The Essence of Worship of Allah

'Surely, success does come to the believers,

Who are humble in their Prayers.' Surah Al Mu'minun (23:2 – 3)

The first of the aforementioned verses gives certain glad-tiding of success to believers. However, what sort of believers does it refer to? The verses that follow give out many conditions and requisites of being a believer. The first of these requisites or qualities that a believer must have is that they are humble in their Prayer/Salat. Being humble in this context usually means weeping during Salat, however, it has many other meanings and connotations and unless all of those are fulfilled the true condition of being a believer is not achieved. Being humble signifies showing great humility, greatly lowering oneself, to negate one's self, to cower, to try and make oneself lowly, to lower one's gaze and to speak softly and quietly. Thus one word encompasses a wide-ranging framework of who a believer is. A person who turns to God with extreme humility and adopts the other qualities stated gains Divine nearness. This in turn will draw his attention that while paying the dues of God he also has to pay the dues of God's creation. This will lead him to try and be an embodiment of what the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) expressed in an Urdu poetic couplet of his whose translation is:

Envisage yourself to be lesser than everyone else

Perhaps this will gain you entrance in the abode of Divine union

In addition to being humble in Salat, such a person will also try and practice humbleness in his daily life and will try and avoid all societal vices. He will be softly spoken and will shun arguments and confrontations. Indeed there are many ills which steer a believer away from the right path. It is people who maintain and uphold these matters who will be successful. The Arabic word falah (success) used in the aforementioned verse has wide-ranging connotations. It means state of ease, prosperity, good fortune, fulfillment of wishes, security, constant comfort and happiness and having life's bounties. These are the varied benefits enjoyed by those who do good as bestowed on them by God. The first and significant step to attain these bounties is to be humble in Prayer. Of course worldly people are also humble, but it is not simply a matter of weeping. Worldly people will weep and lower themselves to an extreme when it suits them. They do so because they have vested interests or they do it for simple pretence or owing to some short-lived emotion. Those who are humble to seek pleasure of God are most distant from these matters.

The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said about such people: 'I have personally seen many such ascetics and other people who promptly shed copious tears upon listening to painful poetry, or seeing a painful sight or hearing a painful account just as at times large and rapid raindrops start coming down at night not even allowing one to roll up one's bedding to take indoors without getting it drenched. [This refers to the sub-continental custom of sleeping outdoors at night during hot summer months] But I bear witness on personal account that mostly such people are cunning and worse than worldly people. I have found some of them to be wicked-natured, dishonest and immoral in every aspect. Seeing their practice of weeping and showing humility I am so repulsed to weep or overcome with emotion in any assembly.'

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I (may Allah be pleased with him) used to relate an account of an elder. The elder offered Salat at mosque for many long years with the thought that people would praise him. But owing to some past virtue of his, God put it in the hearts of people that they used to call him a hypocrite. One day he realised that he had spent a lifetime worshipping at mosque but no one ever called him virtuous, he felt had he prayed for the sake of God, Go