Salman ibn Fahd al-'Awdah
The tongue is one of the greatest appendages possessed by the human being, since its devotions include such noble activities as the remembrance and praise of Allah, the recitation of the Qur’ân, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong. From all of this, we can see why the formal prayers are one of the greatest forms of worship, since these prayers require devotions from every limb of the body. The eyes engage in worship by fixing their gaze upon the spot where the forehead will be placed during prostration.
The ears engage in worship during prayer by listening to the recitation of the imam with silent concentration. Allah says: “While the Qur’ân is being recited, listen to it attentively and silently that perhaps you might receive mercy. ” [Sûrah al-A`râf : 204]
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “When the imam is reciting, listen to him quietly.”5
The arms and legs engage in worship when the person engaged in prayer stands, bows, prostrates, and sits. The tongue engages in worship by remembering and glorifying Allah and by reciting the Qur’ân.
In this way the whole body humbles itself before Allah and engages in His worship, making prayer one of the greatest forms of worship.
It is therefore, remarkable, that in spite of the tremendous virtues of prayer, Allah has directed the following threat to some of the people who pray when He says: “So woe to the people who pray, but who are inattentive about their prayers; those who but want to be seen of others but refuse to supply even neighborly needs.” [Sûrah al-Mâ`ûn: 4-7]
This lets us know that what matters is not merely the outward motions of prayer, since the people that are being addressed by these verses are described as people who perform their prayers. Though they pray, they are threatened with woe, meaning that they will face punishment in the Hereafter. This is because they only performed the prayers with their bodies while there hearts were devoid of humility and devotion. Their bodies were lined up in the mosques in the ranks of the worshippers. Their faces were turned towards Mecca. Their hearts, however, were directed towards something else, longing only to achieve the praise of men and win their trust or to attain some other worldly benefit. Allah describes the se people in the following words: “When they stand up to prayer, they stand lazily to be seen of men, but little do they remember Allah.” [Sûrah al-Nisâ’: 142]
Inward Aspects of Worship
We now turn our intention to the greater, more important facets of worship, the internal ones – the devotions of the heart and of the inner self. Allah says: “Set your face to the religion in true sincerity.” [Sûrah al-Rûm: 30] To direct oneself to Allah, to rely on Him alone, and to seek his countenance through one’s deeds is the greatest form of worship there is. It is what purifies and beautifies the heart. It is accomplished through the love of Allah and constant awareness of Him. This is the distinction that the believers have over the sinners and the hypocrites.
Just like a person takes care of his outward appearance, wears nice clothes, and worries about public tastes in his manner of grooming, he should also take care to beautify his inner being. And just as he would hate to go out in public in a disheveled state, he should also be aware that the corruption of his inner being is far more odious.
A poet once said:
A man will not with his tasteful attire endear himself to the one he has wronged
Any more than a cadaver is enamored of the finery of his burial clothes.
A beautiful funeral dressing is of no benefit to the deceased. Likewise, a person who possesses an evil, envious, hateful nature does not get any benefit from his good outward gestures. This is the lot of the hypocrite.
A poet writes:
O servant of the flesh! How wretched you grow from your service.
How you have wearied yourself in your fruitless labors.
Turn to your soul and labor to perfect its virtues,
For you are by virtue of your soul, not your flesh, a man.
A person does not become a true and noble human being by virtue of physical strength. If this were the case, then many a beast of burden or beast of prey would attain the highest nobility and most sublime humanity. This is why the bodies of men and women are not the measure of their worth.
Inspired by this fact, a poet writes:
You regard a man emaciated and scorn him,
While in his garments is the epithet of a lion.
You are impressed by the well groomed man and test his mettle,
Only to be disappointed by this man of impeccable appearance.
The camel is of great size, but without any ken,
So his great bulk ultimately avails you not.
The puniest of birds has the largest number of chicks,
While the she falcon scarcely has any chicks at all.
Size and quantity are not all that matters, nor is a good outward show. What matters most is the heart. If the heart is pure, the body follows, but if the heart is rotten, the whole body is corrupted. The most pious Muslim, Abû Bakr, was a lightweight, slender man, but in spite of that, if his faith was to be weighed against the combined faith of all the Muslims, his faith would weigh more.
