1. Bringing people to the worship of their Lord

Worshipping Allah is the reason behind the creation of the Heavens and the Earth, the angels and human beings, the night and the day, as-Sirat and al-Meezaan, Paradise and Hell. The whole universe was not created in jest: "We created not the heavens and the earth and all that is between the two, in play." [Surah Al-Anbiyaa (21), Ayah 16.] Nor were human beings and the jinn created in vain: "Did you then think that We had created you without purpose and that you would not be brought back to Us [for account]? Exalted then be Allah, the True King. There is no god but He, the Lord of the Glorious Throne." [Surah Al-Mu'minoon (23), Ayat 115-116.] They were not created without a reason and purpose: "I have only created the jinn and the men but that they may worship Me." [Surah Az-Zariyat (51), Ayah 56.] The only purpose for which they were created therefore is to worship Allah alone. They were created to carry out their duty towards Allah.

This duty was outlined by the Prophet when he called Mu'adh bin Jabal three times, asking him, "Do you know Allah's right upon His Servants?" Mu'adh replied, "Allah and His Messenger know best." The Prophet then said, "Allah's right upon His servants is that they should worship Him alone and associate none with Him in worship." 43 This is the duty the servants must carry out towards Allah, mainly to worship Him with total submission, humility, love, reliance, piety, good conduct and fear, turning unto Him. This is why Allah (SWT) sent messengers calling people to His worship: "And indeed We sent Noah to his people, and he said, 'O my people, worship Allah. You have no other god but Him. Will you not then be afraid?'" [Surah Al-Mu'minoon (23), Ayat 23.] "And [remember] Abraham when he said to his people, 'Worship Allah and fear Him. That will be better for you, if you understand.

'" [Surah AlAnkabut (29), Ayah 16.] "And to the 'Aad people [We sent] their brother Hud. He said, 'O my people, worship Allah [alone]. You have no god other than Him.'" [Surah Hud (11), Ayah 50.] "And to [the tribe of Thamud [we sent] their brother Salih. He said, `O my people, worship Allah; you have no god other than Him.'" [Surah Hud (11), Ayah 61.] 43 Bukhari and Muslim. 45 my people, worship Allah; you have no god other than Him.'" [Surah Hud (11), Ayah 84.] "And verily, We have sent among every Ummah a Messenger [proclaiming]:`Worship Allah [alone], and avoid at-Taghut (all false deities).'" [Surah An-Nahl (16), Ayah 36.] The Quran also recounts the saying of Jesus, the son of Mary to the Children of Israel: "Surely, Allah is my Lord and your Lord. So worship Him [alone]; that is the right path." [Surah Maryam (19), Ayah 36.] And this is the reason why the Prophet had been sent "so that Allah alone will be worshipped, without any partners." 44 And this is the aim that the Sahabah understood from the Prophet .

Rab'ee bin `Aamir said to Rustum when asked about the reason he had come to see him: "Allah has sent us to take the created [people] away from the worship of the created [false gods] and bring them to the worship of Allah, the One and Almighty." Man must, by his very nature, be a servant, whether he likes it or not. This is an inherent characteristic of Man over which he has no control. He must experience submissiveness, love, fear, hope and reliance associated with slavery. If he does not direct these to Allah, the - true God, he will undoubtedly direct them to false deities which "...can create nothing but are themselves created, and which have no power to harm or benefit themselves, and they control neither death nor life nor resurrection." [Surah Al-Furqan (25), Ayah 3.] People should realize this fact and understand it properly: if they keep away from the worship of Allah, they will undoubtedly worship false gods which can do neither harm nor good. This is one of the immutable laws that Allah (SWT) established in the universe.

The Christians worship Jesus Christ; the Jews worshipped the calf; the Arab polytheists worshipped idols made from pressed dates which they ate when they felt hungry. They ate the very gods to whom they were prostrating a few minutes before, supplicating to them, loving them, and asking them for food and drink. There are people today who still worship fire, cows, trees, the moon and the sun. Other people are slaves to their own whims and desires: "Have you seen him who takes his own lust (vain desires) as his god, and Allah knowing [him as such], left him astray, and sealed his hearing and his heart, and put a cover on his sight. Who then will guide him after Allah [has withdrawn guidance]?

