“O Allah — if I worship You from fear of hellfire, then burn me in it. If I worship You from desire for paradise, then deprive me of it. But if I worship You for Your own sake — then do not deprive me of Your eternal beauty.”

Rabi'a al-Adawiyya was a freed slave who became one of the most profound spiritual figures in Islamic history. She articulated a theology of love — worshipping Allah not for what He gives or withholds, but for who He is. Her prayer above is not a rejection of paradise or a dismissal of hellfire — it is a statement about the purest possible motive for worship. She wanted her relationship with Allah to be free of transaction.

Be honest: is your current religious practice more transactional (doing X to get Y from Allah) or relational (doing X because of who Allah is to you)? What would it look like to move more toward the second?

Pray one salah today for no reason other than to be with Allah. Not to earn, not to avoid punishment — just to be in His presence.

“If I worship You for Your own sake — do not deprive me of Your eternal beauty.”

— Taqwa Daily