Then there was `Abd Allah b. Mas`ûd who was one of the dearest people to the Allah. The Companion Hudhayfah b. al-Yamân said: “Those among the Companions whose knowledge is not easily prone to error all knew that Ibn Mas`ûd was the closest and dearest of them to Allah.”6 Now, Ibn Mas`ûd was extremely slight of build, actually puny, and his shins were very skinny. He was so small that the wind would cause him to sway to and fro. The Companion Zur b. Hubaysh relates that Ibn Mas`ûd was harvesting branches from an arâk tree when the wind came up and caused his whole body to turn. People began to laugh at him, and Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) asked: “What are you laughing at?” They replied that they were laughing at his skinny legs. To this the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “I swear by the One who possesses my soul! Those two legs are weightier in the Balance of the Hereafter than Mount Uhud.”7
Just as there are people who play careful attention to their appearances but are neglectful of their inner selves, there are those who keep up a good image by doing supposedly pious acts conspicuously and are careful never to slip out of fear of public recrimination. Any slip would ruin their reputation, because their status is built upon their being good imams, scholars, or Islamic workers. For this reason they are scrupulous in maintaining their outwardly good conduct, not out of any real desire to follow the Sunnah or obey Allah. Their hearts are full of the love of this world and the love of fame. They are so concerned about their status and their reputation that they have no time to think about the Hereafter and how they should prepare for it. They have no time to think about the problems afflicting the Muslims and how to solve them. They do not think about calling others to Islam. Their hearts are devoid of the love of Allah and the love of his devoted worshippers. They also feel no fear of Allah. They do not hope for his reward. Their hearts, which are the receptacles of love, hate, hope, anger, joy, and sorrow, are not focused on the worship of Allah at all.
Allah describes the unbelievers in the following way: “This is because they followed that which displeased Allah and they hated to please Him, so He made their deeds of no effect.” [Sûrah Muhammad: 28] We should see how the heart is the crux of all matters. So what is the value of outwardly good works that are hated by the heart of the one who performs them? What is the state of a person who abstains from some sinful deed while loving it in his heart and feeling joy when someone else commits it? Such a person will almost invariably fall into the sin sooner or later.
Such a person who loves what Allah hates and hates what Allah loves will without doubt act upon what is in his heart. The love or fear that he has harbors in his heart for some created thing – the fear that he has of men, of sickness, of poverty, of death, or of the rulers and the desire that he has for worldly gain, for prestige, or for a position – will ultimately guide his hands just as a king guides his subjects. His actions will obey the directions of his heart. This is why the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “In the body is a peace of flesh that if it is healthy, the whole body is healthy, and if it is corrupted, the whole body becomes corrupted. It is the heart.”8
The heart dictates and the limbs obey. This is why Allah has made salvation in the Hereafter dependent upon the sanctity of the heart. Allah says: “The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will prevail, except for him who brings to Allah a sound heart.” [Sûrah al-Shu`arâ’: 88-89] So the one who brings to Allah a sound heart will find benefit in his wealth, his children, and his deeds, for his limbs would have already availed him. As for the one who comes to Allah with a heart that is dead or sick, he will find no benefit in anything else.
A person whose heart is devoid of the love and fear of Allah, a heart which has no affection for pious people and no love for righteous deeds, is to Allah a person who has no heart, even if the lump of flesh can be found in his chest. Allah says: “Not alike are the living and the dead.” [Sûrah Fâtir: 22] The comparison here is between a believer and an unbeliever or between a pious person and a sinner. Allah says: “Can he who was dead to whom We gave life and a light whereby he can walk among the people be like him who is in the depths of darkness from which he can not escape?” [Sûrah al-An`âm: 122]
Footnotes:
5 Sahîh Muslim (404).
6 Sahîh al-Bukhârî (3762). Sunan al-Tirmidhî (3806). The wording here is that of al-Tirmidhî.
7 Musnad Ahmad (3991). Sunan Abî Ya`lâ (5310). Mu`jam al-Tabaranî (8452).
8 Sahîh al-Bukhârî (52). Sahîh Muslim (1599).
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