Integrating Worship (Ibada) and Service (Khidma) in Sufi Way
بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
Peace and Blessings be upon the Prophet Muhammad his family and Companions
In Islamic Spirituality, the second pillar after purification is to make service to the LORD of Heavens, which means , one must strive to be a servant of the LORD Most High.
Purification is both internal and external. Internal purification refer to the purification of the heart (Mind and Soul) and external purification is the purification of body, cloths and premises.
The servant of the LORD engage in two types of services. One is called worship of the LORD (Arabic: Ibadath), second one is called pious deeds (Khidmath).
There are obligatory worship (Ibada) and obligatory services (Khidma)and voluntary worships and voluntary services.
The obligatory worships are the five times prayers, fasting in Ramadan and Hajj (pilgrimage) and so on...
The obligatory services are: to seek beneficial knowledge, to pay Zakat (obligatory charity), to love and look after the parents in their older age, to love the Prophet and his family (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to bury the dead and to fulfil the needs of the neighbours poor and destitute and so on...
It is only through pure beneficial knowledge, we can fulfil the acceptance of all foundations beliefs, actions (purification and services) and nearness is in the best methodology, right mind and sincere determination.
Worship to the LORD of Truth stands above all other services then comes obligatory services to the mankind, as it is written in the Book of perfect guidance:
Quran 2:2-3
This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah -Who believe in the unseen, establish prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them,
Quran 2:4-5 And who believe in what has been revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what was revealed before you, and of the Hereafter they are certain [in faith]. Those are upon [right] guidance from their Lord, and it is those who are the successful.
Verses 2:2-5 describes that the Quran will benefit only those who combine worship and good deeds.
The first Caliph of Islam, the Master of the Naqshbandi Way, Hazret Abu Bakar Siddiq (R.A) , wage war against hypocrites, who prays (Worship) but refused to pay Zakat (obligatory charity) which is the denial of obligatory service (khidma) to the believers!
We can see that Islamic faith integrated worship to the deeds , beliefs with actions, knowledge with work!. When this is the case so many groups and Sufi ways turns Islamic religion (deen al Islam) into a joke , they turn away from service to mankind, service to the destitute and needy and turning Sufi circles and Mawlid gatherings to a western style party clubs!. The destitute and needy are not welcomed in their congregations. Following the footsteps of the unbelievers , their social service has become a money transfer or club events just to make a show or presence in the community!
Who are the destitute?:
People often think, destitute means someone who does not have money or possessions. But they are forgetting that destitute also could mean, those who are disabled or suffer loss of limbs. For example, a destitute is also someone who lost his eye sight, who are deaf ,who are dumb, who lost their arms or legs!
When those so called Sufis and Muslim in general find it a burden to help and accommodate such destitute in their gatherings , their religion becomes a lie, they becomes vain worshippers!. Their love for Allah and His Messenger appear to be false!. Such Sufi gatherings, Mawlid events etc does not yield any blessings!. The LORD of Truth turns away from such vain worshippers! As it is written in the Holy Quran:
Quran 93:10 Nor repulse the petitioner (unheard);
Have you seen the one who denies the Recompense? For that is the one who drives away the orphan, and never encourages the feeding of the destitute.So woe unto those performers of Salat (prayers) (hypocrites),Who are neglectful of their prayers,Those who do good deeds only to be seen (of men), Yet refuse small kindnesses! [Quran 107:1-7]
Thus we can understand that merely having some affiliation with Islam, or with a prominent Sufi way, or with a Saint will not benefit a person unless he/she live according to the Book of the LORD of Truth and the Traditions of the Prophets. It is easy for a person to claim that he love the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) or follow Naqshbandi, Qadri, Tijani or Rifa'i ways but if he/she does not act upon the basic principles of religion, then he/she is definitely making their religion a lie!
Service to the Holy Prophet and His Ahlul Bayt and to the Imams (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him):
Quran 33:6 The Prophet is more worthy of the believers than themselves, and his wives are [in the position of] their mothers. And those of [blood] relationship are more entitled [to inheritance] in the decree of Allah than the [other] believers and the emigrants, except that you may do to your close associates a kindness [through bequest]. That was in the Book inscribed.
