Islam's Reformers .pdf

duty, but with the intention that salât is an exercise of physicaltraining, his salât will not be sahîh. He does not worship but hemerely takes physical exercises.Likewise, if one fasts with the thought of resting his stomachand for dieting, his fast is not sahîh and maqbûl. And a Muslimwho fights and risks his life not for strengthening Allâhu ta’âlâ’sreligion, for spreading Islam or for harming the enemies of Islambut for fame, honour, property or rank does not worship at all.He will not be rewarded for jihâd. He does not die a martyr if heloses his life. A man who quits alcohol only because it isharmful to his body cannot escape the sin of drunkenness.Similarly, he who abstains from adultery and from going tobrothels lest he might catch horrible diseases such asgonorrhea and syphilis is not deemed chaste and pure in Islam.Niyya (mental resolution, intention) for worship is veryimportant in Islam. It determines whether each action done iscompatible with Islam or not. If it were not a duty to escape Helland go to Paradise as ordered by Allâhu ta’âlâ, worshipperformed by merely thinking about Paradise and Hell wouldnot be acceptable, either. The great men of tasawwuf, al-Awliyâ’al-kirâm, have not thought of them in worship; they havethought of only Allâhu ta’âlâ’s command and approval. Yet, ithas been deemed enough for every Muslim to think of hisadvantages pertaining to the next world. Worship differs fromcustoms in that it is necessary not to think of mundaneadvantages in worship. Actions performed for the sake of Allâhuta’âlâ for advantages pertaining to the next world, are ofworship. Actions done for worldy advantages are deemedcustoms.In Islam, intention is so important that if an actioncommanded by Islam is done for mundane advantages, it is notsahîh and maqbûl and becomes a worldly affair. Whensomething worldly is done for advantages pertaining to the nextworld, it becomes worship. A Muslim gains thawâb even forputting a morsel to his wife’s mouth. If one takes this hadîth intoconsideration, purifies his thought and corrects his intention, hedoes not miss the opportunity of gaining thawâb in eating,drinking and in every worldly affair by thinking of heavenlyadvantages. Self-seeking and egoism will result if humanbeings get accustomed to seeking for wordly advantages andmaterial profit in every affair and even in worship. In fact, Islam- 25 -