Worship is the most integral part of Islam, since Muslims believe that all things were created to worship God, including people, animals and even trees.

Most people have a vague idea about Muslim religious rituals, for example, prayer. Five times a day they face Mecca and prostrate, which means to bow down. And there's the month called Ramadan where they go hungry or something.

But worship is more than just rituals or prayers. Almost every action that is undertaken with pure intentions and for the sake of pleasing God is a form of worship, even sex (snicker, snicker, I said sex).

But seriously, sexual intercourse between married couples is considered an act rewarded by God and a form of 'ibadah, which brings us to the tricky issue of translating 'ibadah.

Whoever is bilingual is going to understand my frustration here. Some words just don't have a direct translation, and it takes more than a single word, a sentence, or even a whole paragraph to convey the meaning.

The simplest way to translate 'ibadah is "worship," but that does not nearly encompass the definition of the term. The literal meaning in Arabic is obedience, submission and humility to God. The connotations that the word carries are where the real implications follow.

Because obedience to God includes performing rituals such as praying and fasting, as well as social welfare activities, 'ibadah is a highly inclusive term, which is why to speak of worship in Islam, is to speak of living your life in service to God.

The importance that Muslims place on 'ibadah comes from the various places in the Quran where God commands us to worship. One of which states:

"And serve (or worship) your Lord until there comes unto you the Hour that is Certain (meaning death)" (Chapter 15, Verse 99).

Despite the fact 'ibadah is more than just rituals, rituals are extremely important to Muslims. The daily salawat, or prayers, are the most visible form of worship. As I mentioned before, they are preformed five times a day facing Mecca, and involve a combination of bowing and reciting verses from the Quran.

The idea is that frequent prayers are reminders for us to reflect on our actions and think of God. When you are in the act of salah (the singular of salawat) it is considered standing before God. So it's important that you are in a state of purity and concentration.

I'm surprised that I don't get weird looks when I have to stop what I'm doing and go pray — especially when I look for any quiet place and start prostrating, but I take it people in Odegaard have seen stranger things than me.

Here's another language pet peeve: We only have one word for "prayer" in English. In Arabic there's a distinction between salah and du'a. Salah is the ritual prayer, which has a specific structure and is always preformed in Arabic. The best word to describe du'a is supplication. This is an informal prayer, like beseeching your Lord before you take the test or asking for world peace, and it can be done in any language. Both forms of prayer are important.

An interesting pragmatic feature of Islam is that working a job, provided the work is lawful and is preformed with good intentions, is once again a form of 'ibadah. In fact, a whole bunch of inane things are, including being kind, cleaning up, taking care of animals and heck, even smiling.

It is difficult for Muslims to compartmentalize their religion from other aspects of their lives, because to perform 'ibadah requires that they bring all aspects of life into conformity with what God has deemed lawful and just.

So for a Muslim, living life to the best of your ability is the ultimate worship.

[Reach columnist Zakariya Dehlawi at opinion@thedaily.washington.edu.]