Al Qur'an is a Divine Book of guidance for the entire mankind, for every verse of it guides the man how to live a life based on true faith and worship his Creator, we Muslim call Allah. While men can understand every verse of Al Qur'an, as it is said in the Book that we revealed this Book in easily understandable text, yet every verse needs human wisdom to understand the true meaning of each verse. This has been the endeavour of the eminent Muslim scholars and exegetes of Al Qur'an to reflect deeply on each verse and bring out the hidden Divine Wisdom to an extent, for Allah only know what the holy words in AL Qur'an really mean.
With this premise in view, we share a simple, yet a deep meaning verse, from Surah Adh-Dhāriyāt, the 51st Surah / Chapter of Qur'an given herein under and will try to know its apparent and deeper meaning:
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
“I did not create jinn and mankind except to worship Me.”
The apparent Meaning
For an ordinary believer and a beginner who is try to learn Islam, this verse simply states that Allah did not create mankind and the jinns (the invisible beings) only to worship Allah. But does this mean men and jinn are directed only to sit in a corner of a masjid to continue worshipping Allah? Well to an extent this explanation is OK for the ordinary believers - but not for the scholars. Let us understand how:
The Deeper Meaning of “Worship” (ʿIbādah)
In the Qur’anic sense, ʿibādah is much deeper than rituals. It includes:
- Knowing Allah (maʿrifah)
- Loving Him
- Obeying Him consciously
- Living ethically and justly
- Aligning your will with truth
Eminent Muslim scholar and exegete Ibn Kathir notes that worshipping Allah means obeying His commands and adhering to what He has legislated, recognizing Him as the sole Creator.
Enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi notes: The word `ibadat (service, worship) in this verse has not been used in the sense of only prayer, fasting and other kinds of such worship so that one may understand that the jinn and men hav
