What does worship mean? Why do we worship?
Worship means to fulfill the orders of Allah, to keep away from His prohibitions, and to act in accordance with His consent. As for the issue why we worship:
* First of all, we worship because it is the purpose of our creation because Allah created us, human beings so that we would know Him, believe in Him and worship Him.
This issue is stated as follows in the Quran:
"I have only created jinn and men, that they may serve Me." (adh-Dhariyat, 56)
As believers, we act in accordance with our purpose of creation stated in the verse and try to fulfill our duty of worshipping our Creator.
* Furthermore, we worship Allah to thank Him for so many bounties he gave us.
We thank somebody who gives us a small gift several times; if we do not thank Allah, who gives us so many bounties and gifts, by worshipping, we will definitely have shown ingratitude. We try to fulfill our duty of worship faultlessly to avoid such ingratitude.
Allah created us out of nothing, equipped us with thousands of feelings and organs, created everything that those feelings and organs need and he gave us humanity, belief and guidance along with life.
It is stated in the Quran that the bounties of Allah are endless and that it is impossible to count them as follows:
"If ye would count up the favors of Allah, never would ye be able to number them: for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (an-Nahl, 18).
What we need to do for endless bounties is to know and love God Almighty, who is the owner of those bounties, to show that we love Him by worshipping and to show Him our thanks and gratitude in return for the bounties He gives us.
* In fact, our worship and thanks are not sufficient at all for the bounties given to us in this world. As a matter of fact, Allah prepared greater bounties for us in Paradise if we believe in Him and worship Him and He promised us endless bliss in Paradise. In that case, the bounties that Allah promised us to give in the hereafter are completely His special favor, grace and grant. They are not given to us in return for our worship and thanks.
The Prophet explains this issue as follows:
"Your deeds (worship) cannot take you to Paradise. My deeds cannot take me to Paradise, either. It can be possible only through the mercy of Allah."
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