The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume I — Page 289
VIII - Expansion of Preaching 289 rules which have been appointed. For the respect of officers, subordinates have been bound by hundreds of apparent restrictions, because in worldly affairs, these people acknowledge more so than others, that the spirit of an emotion cannot be upheld without an apparent form. Then there is no reason why this natural law should be disregarded in religious affairs. Therefore, not only is it necessary to involve the body in worship because it is also a creation of God, and it is also obliged to worship its Creator, but also because the salvation of the internal soul is not possible without physical and bodily restrictions. The second allegation is that Islām has overly stressed physical figure and form in its worship, and has not paid sufficient attention to the spirit of worship, which is the actual essence. As such, this allegation is also completely erroneous and baseless, because as mentioned above, while including the body in worship, although Islām has prescribed an apparent form to worship, since the soul commands precedence to the body, it is for this reason that Islām has given real attention to the soul. Quite the contrary, the emphasis which Islām has put on the spirit of worship cannot be found in any other religion. Therefore, with regards to the Ṣalāt , which is greater than all forms of worship in Islām, Allāh the Exalted has stated the following: Meaning, “Ruined are those who are ignorant to the actual purpose of their prayer. They perform an action which is seen by the people, but it is empty of spirit. They are holding fast to the shell, but the kernel, which the shell is meant to hold and protect has been lost to them. ” 1 In this Qur’ānic verse, the clarity, force and impressive manner in which the philosophy of Islāmic worship has been mentioned, requires no further explanation. It is our claim that no other religion can present a superior teaching. In such brief and plain words a gist of this extremely important and remarkably broad issue is presented, that truly, no further elaboration is required. We have presented this verse merely as an example, but the Islāmic law is full of such examples that by the eternal law of human nature, although worship requires a body, the actual essence is the spirit, without which, a body 1 Al-Mā‘ūn (107:5-8)