Title: What Should be the Basic Spirit in Worship Question: When one bows before Allah, He may do so, because of any of the following reasons: Afraid of the Azab (i.e. punishment) Of Hell; Greedy for Haven; and Love for Allah. While 1 & 2 are both connected and the third one is an individual state. My question is which of the above mentioned state is the best. Answer: Worship (Ibaadah) implies a state of extreme humility and submissiveness toward another entity, emanating from extreme love and extreme fear of that entity. Thus the basic spirit of worship (Ibaadah) should be extreme love and fear of the One God. To gain the bounties of paradise or to avoid the tortures of hellfire are not the spirit of worship, but the reward thereof. To summarize, Islam requires us to worship God, to show our extreme love and gratitude for His blessings as well as to show our fear and concern of falling prey to our vain desires and thereby losing His mercy for ourselves. If we are true in our worship of the One God, Islam promises us the eternal bliss of paradise and the everlasting security from the tortures of hellfire. I hope this helps. February 18, 2001