Surah Al-Baqarah 2:21

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ٱعْبُدُوا۟ رَبَّكُمُ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَكُمْ وَٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ

2:21 After mentioning the three groups of people: the group of believers on whom Allâh bestows His blessings (Mun‘im ‘alaih مُنعم عليهم), the group that displeases Allâh (Maghdzûb مغضوب), and the group of hypocrites who have gone astray (Dzâllîn ضالين) and who let other people go astray from the path of righteousness.

Allâh then addresses humankind as a whole يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ٱعْبُدُوا۟.“O People! Worship your Lord.” This is the first commandment in the Holy Qur’ân. It is addressed to all, not only to the believers, to Arabs or to any single nation. The command is to “submit” (A‘budû ٱعْبُدُوا) to the One Who created the heavens and the earth and provided the means of sustenance of the living, and non-living.” It is in obedience to this command that a Muslim proclaims إيٌاك نعبد Iyyâka na‘budu - “You alone do we worship” in his five ritual Prayers when he stands before his Lord with folded hands.

A‘budû ٱعْبُدُوا is derived from ‘abada عبَدَ and means to serve, adore, obey, venerate, submit, devote, or accept the impression of a thing. Its real meaning is to impress Divine Attributes (Lisân, Tâj, Râghib). According to Ibn ‘Abbâs the meaning of this commanding word A‘budû ٱعْبُدُوا۟- “Serve [Me]!” is in the sense of “Know [Me]!” It also means, “Be lowly towards Me!” No being can be lowly towards another unless the first knows the second. Therefore, it is necessary to know Allâh and to be aware that He is the possessor of All-Mightiness before whom all the mighty are to be lowly. Ibn ‘Abbâs in his explanation of the word ‘abd عَبدَ expressed his opinion by emphasizing the meaning of knowledge and of knowing. Alỉ bin Abi Talib(rz) transmitted the following Hadîth-i-Qudsî: “Those who place their hope in any other than Me have not truly known Me. Those who have not known Me have not truly worshiped Me. Those who have not worshipped Me encounter My displeasure”.

‘Ibâdahعِبادة is worship. The significance of worship is to subject oneself to a rigorous spiritual discipline and to apply all innate powers and capacities to the fullest in perfect harmony with, and in obedience to the Divine commandments. In this way, a person is able to assimilate Attributes of similitudes of Allâh and is capable of manifesting them in his own being. The purpose of the creation of all rational beings is their cognition of the existence of their Creator and their conscious willingness to conform their own existence to His Will and Plan. It is the two-fold concept of cognition and willingness that gives the deeper meaning to what the Holy Qur’ân describes as ‘Ibâdah - worship.

The call for worship, A‘budûٱعْبُدُوا, does not arise from any supposed need on the part of the Creator Who is Self-Sufficient and Infinite in His power, but is designed to be an instrument for the inner development of the worshipper with the aim of achieving taqwâتقوئ (cf. 2:2). If we worship and serve Him we do so for our own good (17:7). The Qur’ânic concept of worship must not be confused with what is in vogue among other religions in their religious ceremonies: it is free of all ascriptions. The Qur’ân confirms that Allâh needs no glory, praise, or thanksgiving (17:15; 31:12).

The Holy Qur’ân summarizes the object of worship in one sentence:صِبْغَةَ اللَّهِ  that is, "Imbue yourself with the Divine Attributes" (2:138). The Holy Book informs us of some of Allâh’s Attributes, (though they are numberless); our duty is to understand them and to imbue them into our character (7:180). Mentioning certain Holy Names (Ismâ al-Husnâ) in our Prayers is equivalent to constructing a sacred mould in which to form our own character. The true worship is the fulfilment of the requirements of those names and Attributes of Allâh that can be shared with Him; His Attributes of resemblance. We are taught to seek refuge in Allâh by reflecting on His Attributes in the words of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) when he said, “I seek refuge and protection in You O Lord! From You.”

There is nothing lower than the state of servitude (‘Abûdiyyatعبوُديٌت) of a servant of Allâh (‘Âbidعابد) before Allâh, and the state of servitude (‘Abûdiyyat) in its true station is to assume His Attributes. However, this does not mean that Allâh lowers Himself to the state of the servant (‘Âbid). The relationship of a person in the state of servitude (‘Abûdîyyat) before Allâh is like a shadow of a person before a light. The closer he moves towards the light, the greater is the shadow. The more the person moves away from the light, the smaller his shadow becomes, and if a person moves away from Allâh, he leaves aside those Attributes of Allâh that he should have adopted.

When one enters into the state of servitude with His shared Attributes, He manifests in His Divine Theophany (Jalâlجلال) - His visible manifestation, to a human being with the same shared attributes. In this state of servitude, the servant comes to know the mystery of his relationship to Him. The Holy Prophet (pbuh) assures us of this when he says that through implicit worship (‘Ibâdatعبادة), our God becomes our limbs with which we walk, and ears with which we hear, and our tongues with which we speak, and our eyes with which we see. This is an astonishing relationship with Allâh, and there are very few who are able to experience it. Worship is realized when we say: قُلْ إِنَّ صَلَاتِي وَنُسُكِي وَمَحْيَايَ وَمَمَاتِي لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ - "My Prayer and my sacrifice and my living and my dying are all for the sake of Allâh, the Lord of the Worlds". (6:162)Thus our eating, sleeping, walking, sitting, standing, speaking, seeing, and hearing, in short—all our actions are a kind of worship if we perform them according to the Divine Will. The commandment ٱعْبُدُوا۟ رَبَّكُمُ “Serve your Lord” is the fundamental objective of our creation (51:56). In 19:36 we read that Jesus said,وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ رَبِّي وَرَبُّكُمْ فَاعْبُدُوهُ ۚ - “Surely, Allâh is my Lord and your Lord. So worship Him” - that is, lower yourself to the state of servanthood before Him and not me. As “Lord”, Jesus may see creation as making demands on him, which he is unable to answer. But as servant, he encompasses the Great Reality. So, be the servant of the Lord.