Sweetness of Ibadah

Part 1: Introduction

The month of Ramadan is unfortunately over. Hopefully we each managed to strive our best in performing much ibadah in the blessed month. Our Ramadan may have started off with much enthusiasm - masajids were the most crowded and rich with Qur'an recitation in the first nights. But enthusiasm can only carry one so far. For those of us who have not been consistent, this is when the real challenge starts. In the following days of Ramadan, each turn of the Qur'an felt heavy, each rakaat of terawih felt long, and every step to the masjid felt wearying. Only in the last 10 nights do we get another surge of enthusiasm as we "hustled" to benefit from laylatul qadr. InshaAllah by the last 10 nights, those who persevered in their ibadah and protected themselves from sin managed to finally taste the sweetness of ibadah.

Part 2: What is the Sweetness of Ibadah?

It is when we love to perform acts of ibadah for Allah, finding a joy in them that cannot be found anywhere else. It is when we find performing acts of worship as a source of felicity and reinvigoration, not as a source of burden and obligation. Our Prophet, peace be upon him, described tasting iman as:

"He ... who is content with Allah as his Lord, with Islam as his religion (code of life) and with Muhammad (peace be upon him) as his Prophet."

Sahih Muslim 34

and its sweetness as:

"...The one to whom Allah and His Apostle becomes dearer than anything else, who loves a person and he loves him only for Allah's sake, who hates to revert to disbelief as he hates to be thrown into the Fire."

Sahih Al-Bukhari 16

And that is, we taste it when our hearts are free from other than Allah, His messenger and His religion; we love to bring others to Him and despise that which is distant from Him (disbelief).

Tasting the sweetness of ibadah is the greatest gift a Muslim could ever obtain from Allah in this dunya. That is because we will be encouraged to increase in our ibadah, and discouraged from that which will bring us further from Allah (ie. sin). This in turn, increases our reward and rank with Allah. It is when Allah decrees love to flow through our hearts when worship Him, and then Him loving and rewarding us even more as we worship Him! Indeed, all praise belongs to Him. And this love is only because we are in a state of deep connection with Allah, doing what we were created to do - what every creation of Allah was created to do: which is to worship and praise Him.

"And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me."

Translation of the Qur'an Surah Adh-Dhariyat: 56

Part 3: How to Taste the Sweetness of Ibadah?

We are all living in the physical world, having physical bodies. Our physical bodies finds pleasure when it's needs are met, or when its desires are fulfilled; when any of it's 5 senses is stimulated, and when harm to it is averted. It is easy to please our physical selves. Little effort is required for us to feel "rewarded". Delicious food. Music. Doomscrolling. Sexual gratification. Idle talk. Despite being cheap thrills, they keep our bodies in a loop of craving and pleasure.

However, such desires are base. They are short-lived and fleeting. Nothing more than passing time. On the other hand, satisfying our spiritual needs is the opposite. It requires physical effort while not providing much physical incentives. We may not get a rush of endorphins when we perform ibadah. If we have not been regular or have been putting much effort in our ibadah, sometimes we may not feel any spiritual satisfaction either. Ibadah just becomes a ritual set of actions that only seem to take up time and energy, nothing more.

Unlike physical desires, tasting the sweetness of ibadah requires investing much of our time and effort: to be consistent in establishing our obligatory acts of ibadah, and be vigilant in performing the sunnah. Allah has instructed us to perform our ibadah in a certain way, and the reasoning behind them is definitely from His infinite Wisdom. Therefore, to understand what we are saying and the meaning behind every action during ibadah should definitely be a starting point. But it is not necessary. Spirituality by definition is distinct from the physical realm. So many times many of us cry out to Allah despite not understanding a word of Arabic, and so many times those of knowledge do not feel their hearts even quiver in the slightest when they converse with their Lord. Only by striving to attain Allah's pleasure may He reward us with pleasure in striving to Him.

We must also be steadfast in avoiding sin and must axe the desires of this world (even if it may be in something halal), for it would harden our hearts against the tranquility of worshipping Allah. Sins cloud the fitrah with darkness and strip the soul of iman. They cast a shadow over hearts and make it hard to navigate the Straight Path, just as how one will find difficulty in navigating a long road filled with distractions and diversions, brambles and potholes. It increases one in confusion and desensitises one to sin until he becomes accustomed to the stumbling in the dark. The light of faith then seems so bright that it blinds him and the medicine to his spiritual ailment seems too bitter for him to bear. How can one hope to even taste the sweetness of iman in such a state?

May we find it easy to seek the Most Forgiving for His forgiveness and may He grant it to us.

Here is a powerful metaphor relating to food, sin and the sweetness of ibadah:

We all find delight in tasting something delicious on our tongues, such that we yearn for it at every meal. Yet when we are sick everything tastes bland and our appetites shrink. And until we get better, we are forced to consume bitter medicines. Similarly, when one is covered in sin, ibadah may seem bitter at first, and he may not taste it's sweetness. But with perseverance, his heart may yet be purified by the Most Pure until he is able to taste the sweetness of worship.

if one feels discouraged in his Islam, then let him be reminded the stories of the Companions, who used to insult our Prophet, peace be upon him, drink, fornicate and kill unjustly but, in their short lifespans, managed to raise their ranks to be the best of Mankind (after the Prophets and Messengers) - just as the one who is sick and discouraged is reminded the veracity of his medicine.

Part 3: Conclusion

Earlier I mentioned Ramadan, for it is the month Muslims are most spiritually heightened. But we should all strive to try and obtain tasting sweetness in our ibadah every single day. One thing that motivates performing ibadah is an adage from the pious:

If time was spent in ibadah,

The tiredness has left, but reward has remained.

But if time was spent in sin,

The pleasure has left, but sin has remained.

Even if no sin was committed, time cannot be returned, and the potential reward if it was spent in ibadah has left as well. And speaking of reward, let hoping for it be a source of motivation too, even if we are unable to taste the fruits of our spirituality. Just as how we hope to receive a fat cheque from our bosses for our hard work, or praise from others for doing a moral action, what greater source of hope and joy is there then to await bountiful rewards from the Most Generous?

May Allah bless us with the sweetness of the dunya that will lead to the sweetness of the akhirah, amin.

~~~