In last month's article, we contemplated the notion of covenants in the Quran, whereby humankind promised its obedience to Allah and acknowledged Allah’s unicity. Verses 60 and 61 of Surah Ya Sin reorient us to this promise, stating:
“Did I not enjoin upon you, O Children of Adam, that you not worship Satan - truly he is a manifest enemy unto you - and that you worship Me? This is a straight path.”1
These verses provide insight on how to make good on this promise, that is, through worshiping only Him. Today we continue our exploration of covenants in the Quran by examining the idea of worship as an intimate act of love and a possible means to materialize our promise to God.
Let us begin by turning to the story of Moses and the Shepherd, recounted in Mowlana Rumi’s Mathnawi.2
One day while traveling Moses came upon a shepherd who was praying aloud, “O God! Show me where you are so that I may serve you. I will comb your hair and clean your shoes. I will sew your clothes and fetch you milk.”
Moses interrupted the shepherd’s prayer and scolded him harshly. “You foolish old man! Your prayers make you an infidel. God is a grand Spirit - not a lowly man that needs to be tended to. Your prayers are full of ignorance!”
The old man grew quiet in his remorse. Ashamed and embarrassed, he fled into the desert.
Rumi envisions the conversation that might have unfolded between God and Moses in that moment:
“O Moses, why have you sent my servant away?
I created not men to gain a profit from them,
But to shower my beneficence upon them.
I am not purified by their praises,
'Tis they who become pure and shining thereby.
I regard not the outside and the words,
I regard the inside and the state of heart.
How long will you dwell on words and superficialities?
A burning heart is what I want!
Kindle in your heart the flame of love
And burn up utterly thoughts and fine expressions.”
Rumi’s imagined conversation between Moses and God captures an aspect of worship that moves beyond formalities, highlighting instead an intimate relationship between the Creator and the created, the Sustainer and the sustained. These intimate acts of worship bind the prayerful subject with the divine.
Imam Ali (alayhi-s-salaam) explains the different approaches that believers may take in their worship:
“There is a group who worship God out of desire [for something not yet attained], and this is the worship of the merchants. And there is a group who worship God out of fear, and this is the worship of the slaves. And there is a group who worship God out of gratitude, and this is the worship of the free.”3
How do we develop an attitude of gratitude in our worship? How do we worship out of love rather than fear or desire? Verses 190 and 191 of Surah Āl Imran provide some insight:
“Truly in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the variation of the night and day are signs for the possessors of intellect, who remember God standing, sitting, and lying upon their sides, and reflect upon the creation of the heavens and the earth, ‘Our Lord, You have not created this in vain. Glory be to You.”4
From these sources of inspiration, we can understand that focusing on our blessings, on the many things that have been provided to us, and performing dhikr or remembrance of Allah’s attributes are ways in which we can fulfill our covenant to worship God.
1 The Study Quran, p. 1080.
2 Moses and the shepherd click here.
3 Kazemi, Reza Shah. (2011). Spiritual quest: Reflections on Quranic prayer according to the teachings of Imam Ali. P. 32. I.B. Tauris.
4 The Study Quran, p. 184.
