Welcome to Ahmadiyyat, The True Islam — Page 23
− At first glance, this purpose appears to be rather a selfish one, but upon deeper consideration it becomes totally different from what it initially seemed. The phrase 'to worship Him' needs to be clearly understood. Here, the English word 'worship' is misleading - in Arabic it does not have the same connotations. Worship is not just to formally bow to someone, to a thing, or to a god, or whatever. Worship means to completely divest oneself of all rights of ownership, to admit that these rights belong to God, not to us, because the word 'worship' in Arabic has the same root as the Arabic word which means 'a slave'. Now, the ‘ abd definition of a slave is one who does not possess even his own body - whatever he earns goes to his master. This common root is significant in understanding the meaning of worship in Islamic terminology. The − meaning now becomes much broader and rises high above that which may have been assumed in the beginning, i. e. , just to bow to God and all will be well is not at all a correct assumption. God reminds us that everything He has created belongs to Him; you will return to Him one day, and in that, you have no option. God says return to Me before that day and divest yourself completely of all your properties and possessions, even that which you desire to possess and submit it to God - this is worship. The second meaning of worship is to follow somebody - to follow in the tracks of someone. So, the second meaning of worship would be to follow the attributes of God because, if He is the Master, you must know what the Master's desires are and you must respond accordingly. Here the meaning of worship is to understand what God requires of us and to do exactly as He requires. This is not a selfish concept from the vantage point of God. This is done for the sake of man, because all the advantages are gained by man, not by God. This aspect has been further clarified in the Holy Qur’an to remove any misunderstanding about this purpose. In the − Holy Qur’an, God states that even if He had not created man or even if all − humanity had rejected Him, it would still not make the slightest dent in God's Sovereignty, because there exist, in far greater number, other living forms like the angels and other spirits who bow to God without any question, who submit to Him as if it is ingrained in them - and it is ingrained in them. If this was the purpose, why should God have created man at all - He had plenty of other living beings to bow to Him. So the creation of man is for the sake of man and not for the sake of God. Its 23