Worshipping God

[zeinab is here]

salam

Imam Ali says  that he  worshipped Allah not due to desire of His garden, nor did he worshipped him out of fear of His fire; rather he found Him worthy of worshiping

Here the question rises : do we pray because it is a duty or because we want appeal to the consequences (heaven/hell). If heaven / hell concept was not their ,would you still pray ,fast... the same way you do it now (i mean you will still love god and have faith in him, but will you follow the set of rules .

 

In the same topic:

This have came to my mind when I was comparing to set of theories: one is based on duty (Deontological theory) which gives universal principles or duties in comparison to teological theory which  does not judge the rightness or wrongness of the actions themselves, but, rather, of their consequences for the greatest good

 For example , if you are a teleologist that say that lying is justified in some cases because it it may save a soul or you justify stealing from an evil government that robs you in order to feed your nation and avoid starvation ,or killing as a self defense as in jihad then, then tell me who draws the thin line between what is  right and what is wrong ,and what if the greatest good may harm minorities ( for example setting a law to reduce pollution by obliging people to take buses will harm taxi drivers in the sense that that they will not have job,but benefit the overall nation), and what if some actions are simply wrong (lying,stealing,killing) ,would you precede to take the action based on their consequences

And if you are a deontologist that focus on doing what is right regardless what is the best for social welfare , (taking into consideration that what is right to you is the duty of the other )what would you do if were robin hood and your people are starving and you just don't have any means of feeding them ?

 

I am somehow confused by the two concepts and once again say " do you worship because it is just right to do that or because you care for the consequences "

 

 

[baqar]

Imam Ali says  that he  worshiped Allah not due to desire of His garden, nor did he worshiped him out of fear of His fire; rather he found Him worthy of worshiping. Here the question rises : do we pray because it is a duty or because we want appeal to the consequences (heaven/hell). 

 

Dear 'Zeinab is here'   Salams

 

Welcome to the site and to this forum and may you enjoy your stay here.

 

No, we don't pray because of the consequences. 

 

And remember, there is a subtle difference between 'worship' and 'prayer'.

 

As you have quoted Imam Ali, we should worship God  because we find him worthy of worship.

 

As for prayer, we pray to Him also because He is the Only One who can always answer our prayers and fulfill our needs.

 

God is worthy of being worshiped and also capable of answering our prayers.

 

If heaven / hell were not there, would you still pray, fast... the same way you do it now (i mean you will still love God and have faith in him, but will you follow the set of rules).

 

Yes

 

And if you are a deontologist that focus on doing what is right regardless what is the best for social welfare

 

 It is hard to generalize and give a one-stop answer for all situations.

 

In Islam, you are not allowed to cheat anyone.

 

So if you think that the government is not taking care of its poor, for example, you cannot steal from the state coffers to help a poor person.

 

But again, it wold probably depend on the precise situation.  

 

What would you do if you were Robin Hood and your people are starving and you just don't have any means of feeding them ?

 

Different people would give you different answers to that question. 

 

Depending on the situation, I think, the answer may sometimes be 'yes' and sometimes 'no'.

 

As I said, it might be hard to generalize. 

I am somehow confused by the two concepts and once again say " do you worship because it is just right to do that or because you care for the consequences "

 

Because it is right to do so.