Aspects Of Islamic Faith - 68: Worship That Can Be
Counterproductive
Islamic Perspectives - Muslim JournalsArab News
& Information - By Adil Salahi
Every Muslim knows that God has assigned to us certain
duties in worship, such as the five obligatory
prayers, fasting during the month of Ramadan, the
payment of obligatory charity, or zakat, and the
pilgrimage. God’s messenger (peace be upon him) has
urged us to volunteer more in all these aspects of
worship, showing us by his example and encouraging
words what to do on a regular basis, such as the
13-rak’ah a day of sunnah prayers distributed
alongside the five obligatory ones, and fasting the
three middle days of every month. However, he left the
door open for people to voluntarily perform as much
worship as they wish.
Motivated by their strong faith and eager to increase
their reward in the hereafter, some people feel that
they should be satisfied with as little as possible in
this present life, devoting all their time and energy
to worship. This is often true with young people who,
in their enthusiasm for their faith, commit themselves
to hard discipline of worship. The Prophet was keen to
emphasize that a moderate approach in which a person
allows himself time to earn his family’s living and
have some fun and relaxation is much better. He set
the practical example and followed it with clear
advice.
Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Al-Aas was one of the younger
companions of the Prophet. He was very diligent in his
worship. The Prophet was informed that Abdullah spent
most of the night, every night, in prayer and worship.
He also fasted almost every day. Therefore, the
Prophet taught him the best method which achieved his
purpose without tiring him too much. Abdullah reports
that the Prophet told him: “The prayer God likes most
is that of David (peace be upon him) and the fasting
God likes most is that of David. He used to sleep half
the night, then he would wake up spending one-third of
the night in voluntary worship. He then slept the last
one-sixth of the night. He used to fast on alternate
days.” (Related by al-Bukhari). In another hadith, the
Prophet is quoted as saying: “The voluntary works God
likes most are those maintained the longest, even
though they may be little”.
When we study the Prophet’s statements we realize that
he was keen to emphasize that this is the maximum one
should do in voluntary worship. To regularly do more
is to drive oneself too hard, which could ultimately
be counterproductive. By stating that Prophet David’s
pattern was the one God likes most, Prophet Muhammad
indicates that doing more does not improve one’s
status. Besides, this pattern is the best to keep one
active and energetic. Prophet David went to sleep for
half the night. He thus took enough rest before waking
up for his night worship. Spending one-third of the
night in such worship was very gratifying and
rewarding. He would then sleep for half that period,
i.e. one-sixth of the night, to ensure that he had
enough rest to go about his work comfortably
throughout the day.
Fasting throughout the day, taking neither food nor
drink, requires much energy. Therefore, to do it day
after day is bound to weaken any person. We all
experience this in Ramadan when we fast every day for
a month. To spread this for the rest of the year,
fasting on most days, like Abdullah ibn Amr used to
do, is bound to leave a person very weak. Hence the
Prophet advised him that the maximum he should do was
to fast on alternate days, like Prophet David did. In
this way, a person gives his body enough time to
recuperate and be ready for another day of fasting.
Abdullah ibn Amr acted on the Prophet’s advice and
fasted on alternate days. However, when he was old, he
said that he wished to have heeded the Prophet’s
advice better and fasted less. He felt that his
commitment to fast on alternate days had weakened him
and he was not able to keep it up easily.
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