Proper Worship & Poor-due - Real Righteousness

LESSON # 179 FROM HOLY QUR’AN

BAQARAH – 2 (The Cow)

Proper Worship & Poor-due - Real Righteousness

Verse –177c  of 286, Section – 22 (Part One-Fourth of 2)

And observe proper worship and pay the poor-due.

Wa  ‘aqaamas-Salaata  wa ‘aataz-Zakaah.

Lesson

It has been being mentioned for the last two lessons that real and true soul of the righteousness is not that a person observes worship considering any direction sacred and turning his face towards that direction. Moreover the real soul of the righteousness is to correct the beliefs, fair deals, to observe proper worships, to correct the manners and to do the works which have been explained in the Holy Qur’an that is to say the beliefs of the persons should be those for which the Holy Qur’an demands and the person should behave with other people as the Divine’s law guides.

After the faiths and the financial sacrifice the Holy Qur’an has discussed about the other part that is observing proper worship. Out of the acts of worship the greatest worship is physical and financial sacrifice. In the shape of physical worship it is offering the prayer and for the financial worship it is to pay the poor-due. Many excellences of the prayer have been explained in the Holy Qur’an itself on different places as well as it can also be found in a lot of Sayings of the Messenger of God Almighty (May glory, grace, blessings and peace be upon Him).

The Prayer has an important part in the Islamic society. The Prayer stops the human being from the evil and indecency, and keeps away from disobedience. The Prayer is ascension of the Believer. It strengthens the spiritual, moral and social life of the person.

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In the financial worships paying the poor-due is the most basic worship. It is obligation on every well-to-do person that he should pay 2.5% out of his wealth once a year to the needy people in the path of Allah Almighty. This Zakah (poor-due) fixed by the Holy Qur’an is so much necessary and useful that if the Muslims pay it regularly then none out of the nation may starve to death. The situation of suicide can not arise due to poverty and unemployment. No body can wander from door to door for begging. Displacement, poverty, helplessness and bad situation will not remain in our society, the entire nation will become strong collectively, peace will increase and the doors will open for development.

Discussion about observing proper worship and paying the poor-due has come in the Holy Qur’an nearly together on each place. If those verses are collected in which the matters and orders about the prayer and Zakah are discussed then its collective quantity is about more than three hundred. It appears that how much important and great are these both obligations in Islam. Without observing proper worship and paying the poor-due regularly it is difficult to think about the Islamic society, though the Muslims who don’t perform this duty about them it is thought as adulterers and deniers, and out of the circle of Islam.

Transliteration in Roman Script & English Translation of Holy Qur’an written by Marmaduke Pickthall, Published by Paak Company, 17-Urdu Bazar, Lahore and Paraphrase collected from Dars e Qur’aan published By Idara Islah wa Tableegh, Lahore (translated by Muhammad Sharif)