Introduction

Apart from the moral values and ethical norms which are expected to go hand-in-glove with belief in God, and to which believers are encouraged to aspire, the Quran also highlights the importance of ‘righteous deeds’, the performance of which constitutes an external, explicit and often very public expression of belief in God and, more importantly, submission to the Divine will. Indeed, the ‘key to salvation’ in Quranic terms is found not in belief alone but in belief which is complemented by righteous action: there are numerous verses where the two components – ‘faith and works’, for want of a better term – are mentioned together:

The ‘deeds of righteousness’ that may spring to mind immediately for many are those such as the canonical prayer, the fast of Ramadan or the pilgrimage to Mecca – specific components of ‘Islamic orthopraxy’ which many would classify under the heading ‘religious acts’ or, indeed, ‘acts of worship’. However, while the Quran does mention – and, indeed, make obligatory - specific practices such as these, it places much greater emphasis on the nurturing in each individual of an attitude of submission, or, more precisely, a ‘sense of worshipfulness’ in all that he or she does, whether it is a formal, Quranically prescribed ‘act of worship’ or not. One may argue that from the Quranic perspective – and thus, by extension, in the Nursian view – the goal is not to ‘do Islamic acts’ but, rather, to render all of the acts one does Islamic.