Musferah Mehfooz et al./ Elixir Soc. Sci. 64 (2013) 19454-19457 19454 Introduction Worthy of praise and admiration is the Being who created the whole world and also provided a complete code of life for running its system. In every age and for every people/nation, He nominated prophets and apostles and assigned to them the tough task of the reformation and guidance of society. Appointing man as the best of beings, He handed over the reins of control of the world in his hands and for his guidance, revealed His messages through the prophets so that the discipline of this world may run smoothly. Starting from Prophet Adam (May peace be upon him) to the Holy Prophet (May peace be upon him), the religion and basic fundamentals preached by all the prophets were the same, i.e. Oneness of God, Prophethood and the hereafter. Religion has remained the same throughout the history of mankind and it is the same till now. But many (sharias) laws were revealed, many were rejected and many were changed or altered in the history of mankind. But never in the history was religion altered due to the change in sharia. The religion preached by Prophet Noah(peace be upon him), Prophet Ibrahim(peace be upon him), Prophet Moses(peace be upon him), Prophet Jesus(peace be upon him) and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)were all the same. But commandments and the forms of worship remained different to some extent. Prayer and fasting were observed in different ways in different sharias. Similarly, the teachings about prohibited and permitted the ways of ablution, purification and bathing in each sharia remained different from those preached by any other sharia .Despite all these, the followers of Prophet Noah(peace be upon him), those of Prophet Ibrahim(peace be upon him), Prophet Moses(peace be upon him), Prophet Jesus(peace be upon him) and those of Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him) were all believers because the basics of all religion is one which is present in the Torah, the Psalms the Gospel and the Quran in the form of common or shared teachings and beliefs. The present study compared the existing literature on the significance and philosophy of worship in Islam and Judaism for finding the similarities and differences in both. To this end, this study adopted a pure speculative analytical approach to arrive at a conclusion. The study found that both the Islamic Law and Moses’ law worship has similar purpose to solve. Both the laws consider worship is a source of bringing man closer to his Creator, purifying his soul, improving his deeds and manners and making him a better human being and thus in the long run resulting in a peaceful society based on social welfare and collective good. Since times immemorial, God has been sending his revelations to his selected prophets and apostles in different nations for their guidance about the purpose of man’s existence on this earth and each sharia has guided people about certain sets of rituals for worshipping the Creator along with some sets of rules for conduct in daily life’s affairs and dealings in relationships-religion being a combination of worships, dealings and manners. Commandments and rituals determine the limitations of the external and internal affairs of human life and provide a guideline and rules for his character and relationships which engulf the whole of human life. Therefore, the obedience to Almighty Allah requires that man follows the will and wish of God in beliefs, words and deeds, and all the affairs of life and moulds his life and ways according to His commandments, instructions and laws. Whenever Allah ordains him something, his attitude must we have listened and obeyed. A strong faith demands that man gets rid of mundane desires and obeys the commandments of his Creator. Because in His commandments God has hidden an underlying benefit and purpose or significance in every commandments which cannot be imagined by man’s limited vision. For example, ‘(salat’) or prayer not only fulfils an obligation, man’s whole being also rejoices in obedience and submission to God, and it also Significance of Worship (Ibada) in Islam and Judaism Musferah Mehfooz and Shazia Aziz COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Lahore, Pakistan. ABSTRACT In every age and for every nation, God nominated prophets and apostles for the reformation of society through His revealed commandments for smooth running of the discipline of this world. Throughout history, the fundamentals preached by all the prophets were the same, i.e. Oneness of God, Prophethood and the hereafter. The religion preached by all the prophets was the same but commandments and rituals remained different to some extent. The teachings about the ways of offering Prayer and fasting, the prohibited and the permitted, the ways of ablution, purification and bathing in different sharias remained different. The present study compared the existing literature on the significance and philosophy of worship in Islam and Judaism for finding the similarities and differences in both. To this end, this study adopted a pure speculative analytical approach to arrive at a conclusion. The study found that in both the Islamic Law and Moses’ law worship has similar purpose. Both the laws consider worship is a source of bringing man closer to his Creator, purifying his soul, improving his deeds and making him a better human being and thus resulting in a peaceful society based on social welfare and collective good. © 2013 Elixir All rights reserved ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received: 6 August 2013; Received in revised form: 15 November 2013; Accepted: 26 November 2013; Keywords Sharia (Revealed Law), Commandments, Prohibited, Permitted, Worship, Spirituality. Elixir Soc. Sci. 64 (2013) 19454-19457 Social Science Available online at www.elixirpublishers.com (Elixir International Journal) Tele: E-mail addresses: musferahmehfooz@ciitlahore.edu.pk © 2013 Elixir All rights reserved