Secondly: The purpose of worship is to turn minds towards the All-Wise

Maker. And this turning towards induces obedience and submission, and this includes [the worshippers] under the perfect order [in the universe] and binds them to it. To follow this order leads to the realization of the mystery of wisdom, and the wisdom is testified to by the perfect art in the universe.

Thirdly: Man resembles a pole to the top of which are joined electric cables, for attached to his head are the tips of all the laws of creation; the natural laws extend to him, and the rays of the divine laws and principles in the universe are reflected and centred on him. So man has to complete them and adhere to them and cling on to them to facilitate the general current lest his foot slips and he falls and is crushed under the wheels of the machinery turning in the levels [of the world]. And this is achieved through worship, which consists of conforming to the commands and prohibitions.

Fourthly: By complying with the commands and prohibitions numerous connections are formed for a person with the many levels of society, and the individual becomes like a species. For many of the commands, especially those that touch on the marks [of Islam] and the general good, resemble threads to which are tied [people's] honour and through which their rights are set in order. If it were not for them, all those rights and duties would be torn up and scattered to the wind.

Fifthly: The Muslim has firm relations with all other Muslims and there are strong bonds between them. By reason of the tenets of belief and [the Muslims'] Islamic traits these relations give rise to unshakeable brotherhood and true love. And it is worship that makes manifest the tenets of belief and renders them effective, and roots them firmly in the pysche.

How worship is the cause of personal attainment and perfection:

Consider this: together with being physically small, weak, and powerless, and being one of the animals, man bears within him an exalted spirit, and has vast potentiality, unrestricted desires, infinite hopes, uncountable ideas, and unlimited powers, and he has a nature so strange he is as though an index of all the species and all the worlds. As for worship, it expands his spirit and raises his value; it causes his abilities to unfold and develop, allowing him to become worthy of eternal happiness. Worship is also a means of rectifying and purifying his inclinations, and of realizing his hopes and making them fruitful, and of marshalling his ideas and setting them in order, and also of reining in and limiting his [three] powers [of appetite, anger, and intellect]. Worship also removes the rust of nature from his members, physical and spiritual, each of which when transparent is like a window onto his private world and that of humankind. Also, when performed with both conscience and mind and heart and body, worship raises man to the dignity of which he is worthy and to his appointed perfection. It is a subtle, elevated relation, an illustrious lofty connection between the bondsman and the One Worshipped. This relation constitutes the utmost degree of human perfection.

Sincerity in worship is this, that it is performed only because it is commanded, although it comprises numerous instances of wisdom [and benefits]. Each of these may be a reason ('illa) for performing worship, but sincerity makes it imperative that the [true] reason be the command to perform it. If the wisdom or benefit is made the reason, the worship is null and void, but if it merely encourages the person to perform the worship, it is permissible.

When those addressed hear the words "O you people! worship..," they ask through the tongue of disposition: "Why and for what reason? What is the wisdom in it? Why should we? And what for?" You learnt the wisdom in the introduction above; concerning the reason ('ilia), the Qur'an replies with proof of the Maker and His unity with the words: " Your Lord and Sus-tainer who created you..." Then with the verse: "If you are in doubt about what We have revealed,"(2:23) it proves prophethood.