Man claims to worship God, but worship does not consist of a lot of prostrations and bowing and standing, or rotating the beads of a rosary countless times. Worship means to be so drawn to God, out of love for Him, that one’s ego should disappear altogether. First, there should be firm faith in the existence of God and a full appreciation of His beauty and beneficence. Then there should be such love of God that the heart should ever feel its flame, and this condition should be manifest all the time from one’s countenance. God’s greatness should so inspire the heart that the whole world should appear dead in comparison. His being should be the source of all fear. Pain endured for Him should be all joy; His company should be a source of delight; and the heart should find no comfort with anyone other than Him. To reach such a condition is termed ‘worship’, but it is not reached without the special help of God Almighty. That is why He has taught us the prayer:
[1] إِيَّاكَ نَعۡبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسۡتَعِينُ
That is, we do worship Thee, but how can we do justice to Thy worship until we receive Thy special help? To worship God, having made Him one’s True Beloved, is the essence of sainthood, which is the height of spiritual progress, but this cannot be achieved without His help. The indication of having achieved it is that God’s greatness and love should be established in the heart, and the heart should rely completely on Him and love Him alone. And he should prefer Him to everything and make His remembrance the purpose of his life. Such a person would be ready to carry out with the eagerness of love the most testing commands of God, even if, like Abraham (as), he is commanded to slaughter his own son or to jump into the fire. He will leave no stone unturned in obedience to God and in his eagerness to win His pleasure. This door is very narrow, and this drink is very bitter. There are few who enter this door and drink of this bitter cup. It is no great thing to refrain from adultery or killing a person unlawfully; nor is it a great achievement to refrain from bearing false witness. But to prefer God to everything and to welcome every bitterness with true eagerness and out of true love for Him, and to create bitterness for oneself in this path, is a status which cannot be achieved by anyone except the truthful. This is the worship which is prescribed for man.
ENDNOTES
1. The Holy Qur’an, 1:5.
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Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as), The Essence of Islam – Vol. IV (Islam International Publications Ltd., 2006), 175-176.
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