Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: "You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help."

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The Shaykh :

It is You we worship and You we ask for help.

إياك نعبد وإياك نستعين

[Al-Fatihah 1:5]

"You alone we worship" means "There is no god but Allah," and "You alone we ask for help" means "Upon You we rely." So, "You alone we worship" means we do not worship anyone but You. Worship is not fitting for anyone other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic); not for a close angel, nor for a sent prophet. Rather, worship is for whom? For Allah alone, who has no partner. Whoever worships other than Allah, Allah is rich in Himself and does not need him, and he is a disbeliever. Even if he worshipped the best of humans and creation in the sight of Allah, Muhammad the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), he would still be a disbeliever. So how about one who worships other than the Messenger? If he worshipped a wali (close friend of Allah) and bowed to him and prostrated to him and made vows to him and sought nearness to him, what would we say about this? Answer, everyone.
The student : Shirk

The Shaykh : He is a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah), a disbeliever, and Allah does not accept from him any deviation or correction, because worship is for whom? For Allah (Mighty and Majestic). For this reason, we say "You alone we worship." When you, my Muslim brother, read

You alone we worship

إياك نعبد

, realize that the meaning of your saying "We do not worship anyone but You"

And You alone we ask for help

وإياك نستعين

is that we seek help from Allah (Mighty and Majestic). We seek help from Allah, so we do not seek help from anyone but Allah. And whoever seeks help from Allah (Mighty and Majestic), He suffices him. Allah the Exalted said:

And whoever relies upon Allah - then He is sufficient for him. Indeed, Allah will accomplish His purpose. Allah has already set for everything a [decreed] extent.

ومن يتوكل على الله فهو حسبه إن الله بالغ أمره قد جعل الله لكل شيء قدراً

[At-Talaq 65:3]

whoever relies upon Allah - then He is sufficient for him

من يتوكل على الله فهو حسبه

[At-Talaq 65:3]

And what does "He suffices him" mean? It means He is sufficient for him.

Indeed, Allah will accomplish His purpose. Allah has already set for everything a [decreed] extent.

إن الله بالغ أمره قد جعل الله لكل شيء قدراً

[At-Talaq 65:3]

Seek help from Allah and do not seek help from anyone else. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) advised his cousin, who was Abdullah ibn Abbas, and said to him:

When you ask, ask Allah, and when you seek aid, seek Allah's aid. Know that if the entire creation were to gather together to do something to benefit you- you would never get any benefit except that Allah had written for you. And if they were to gather to do something to harm you- you would never be harmed except that Allah had written for you.

إذا سألت فاسأل الله وإذا استعنت فاستعن بالله واعلم أن الأمة لو اجتمعوا على أن ينفعوك بشيء لم ينفعوك إلا بشيء قد كتبه الله لك ولو اجتمعوا على أن يضروك بشيء لم يضروك إلا بشيء قد كتبه الله عليك

Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2516Hasan (Darussalam)

So, when you say

You alone we worship

إياك نعبد

, realize in your heart the meaning of what? "There is no god but Allah," which means "We do not worship anyone but You, our Lord." When you say:

You alone we ask for help

إياك نستعين

, realize in your heart that you do not seek help from anyone but Allah (Mighty and Majestic) alone.

Source alathar.net

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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