A’abid (worshipper). The other is A’bd, or slave of Allah. Now while being a worshipper is a temporary state, limited to the time we spend in prayer/fast/remembrance, the concept of becoming a slave implies a permanent state. A slave is not just a slave at certain times, rather his bondage extends to every waking moment of his life. However in order to curb the influence faith has in our lives, we tend to limit the meaning to A’abid. One may be attentive to their prayers and other rituals, but faith is left behind at the Mosque as one goes to attend to the rest of the worldly affairs. This is not what Allah wants from us, as we can see from the implicit meaning A’bd. The concept of slavery is to have your entire life owned by another, every
single action you undertake is accountable to the master. So there can be no sphere of life where we are not accountable to Allah be it business, studies or interactions with people etc. His teachings must pervade into all of these facets of our life. Since the mention of Slavery holds many negative connotations, we must realise that slavery towards Allah is understood differently. Allah’s defining characteristic in relation to us is Al-Rahman, derived from the root Rahama (Ra, Ha, Meem) from which the word Rahmi or ‘Womb’ also stems. The protection and nourishment the fetus receives in the womb mirrors our relationship with Allah, The Essence of Ibadah and University Life EASA SAAD