What is meant by the supplication of asking and the supplication of worship?

The questioner : The scholars have divided supplication into two categories: the supplication of worship and the supplication of asking. What is meant by each of them? Please give us a ruling, may Allah reward you, and may Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : The scholars, may Allah have mercy on them, by dividing supplication into two categories: the supplication of asking and the supplication of worship, refer to what Allah the Exalted mentioned in His saying: .
So the supplication of asking is that you ask Allah the Exalted for your needs, by saying: “My Lord, forgive me, have mercy on me, provide for me, keep me safe, and heal me,” and the like of that.
And the supplication of worship is that you worship Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, with what He has prescribed: you pray, give zakah, fast, perform Hajj, and do good, because the one who worships Allah does not intend anything but the pleasure of Allah and His reward. So he is supplicating to Allah the Exalted with the tongue of reality, not with the tongue of speech. However, some of these acts of worship that he worships with include the supplication of asking, such as prayer, for example. In prayer, the one praying says: “Guide us to the straight path,” and this is a supplication of asking. He says: “My Lord, forgive me,” and this is a supplication of asking. He says: “Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and peace be upon us and upon the righteous servants of Allah. O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad, O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad. I seek refuge in Allah from the punishment of Hellfire.” And all of this is a supplication of asking.
So the difference between them is that the supplication of asking is to ask Allah the Exalted for something directly, whether he asks Him for the attainment of what he desires or for safety from what he fears.
And the supplication of worship is to worship Allah the Exalted with what He has prescribed, hoping for His reward, Exalted and Majestic is He, and fearing His punishment. This is the meaning of the division by the scholars, may Allah have mercy on them.
And we have been taught that supplication itself is an act of worship, as indicated by the verse you recited, which is His saying, the Exalted: . He did not say: “from my supplication,” and this indicates that supplication is an act of worship.
And Allah the Exalted said: . And supplicating to Allah the Exalted with His beautiful names includes asking Him by them, such as: “O Forgiver, forgive me,” “O Merciful, have mercy on me.” It also includes worshipping Allah the Exalted in accordance with what they imply. So when we know that He is the Forgiver, we do what leads to forgiveness. When we know that He is the Merciful, we do what leads to mercy. When we know that He is the Provider, we do what leads to provision, and so on.

The questioner : May Allah bless you.