that worship is the utmost humility joined to the utmost love. Ibn al-Qayyim says in his poem al-Nūniyyah:

“To worship the All-Merciful is to reach the peak of love,
Along with the worshipper’s humility—these two are twin poles.”

Thus he defined worship as the highest love coupled with the deepest humility.

Others say that worship is: whatever the Law has commanded, without reliance on social convention or rational inference. Worship is tawqīfiyyah—established solely by revelation, not by intellect or custom—and this is a valid definition.

Yet the most comprehensive and exact definition is the one given by Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him: “Worship is a collective term for everything that Allah loves, of words and deeds, outward and inward.”

This truly comprehensive definition means that worship encompasses everything Allah has commanded. Performing what He commands is obedience to Allah, and abstaining from what He forbids is obedience to Allah—this is worship. Its varieties cannot be counted; they are many. Everything Allah commands is worship, and every abstention from what He has prohibited, undertaken in obedience to Him, is worship. Its varieties cannot be counted; they are many. Everything Allah commands is worship, and everything He has forbidden that one refrains from—whether it be