reliotionship with allah

Bi ismillahi rahmani raheem

sister[?] nazish my arabic isnt that strong but wouldn't abd be better translated as worshiper?

relationship with allah than of slave and master

Being in need of allah does not equate to being his slave, we are in need of him regardless of whether we are his abd or not so i dont think the relationship is as simple as that [allahu allam]. sayidinah Ibrahim was his friend [khalil i think], while rasul Allah was his intimiate friend to who insha allah he will give the rank of mahmood [17:79; And during a part of the night, pray Tahajjud beyond what is incumbent on you; maybe your Lord will raise you to a position of great glory.] on Qiyamah a position that only one person in all of creation can have.

Everything in the Quran i think points to the kind of relationship that allah wants with us and i dont think it is one of slave and master, allah does not need workers [or worshipers] these are not high [he is al Ali] forms of relationships. Everything in the Quran and sunnah points to allah wanting to have a very close relationship with us otherwise he himself would not have called his anbiyah [prophets] by titles other than "Abd" such as al khalil which denotes an even better or higher [closer] type of relationship.

He also called his awliyah [loosely translated as saints] his friends and these are not prophets. We know that in jannah all humanity will attain allahs good pleasure about which allah says this will be better than anything he has given any of us previously i.e denoting an even closer or higher type of relationship.

In this world a slave is not in need of his master nor does he submit his mind he simply needs to obey him in what he commands [if given the chance all slaves would want to be free of this bond so why would allah equate the relationship he wants with something this negative, allah defines this relationship, so to even compare it to this is not that strong of a comparison.

The only reason why abd would mean slave is becouse the reality is we need allah and since we are not Independent of him we are his slaves but this is the reality of our existence not the nature of the relationship each individual has with him which judging by the examples ive given above is far more than that of a slave and master.

Allahu allam.


Edited by rami - 26 May 2008 at 1:57am

Asalam Alaikum, The discussion above is not of mother and child relationship, its about slave and master.
Few days before I was listening to farhat hashmi website lectures in which she has very beautifully explained this relationship which i may not to able to explain as her.
The Arabic word ibadat comes from abd(slave).Ibadat means in arabic al khudu(humility) wa tazallul(surrendering oneself,bowing or bending).Allah made humans and jin for ibadat.So ibadat here consist of highest degree of love and fear also.
If we love some person too much then there is also element of fear in that. We don't do anything against the wishes of that beloved person,people even call themselves slave or khadim or gulam in love.
Highest degree and last degree of love and highest degree of surrenderness is ibadat of Allah, and this will come when he have shukr(thankfulness) for his limitless bounties with us, within us, and around us and when we truly understand allah.
The highest degree of surrendering and fear in ibadat is feeling of mixed reverence and respect and wonder and ,just speechless and spellbound feeling and it comes naturally if we recognize Allah truly.
Its very true as someone mentioned in above post that there cannot be any other relationship with allah than of slave and master with such huge gap between human and Allah (ar rahman and ar rahim).

Hi,

Edited by honeto - 18 April 2008 at 6:40pm

walekum assalam. thanks for your answer. i am totally convinced by your answer.actually Allah wants total surrenderness from us that why he called us abd.
The last hadith of patience is also full of wisdom.
jazak allah khair