Types of Worship

There are three types of worship, and they are:

1- Physical: that which is connected to the physical aspect, e.g. the recitation of the Noble Qur'aan, the tasbīh (praising God the Exalted) and tahlīl (acclamation of God the Exalted), the du`ā' (supplication) and istighfār (repenting), and the salāh (prayer) and sawm (fasting), etc.

2- Financial : that which is connected to the financial and monetary aspect, e.g. the zakāh (mandatory almsgiving), the sadaqāt (charities) and khayrāt (philanthropies), etc.

3- Combined (Physical and Financial): that which is a combination of both the physical and financial aspects, e.g. the hajj (annual pilgrimage to the sanctified city of Makkah al-Mukarramah to perform various religious rites), in which both the physique of an individual is necessary to reach Makkah al-Mukarramah in order to perform the rites of hajj, as well as the monetary expendit ure that goes with it.

Thawāb al-`Ibadāt ilā Arwāh al-Amwāt
The Conveyance of the Reward of Worship
to the Souls of the Deceased
al-`Allāmah Muhammad Shafī' al-Khatīb Okarawī