Quran 33:56 Indeed, Allah confers blessing upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed, ask [Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [Allah to grant him] peace
Quran 42:23 That is of which Allah gives the good news to His servants, (to) those who believe and do good deeds. Say: I do not ask of you any reward for it but love for my near relatives; and whoever earns good, We give him more of good therein; surely Allah is Forgiving, Grateful.
Quran 108:3 For he who makes you angry (O Muhammad (Peace be upon him)), - he will be cut off (from every good thing in this world and in the Hereafter).
In the Quran Al Kareem, the LORD of Truth make it obligatory to love and make service (Khidma) to the Holy Prophet and His family and progeny. The verses (33:6,33:56,42:23) include the wives of the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and his family.
The Muslim obligatory prayers embodies purification, worship, service and seeking nearness to the LORD of Truth, as it is written:
But prostrate and draw near [to Allah]. 96:19
Various Hadiths confirms that, the Ahlul Bayt are those who are forbidden to take Zakat (charity).
Narrated Jabir bin 'Abdullah:
"I saw the Messenger of Allah during his Hajj, on the Day of 'Arafah. He was upon his camel Qaswa, giving a Khutbah, so he said: 'O people! Indeed, I have left among you, that which if you hold fast to it, you shall not go astray: The Book of Allah and my family, the people of my house.'" [Tirmidi]
Narrated Zaid bin Arqam, may Allah be pleased with both of them:
that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:"Indeed, I am leaving among you, that which if you hold fast to them, you shall not be misguided after me. One of them is greater than the other: The Book of Allah is a rope extended from the sky to the earth, and my family - the people of my house - and they shall not split until they meet at the Hawd, so look at how you deal with them after me." English reference : Vol. 1, Book 46, Hadith 3788 ,Arabic reference : Book 49, Hadith 4157
Narrated Ibn 'Abbas:
that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "Love Allah for what He nourishes you with of His Blessings, love me due to the love of Allah, and love the people of my house due to love of me." (hasan), Tirmidi.
On the authority of Tameem ibn Aus ad-Daree (ra):
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “The deen (religion) is naseehah (advice, sincerity).” We said, “To whom?” He (ﷺ) said, “To Allah, His Book, His Messenger, and to the leaders of the Muslims and their common folk.” [Muslim]
Service to Muslims and people in General:
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
Let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day speak good, or keep silent; and let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day be generous to his neighbour; and let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day be generous to his guest. [Al-Bukhari] [Muslim] 40 Hadith Nawawi , No: 15
On the authority of Abu Dharr Jundub ibn Junadah, and Abu Abdur-Rahman Muadh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
Have taqwa (fear) of Allah wherever you may be, and follow up a bad deed with a good deed which will wipe it out, and behave well towards the people. It was related by at-Tirmidhi, who said it was a hasan (good) hadeeth, and in some copies it is stated to be a hasan saheeh hadeeth. 40 Hadith Nawawi 18
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said:
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Every joint of a person must perform a charity each day that the sun rises: to judge justly between two people is a charity. To help a man with his mount, lifting him onto it or hoisting up his belongings onto it, is a charity. And the good word is a charity. And every step that you take towards the prayer is a charity, and removing a harmful object from the road is a charity.” [Al-Bukhari] [Muslim] 40 Hadith Nawawi 26
Neighbourhood Watch/Crime Stop/Stopping Evil doing:
On the authority of Abu Sa`eed al-Khudree (may Allah be pleased with him) who said:
I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say, “Whosoever of you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then [let him change it] with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart — and that is the weakest of faith.” [Muslim] 40 Hadith Nawawi 34
On the authority of Abu Hamzah Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) — the servant of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) — that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
None of you [truly] believes until he loves for his brother that which he loves for himself. [Al-Bukhari] [Muslim]
Sahih Muslim 6232 Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Verily, Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, would say on the Day of Resurrection: O son of Adam, I was sick but you did not visit Me. He would say: O my Lord; how could I visit Thee whereas Thou art the Lord of the worlds? Thereupon He would say: Didn't you know that such and such servant of Mine was sick but you did not visit him and were you not aware of this that if you had visited him, you would have found Me by him? O son of Adam, I asked food from you but you did not feed Me. He would say: My Lord, how could I feed Thee whereas Thou art the Lord of the worlds? He said: Didn't you know that such and such servant of Mine asked food from you but you did not feed him, and were you not aware that if you had fed him you would have found him by My side? (The Lord would again say: ) O son of Adam, I asked drink from you but you did not provide Me. He would say: My Lord, how could I provide Thee whereas Thou art the Lord of the worlds? Thereupon He would say: Such and such of servant of Mine asked you for a drink but you did not provide him, and had you provided him drink you would have found him near Me.
