waste of time?
Working is the means by which we provide for ourselves in this fleeting world. Yet what about the afterlife? Does working benefit our afterlife as well or is it only for this world?
-
How do animals and unconscious beings worship God?
In the previous post, we discussed what it meant for prayer (salat) to encompass all the various types of worship belonging to conscious beings such as humans, angels, and the Jinn and those of unconscious beings like trees and mountains. So how do animals and unconscious beings worship God? They submit to God Humans and the Jinn are the only beings who possess free will. Those of us who obey and submit to God do so by choice. The rest like animals and unconscious beings do not possess free will and therefore submit to God by default, thus worshipping Him. For instance, does the earth ever reject to spin around…
-
How does prayer symbolize other types of worship?
prayer is an encompassing luminous index of all types of worship and a holy map pointing to the colors of worship of all kinds of creatures. (Ninth Word; Third Subtle Point) Here, Ustadh Bediuzzaman states that prayer, in a way, represents and points to all other forms of worship. How so? We can see this when looking at various rulings regarding prayer. Eating, for instance, is forbidden during prayer, which symbolizes fasting. Turning to the qibla is mandatory, symbolizing hajj and umrah. Reciting the Qur’an is obviously included and so is covering one’s awrah. It also symbolizes zakat since we are given 24 hours on a day and…
-
Path of Compassion
What is the meaning of worship and how does compassion draw us closer to God?