Will you not then remember?" [Surah AlJaathiya (45), Ayah 23.] Ibn 'Abbas said, "Vain desire [in this verse] is [also] a god worshipped beside Allah." It is said that "There is nothing more evil in the sight of Allah than a vain desire [to which people are slaves]." 44 Al-Bukhari. 46 "They worship other than Allah with love, fear, hope, glorification and humility. They love, hate, give and withhold for their desires' sake. Their desires are dearer and more beloved to them than Allah's Pleasure; desire is their leader, lust is their guide, ignorance is their driver, and negligence is their vehicle." Some people are too proud to be slaves to Allah and instead become slaves to their wealth. The Prophet said, "Wretched is the slave of the dinar, the slave of the dirham and the slave of the bordered silk cloak. If he is given that, he is pleased, and if he is not given that, he is displeased, wretched and disappointed.

And if he is pierced with a thorn, it cannot be extracted." 45 Ibn Hajar said, "The slave of the dinar [in this hadith] means the person who is eager to amass wealth and keep it as though he is its slave and servant." There are others who are too proud to worship Allah and so they become slaves to rulers who legislate laws for them, as did the Jews and Christians when they worshipped their rabbis and monks besides Allah: "They (Jews and Christians) took their rabbis and their monks to be their lords besides Allah." [Surah At-Taubah (9), Ayah 31.] 'Adee bin Hatim said to the Prophet ,"But they (the people) did not worship them ( the rabbis and monks), 0 Messenger of Allah. "The Prophet replied, "They forbade the lawful for them and made lawful what was forbidden, and the people obeyed them. This is how they worshipped them." 46 Our duty is to shake people out of their slumber, make them aware of this fact and ask them: "Are diverse lords better or Allah, the One, the Irresistible?" [Surah Yusuf (12), Ayah 39.] We must shake them and say to them: "O men, a similitude is set forth, so listen to it. Surely, those on whom you call besides Allah cannot create [even] a fly, though they combine together for the purpose. And if the fly should snatch away anything from them, they cannot recover it therefore.

Weak indeed are [both] the seeker and the sought. They esteem not Allah with the estimation which is His due. Surely, Allah is All-Strong, All-Mighty." [Surah Al-Hajj (22), Ayah 73.] We must say to them after shaking them: "Allah sets forth a parable: a man belonging to many partners, disagreeing with one another, and a man belonging wholly to one master. Are they both equal in comparison?" [Surah Az-Zumar (39), Ayah 29.] We shake them and say to them to choose either to worship Allah alone, or to worship many disagreeing gods which do no harm or good, nor provide or create, nor honor or disgrace, nor bring to life or cause death: 45 Al-Bukhari. 46 Tirmidhi and Ahmad. 47 helped. They are not able to help them, but they will be brought forward against those who worshipped them fat the time of Reckoning." [Surah YaSin (36), Ayat 74-75.] "And they have taken [other] gods besides Allah, that they may be [a source of] power for them.

Not at all! They will reject their worship, and become their opponents." [Surah Maryam (19), Ayat 81-82.] These 'gods' will disown them on the Day of Judgement and surrender them to their fate. It is strange that people reject the worship of Allah which brings them honor and glory in this life and eternal bliss in the Hereafter. It is really strange that they turn their backs on this, only to fall in the `mire' of shirk and the worship of false gods. They exalt these false gods, loving them, and approaching them with total humility and submission.

These `gods', which do not benefit them in any way in this life, nor do they provide for them or help them, while it is they who protect these false gods. Furthermore, on the Day of Judgement these false `gods' will not intercede for them but will instead become their opponents: "And set not with Allah another god [for worship] lest you sit down disgraced [and] forsaken." [Surah Al-Israa' (17), Ayah 22.] "And set not with Allah any other god [for worship] lest you be cast into Hell, condemned [and] rejected." [Surah Al-Israa' (17), Ayah 39.] Someone may ask, "What is al-'Uboodiyyah (worship)? Is it restricted to prayers, supplications and remembrance of Allah?" The answer is that these are only a part of it. Al-'Uboodiyyah encompasses all life on this earth and all the conditions and situations of Mankind. The type of worship that Allah demands from His servants is for them to say, with both words and actions, what Prophet Abraham (as) said: "I have submitted to the Lord of the Worlds." [Surah Al-Baqarah (2), Ayah 131.] It is to say with their tongues and actions what Allah commanded the Prophet to say (which means): "Say: "Truly, my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death, are [all] for Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.

