Why does God want to be worshipped?

Dear Brother / Sister,

God wants it because He is the greatest. It is appropriate for the wishes of both those who are small and those who are big that the young should show respect to the old. The fact that human beings have needed to worship superhuman forces since the time of Hazrat Adam even when they deviated is clear evidence for that reality.

To worship is an indication of both respect and love. It is quite natural and sensible for God, who creates people out of nothing, who gives them thousands of bounties, who loves them and who shows His love through revelation and inspiration, to ask His slaves to worship Him, which is a manifestation of both love and respect.

As a matter of fact, the following is stated in a verse:

“O ye people! adore your Guardian-Lord, who created you and those who came before you, that ye may have the chance to learn righteousness. Who has made the earth your couch, and the heavens your canopy; and sent down rain from the heavens; and brought forth therewith fruits for your sustenance; then set not up rivals unto Allah when ye know (the truth)." (al-Baqara, 2/21-22)

The nicest bond between the slave and God is the bond of worshipping. That is, the slave applies God and asks something from Him and God fulfills his wish as a result of that worship. Worshipping is a means of communication between man and God.   

Worshipping is a divine language of communication. Morse code is a language of communication; similarly, worshipping is a language of communication between the slave and God. So, to give up worshipping means to break off the communication with God.

God has granted man a chain of bounties that broadens out from top to bottom. The horizon of man and his benefit from those bounties increase by expanding and multiplying.  

The first and most fundamental bounty is the bounty of the body and existence, which is like the origin of all the other bounties. Just as a building stands on its foundations so too do all bounties stand on the foundation of the bounty of existence.    

God gave us life to enlarge and increase the bounty of existence. Through the bounty of life, He made man connect with the universe called the realm of visibility. The universe became the field of bounties. Life is the second greatest and most important level of bounties.  

Then, the bounty of being a human was added to the bounty of life; thus, the field of benefitting for man surrounded all of the material and spiritual realms. With the human qualities, the table of bounties expanded a lot. Consciousness and understanding in being human added a different value to the bounties.

With the addition of the bounty of Islam to the bounties of existence, life and being human, the field of benefitting expanded surrounding the realm of visibility and the realm of ghayb (the unknown, the unseen). It looks as if all of the creatures and beings were transformed into a vast table for man. In addition to the creatures, God’s names and attributes that become manifest behind the creatures were included in the field of benefits for man thanks to Islam. 

The bounty of investigative belief encompassed the world and the hereafter; likewise, the bounty of knowledge and love in belief encompassed the circles of possibility and obligation; thus, the meaning of the bounty reached its highest and largest dimensions.

When all of those bounties are considered, it is understood that man is bound to offer universal thanks. Universal thanks necessitate daily prayers and other fards, avoiding haram deeds, that is, worshipping. Then, worshipping is the price of those universal bounties. The rewards of worshipping are to be considered as the extra grants and gifts of God because even if we worship for one thousand years, we cannot pay the price of the two eyes that were given to us.

We will try to point out the personal and social benefits of belief and worshipping briefly in items:

- Through belief and worshipping man fulfills his responsibility toward God. That is, the main purpose of creation of man is belief and worshipping; to fulfill it is the greatest benefit for man. When a device is used for wrong purposes, it gets broken or damaged; similarly, when man lives without belief and worshipping, he gets harmed. Instead of receiving benefits, he is punished.   

- God’s pleasure is the source of all benefits because benefits and losses take place through His will. Then, the greatest benefit for man is to obtain the pleasure and consent of God; the only way to do it is belief and worshipping.

- God placed an advance payment in belief and worshipping representing a small model of Paradise; He also placed an advance torture in unbelief and disobedience representing a small model of Hell. If we want to live a small model of Paradise, we need to design our lives based on belief and worshipping. If we do not want to turn our lives to a small Hell, we need to arrange our lives based on belief and worshipping.

- The greatest benefit of belief and worshipping is that it is the document of endless bliss. That is, if man wants the endless bliss he needs to have belief and decorate it with worshipping. The greatest benefit regarding the world is less important than the smallest benefit regarding the hereafter.

- It is easier to govern one million people who believe in and obey God than to govern ten unbelievers. That is, people of belief and worshipping are much better and much more useful than people who do not believe and worship in terms of the law and order of the community.

- Belief and worship strengthen the order of the universe; so, the foundation of happiness in the world is based on belief and worship. Belief and worship are a means of adaptation and harmony between man and the universe. A person who denies this means is bound to be crushed under the heavy and oppressing wheels of the universe. Therefore, if we want to live harmoniously with the universe and the material world, we need the means of belief and worship.   

- The best consolation for a person who is oppressed by the world and who suffers troubles and agonies is belief and worship. What happiness or ideology of the world can console this person as much as belief and worship can? For instance, how can we make an old and sick man who is near death happy except through belief and worship? A great portion of the community consists of sick and old people, women and children, and people affected by misfortunes. What hypnotizing and deceiving things can satisfy these people except belief and worship?

Questions on Islam