A056
Surah: 051 - Ayah: 056
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51:56
Ibadat of Jinn and Mankind:
As mentioned in the above, no creature is without cosmic, universal and natural worship and together with this, there is a special worship ordained for rational beings (jinn and mankind), which is called irfani ibadat, i.e. the worship in the light of knowledge and recognition, as mentioned in verse (51:56): "And I did not create the jinn and mankind but to worship Me (and to recognise Me)."
Hazrat Imam Husayn (a.s.) says: God, may He be exalted and glorified, did not create the servants but to recognise Him and when they recognise Him, they worship Him. When they worship Him, by virtue of His worship, they dispense with the worship of those other than Him. (al- Mizan, Vol. 18, p. 390).
The purpose of the creation of jinn and mankind is the worship of God, the True Worshipped, (51:56) and according to a noble Hadith, the essence of worship is prayer (du`a') (Tirmidhi, II, 631). Perhaps there is a miraculous wisdom hidden in this superiority of prayer. Prayer or du`a' means to seek something for oneself from the presence of God. Now the question arises that, whereas worship constitutes other parts, why is the part of prayer which means asking for something so important? The answer is:
a) Prayer is a practical worship, in which, the mu'min presents his needs in the presence of God, the Blessed, the Exalted, with utmost humility and this is an occasion on which, by making his heart pitiable, he can attain His mercies and blessings.
b) The Lord of the world is All-sufficient, but man is extremely needy, thus it is man who can attain the fruits of all worship through prayer, as the fruit of iyyaka na`budu (You alone we worship) is attained in iyyaka nasta`in (from You alone we seek help). This is the example through which we can be sure that a special reward of worship is received in the form of acceptance of prayer and Divine help (ta'yid).
c) If prayer is done in the state of giryah-u zari, then there is a possibility of receiving abundant favours and blessings.
Kanz (Treasure of recognition)
In verse (51:56) God says: "I did not create jinn and man but to worship Me." Ibn cAbbas has interpreted the last phrase of this verse “to worship Me” as “to recognise Me”. (al-Mujam, p. 1267).
The total number of different forms in which the word "Ibadat" is used in the Wise Qur’an is two hundred and seventy five. Ibadat is mentioned both directly and indirectly in all those verses in which these words have occurred, without including words like salat, sajdah, dhikr, tasbih, dua, etc., in which also the ibadat of Allah is mentioned. Just as the ibadat of Allah is important so it is also wide and deep, for the very purpose of the creation of man and jinn is for ibadat as God says: "I did not create jinn and mankind but to worship Me." (51:56). Ibadat however, has certain evolutionary stages. Initially it is of the ordinary kind, but gradually reaches its height and stage of perfection when it becomes free from every kind of doubt and polytheism and is illumined with the light of the recognition of God. The Holy Prophet and the Imams of guidance have always provided practical teachings of such successful ibadat. Such ibadat is called Prophetic ibadat or ibadat in the light of recognition (marifat) and in the truest sense this is what is meant by following the excellent example of the Prophet (33:21).
This verse has been referred 5 times.