Blessings of Khilafat — Page 165
Objects of Human Life 165 Remember that prayers offered by way of habit are not true prayers, neither is the Zakat that is given by habit the true Zakat, nor is the fasting done by habit the true fasting and nor is the Hajj performed in this way the true Hajj. Did people not offer their prayers before the advent of the Promised Messiah as ? Did they not give Zakat or observe fasting or perform Hajj? They did everything. But they did not do them with the true intent of doing a good deed. All their actions were just pretence. That is why they never benefited from them. As for you, whatever you do, you have only one thing to keep in view, and that is God. Should you act upon this advice, you will observe a remarkable change in your spiritual life. Therefore, abstain from doing things by way of habit. Do them with the true intent with which they should be done. Objective of Islam Islam’s greatest object is to free you of mere ritual, which it disapproves in the strongest terms, for mere ritual in no way guarantees that one will continue doing a good deed. What Islam wants to emphasize is that whatever one does, it should be done solely for the seeking of the pleasure of God. It is then that a person gets his heart’s desire. God states: 18 18 S u rah Ban i Isr a’i l , 17:21