He has no partner. And so am I commanded, and I am the first of those who submit." [Surah Al-An'am (6), Ayah 162.] Al-'Uboodiyyah, which Allah has created us for, is that all our lives should be in accordance with what is pleasing to Him. That our day and night, our thoughts and words, our actions and movements, our life and our death are all for Allah, Lord of the Worlds. Ibn Taymeeyah defined worship as follows: "Ibadah (serving Allah) is a term that comprises everything that Allah loves and approves of from apparent and hidden sayings and deeds. So as-Salah (prayer); az-Zakah (charity tax); as-Siyyam (fasting); al-Hajj (pilgrimage to the holy Ka'bah); speaking the truth; returning trusts; being kind to parents; keeping ties with relatives; fulfilling promises; enjoining the good and forbidding the evil; struggling and fighting against the nonbelievers and hypocrites; being kind towards the neighbors, the orphan, the poor, the wayfarer and the owned beings whether human or animal; supplications and 48 definition of Ibadah.

Likewise, the love of Allah and His Messenger; fearing Allah; turning to Him in repentance; sincerity towards Him; patience with His Ordainment; gratefulness for His bounties; contentment with His Decree; dependence on Him; hope for His Mercy and fear of His Punishment, and the like, are also examples of Ibadah. 47 Our aim is to bring people to the worship of Allah alone in all their affairs and conditions. The worshipper owes everything of himself and his life to his Lord. He has no option but to worship Him. If he does not, he is but a disobedient runaway. He does not have the choice of obeying some of Allah's commands and ignoring others, for in this case he will be like "a man belonging to many partners, disagreeing with one another." [Surah Az-Zumar (39), Ayah 29.] Obedience must be in everything, great and small, so that he will be the like of "a man belonging wholly to one master."[Surah Az-Zumar (39), Ayah 29.] Indeed it is the worship of Allah that most people lack and all societies need.

Its absence is, undoubtedly, the reason behind the misery and suffering of many individuals, communities, governments and peoples. Just stop and ask yourself: "Why is Mankind suffering today?" The answer is simply that people direct true worship to other than Allah. The Heavens and the Earth cannot function properly without having one single god to guide them: "If there were in them (the Heavens and the Earth) other gods besides Allah, then surely both would have gone to ruin." [Surah Al-Anbiyaa (21), Ayah 22.] The life of the world has become corrupted because people have taken other 'gods' besides Allah while others have rejected Allah altogether and taken other gods instead. Ibn Al-Qayyim says: "As the Heavens and the Earth would be ruined and corrupted if there were in them other gods besides Allah, the same thing could happen to the heart. If there is within the heart a longing for a god other than Allah, this heart will become seriously diseased and corrupted.

This disease will not be cured until this `false god' has-been removed from the heart and replaced with the true God who is the object of the heart's love, hope, fear, reliance, and turning to Him in repentance." Indeed our condition will not be improved unless we remove everything else other than Allah from our hearts. People attempt to change their lives for the better, but their efforts will he to no avail unless they work towards bringing humanity back to the worship of Allah alone. As Muslims, we have enough insight not to be deceived by the hollow calls for reform which fill the world today. The most serious problem facing Mankind today is not the lack of resources, the suffocating oppression, the ravaging wars, the ill-distribution of resources, or the absence of democracy. The main problem is that people refuse to become slaves of Allah or that they are unaware of this issue altogether. 47 Ibn Taymeeyah, Al-`Uboodiyyah, Al-Maktab Al-lslaami edition, p. 38. 49 in order to bring people to the worship of their Creator.

Any other attempt will, without doubt, be a waste of time and effort. The real problem facing Muslims today is nothing other than their refusal to worship Allah and their blind emulation of stray nations in everything including worship of others than Allah. It is our duty to extend a helping hand to these Muslims and people of other nations, in order to bring them back to the Straight Path and teach them how to be obedient servants of Allah alone. This requires that we should engage in dawah, guiding people and leading them to the Truth. Those who return to the true faith and become upright then they will be forgiven.

As for those who stubbornly reject the truth, we will carry out our duty to rectify them or deter them either through Hisbah or Jihad, depending on the circumstances. People have the choice to return in obedience to their pure nature and worship Allah alone (who is their true Lord and Master). Or to step aside, taking with them their false beliefs and creeds, and leave the earth to be ruled by those who belong to this true religion: those who worship Allah alone with no associates. We cannot allow them to commit the sin of shirk and then impose it upon the land and the people, in legislation, way of life and government.