Life and Teachings of the Prophet Muhammad
3. The Concept of Worship in Islam
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life entirely to God (73:8). The outer sign of fasting is the
abstention from food from morning till evening. But in its essence
it is to withdraw from all worldly attachments, and reduce all
mundane necessities to a minimum.
This fasting aims at weakening the material aspect of man and
strengthening the spirituality in him. Man is made up of body and
soul. Just as the body requires physical nourishment, so must the
soul be nourished spiritually. To be sure, fasting results in physical
discomfort. But God has nothing to gain from causing human
beings unnecessary trouble and man has to satisfy his material
needs; but if he wants to discover the truth it is essential, at least
for a few fixed days, to retire from the material world in order to
develop the spiritual part in him, so that he will be able to attain
spirituality.
THE SPIRIT OF ZAKAH
Zakah, in reality, is a form of sacrifice meant to underlie those
ethical values, which are known in Islam as
Huququl Ibad
, that is,
fulfillment of one’s responsibilities towards others. Thus the spirit
of Zakah is the service of mankind.
It requires an annual contribution of 2.5 percent of an
individual’s wealth and assets, not merely a percentage of his
annual income. In Islam, the true owner of things is not man but
God. People are given their wealth as a trust from God. Therefore,
Zakah, far from being viewed as “charity,” is an obligation—for