Sunan Abu Dawud: Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As: Mujahid said that Abdullah ibn Amr slaughtered a sheep and said: Have you presented a gift from it to my neighbour, the jew, for I heard the Apostle of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: Gabriel kept on commending the neighbour to me so that I thought he would make an heir? (Book 41, Hadith 5133)
Imam Bukhari's Al Adab Al Mufrad:
Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The person who strives on behalf of the widows and poor is like those who strive in the way of Allah and like those who fast in the day and pray at night." (sahih)
Sahl ibn Sa’d reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Myself and the caretaker of an orphan will be in Paradise like this,” and he held his two fingers together.Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 5659
True Faith cannot be attained without believing and acting upon all these Noble Messages:
On the authority of Abu Muhammad Abdullah bin ’Amr bin al-’Aas (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “None of you [truly] believes until his desires are subservient to that which I have brought.” [Imam an-Nawawi says:] We have related it in Kitab al-Hujjah with a saheeh chain of narrators.
Sayings of the Sufi Saints on Service (Khidma) to Humanity:
“Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder. Help someone's soul heal. Walk out of your house like a shepherd.” ― Mawlana
To help and serve people, in the understanding of this Way, is better than Dhikr and meditation. Some people think that to do the supererogatory Sunnas is better than serving and helping those in need. It is our view, however, that to take care of people and to help them and to show them love is better than anything else.
I didn’t take this tariqat (Paath) from books, but I pursued this tariqat by service to people.
Everyone enters through a different door; I entered this Spiritual Order through the door of service.
Shah Waliyullah Dehlevi (Q.S), the Grand Shaykh of Naqshbandi Sufi Way, said: “Whoever wants to serve, he must serve his Shaykh.”
Conclusion:
We can conclude that various levels and types of service to various people is part of the perfection of faith. These way of Awliya Allah (Saints of the Most High) tells us that, Islam is not a religion just to pray like Robots up and down and to be selfish!. Islamic spirituality make a person responsible believer!. Muslims making prayer on every believer, prophets and the family of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in the Tashahud (end of the prayer in final sitting), but they fail to act upon what they are saying in the worship of Allah Almighty. This is where people fail in their religion and become vain worshippers!
To become a true believer, one must be acting upon the very things he says in Tashahhud to his LORD when he prays five times a day!.
The service to the LORD is to worship Him Alone and to obey His Commands
The Service to Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) is to follow his teachings.
The service to Ahlul Bayt is to love and support them in their needs
The service to Imams is Deen An-Naseeha, to be sincerely follow them
The service to Imams is Deen An-Naseeha, to be sincerely follow them
The Service to neighbours and guests is to be generous to them.
The Service to Orphans, Widows and Needy is to care for them and fulfil their needs!
The service to humanity is to provide them their basic necessities.
Unfortunately, some square heads misunderstood that,service to one's Shaykh is worshipping Pir and committing shirk!. Because they have not understood Islam and understood the verse and traditions aforementioned!
Peace and Blessings be upon the Prophets of Allah
Praise be to Allah the LORD of the Worlds
Praise be to Allah the LORD of the Worlds
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