سورة البقرة

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): The meaning of this address is all obligated human beings among the children of Adam, the father of mankind (peace be upon him).

The Messenger (peace be upon him and his family): Worship Allah through venerating Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him).

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): Respond to Allah in the way He has commanded you, and obey Him. Believe in a Allah besides whom there is no god; He is one, with no partner, no likeness, and no equal; just, He does not oppress; generous, He does not withhold; forbearing, He does not hasten; wise, He does not err. And [also believe] that Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) is His servant and messenger, that the family of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) are the best family among the prophets, that Ali (peace be upon him) is the best of the family of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), that the companions of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) are the best of companions, and that his nation is the best of the nations of the prophets (peace be upon them).

Imam al-Rida (peace be upon him): Imam al-Rida (peace be upon him) was asked: "Why do they worship Allah?" He said: "So that they do not forget the remembrance of Allah, do not abandon proper conduct before Allah, and do not treat Allah's commands and prohibitions as a game — while their own well-being and endurance also lie in doing so. For if they were left without acts of worship, the span [of heedlessness] would grow long upon them and their hearts would harden."

Imam Ridha (peace be upon him): The beginning of the worship of Allah is knowledge of Him, and the foundation of the knowledge of Allah is affirming His oneness. The thread of affirming His oneness is the negation of attributes from Him, because reason bears witness that every attribute and every described thing is created, and every created thing bears witness that it has a Creator who is neither an attribute nor a described thing. Every attribute and described thing bear witness to being joined [with something else] (they came into being at a particular time and are contingent), and coming-into-being bears witness to not being eternal, since the eternal is far removed from coming-into-being. (The eternal has always existed, but the contingent, unlike it, has come into existence.)

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): I wrote a letter to Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) [saying]: "May I be sacrificed for you! We worship Allah, al-Rahman, al-Rahim, al-Wahid and al-Samad?" The Imam (peace be upon him) replied: "Whoever worships the name and the general meanings and attributes such as al-Rahman and al-Rahim and the like, and does not have in mind the Allah for whose naming those names are, has committed shirk (polytheism) and kufr (disbelief) against the divine majesty [and has worshipped nothing but a general and rational concept, because the general concept is distinct from and other than the reality, the named and the described]. Rather, worship the one, unique and eternal Allah who is named by these names; do not worship only the names. For the names are only attributes by which Allah has described His exalted being."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The best worship is that a person constantly reflects on Allah and ponders His power.

Imam Ridha (peace be upon him): Worship is not abundance of prayer and fasting; rather, worship is reflection about Allah [and the signs of His power].

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): The greatest and most important worship is practicing wara (piety).

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): Whoever acts upon what Allah has made obligatory for him is among the most devout of people.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Worship is of three kinds: a group who worship Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, out of fear, and that is the worship of slaves; a group who worship Allah, Blessed and Exalted, seeking reward, and that is the worship of hired workers; and a group who worship Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, out of love for Him, and that is the worship of free people, and it is the best kind of worship.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) narrated from his fathers that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Worship is seventy parts, and the best part of it is seeking lawful earnings."

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Looking at our descendants is worship. He was asked: "O son of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! Is looking at the Imams from among your descendants considered worship, or looking at all the descendants of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family)?" He said: "Indeed, looking at all the descendants of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) is considered worship, so long as they have not departed from his path (the Prophet and the Imams) and have not become polluted with sins."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah has not been worshipped with anything better than silence and walking towards His House [Hajj]. (These two acts of worship are the best of acts of worship.)

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): No worship is truly realized unless deep understanding (tafaqquh) is brought to it.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): In the counsels of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) to Ali (peace be upon him), it is stated: "O Ali (peace be upon him)! Whoever performs all his obligatory duties is the most devout of people in worship."

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): He brought you into being in human form, then after that set you right, and gave you the best of forms.

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): The Lord who created you from a drop [of semen].

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): الَّذِی خَلَقَکُمْ [Who created you] {worship Him Who created you} from a drop of a lowly and worthless fluid, and placed it in a firm resting-place until it grows to a known and specified measure — and how excellent a Determiner is the Lord of the worlds! The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "The nutfah (drop) remains in the womb for forty days as a nutfah; after forty days it becomes an 'alaqah (a clot of blood); then for another forty days it becomes a mudghah (a piece of flesh); after that bones are formed, and thereafter flesh grows over the bones. Then Allah clothes it with skin, and following that brings forth hair upon it. Then He sends the angel of the wombs, and it is said to that angel: 'Write his lifespan, his deeds, his sustenance, and write whether he will be wretched or fortunate.' The angel says: 'From where should I know these things?' They say to him: 'The reciters of the Preserved Tablet (al-Lawh al-Mahfuz) will read from it to you; take from them and write.' Then that angel does so and writes according to what is written in the Preserved Tablet."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Indeed, the survival of creation depends on four things: eating and drinking, wearing clothes, having shelter, and marrying for the continuation of offspring ... As for marriage and the continuation of offspring, Allah the Exalted has said: يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اعْبُدُوا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ [O people, worship your Lord who created you and those before you].

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): Allah created all kinds and types of people before you.

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): The word la'alla (perhaps) from Allah carries the force of an obligation and means "must," for Allah is too generous to disappoint His servant without reason — to give him hope in His grace and then deprive him. Do you not see how ugly it is if a servant among the servants of Allah says to someone, "Serve me, perhaps I may bring you some benefit," or says, "Serve me, perhaps my presence will be useful to you," and that person serves him, and then he deprives him and brings him no benefit? Allah the Mighty and Majestic is more generous in His actions toward His servants than that, and far removed from any unseemly act.

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): Two aspects can be given for this verse. One is: "He created you and those before you [so that you may worship Him,] that you may be Allah-fearing," as He says: وَ مَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَ الْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِیَعْبُدُونِ [I did not create jinn and mankind except to worship Me (and by this path attain perfection and draw near to Me).] (Dhariyat/56). The second aspect is: "Your Lord created you and those before you so that you worship Him, in order that you may be far from and safe from Hellfire."