You Alone
“(Our Lord!) You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help.” (Al-Fatiha, 5)
Ömer Nasuhi Bilmen (rahmatullahi alayh) gives the broader meaning of this verse, which we repeat in surah Al-Fatiha in every rakah of our prayers:
"O my Rabb! You alone we worship. We think about your grandness in our hearts, and we worship and obey only you with khushu. And you alone we ask for help. We only take refuge in you; we seek grace and help from you.”
A brief interpretation of the first four verses of surah Al-Fatiha preceding this one can be summarized as follows:
“O people! O people of intelligence, if you are one of those who honor absolute excellence and perfection, I am Allah. Every perfection is mine, and if you are one of those who show reverence for qudrat (power) and ihsan (doing good), I am the Lord of the Worlds. And if you are one of those who show reverence and seek future goodness, I am Rahman and Rahim. And if you are one of those who show reverence by shrinking with fear, I am the owner of the Day of Restitution. I am the only deity who consolidates all that merits veneration in Himself and is worshipped.”
The servants who are addressed by this call will wonder how and in what way they should praise Allah the Exalted and will ask. In response to this, Allah Almighty tells us to say,
‘(Our Lord!) You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help.’ (Elmalılı Hamdi Yazır, Hak Dini Kur’an Dili)
What does it mean for worship and servitude to be solely for Allah? What are the conditions for a deed to be an act of worship, and how does one serve Him?
What is worship?
In a broad sense, worship is the obedience and sincerity a person shows for Allah alone, with all their existence, consciously, humbly, and with khushu, knowing their powerlessness.
Worship is where showing reverence, submission, and acceptance of one’s insignificance before the Lord of the Worlds reaches perfection.
Divinity, the attribute of being worshipped, is only suitable for the one who bestows the highest form of blessings. The greatest blessing is the creation of life and things that yield benefits. The Creator of all these is Allah Almighty and Him alone.
Worship has certain conditions. The first of these conditions is intent. To have intention is a matter of will. We must intend to obey and approach only Allah while performing these necessary actions. Intention is deeply intertwined with action because the former creates an awareness, an understanding of the latter. This full understanding, which comprises both knowledge and will, is a work of the soul and heart.
Secondly, it is necessary to demonstrate an action that qualifies as obedience in the sight of Allah so that it becomes worship. Otherwise, internal predilections such as yearning to commit a good deed, thinking about it, and remembering it, only to leave it unfulfilled due to a lack of action, cannot be worship even if they are theoretically in the realm of obedience and sincerity. For this reason, it is not enough to affirm iman internally, which is the heart of worship. At the very least, it must be admitted verbally to make it manifest from the heart.
Actions and deeds done without any intention to please Allah are not considered worship. Standing, kneeling and prostrating without intention is not salah; going hungry without intention is not fasting; traveling to the Kaaba and Arafat without intention is not Hajj, and fighting an enemy with no intention to please Allah is not jihad.
Abu Hayyan (rahmatullahi alayh) detailed in his tafsir that “worship is derived from the meaning of being isolated from everything and turning to Allah.” (Fahraddin Al-Radhi, Tafsir Al-Kabir)
Worshipping only Allah
One of Allah's attributes is “qiyam bi-nafsihi.” It means being self-existent, having no need for any other existence or place. Allah the Exalted is eternal and does not need anything. Everything other than Him requires having its existence sustained and continued.
In addition to the fact that Allah Almighty is the only one who is independent of everything and does not need anyone, He is also the only one who meets the needs of all beings. Because of these attributes, Allah is the only being worthy of worship, as revealed in the following verse.
The servant, who exists by the will of the Lord of the Worlds, lives with the life He has given, continues their life through the causes He has created, and can worship and serve only Him. For this reason, in every prayer, every time they recite surah Al-Fatiha, they say: “(Our Lord!) You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help.” (Tafsiru’l-Kabir)
The humility and reverence in worshipping Allah are evidence of being devoted to Him, who provides a level of nobility above all possible elevations for human conscience. By worshipping Him, we effectively say:
“I cannot surrender my liberty to anyone but Allah. I obey only Him and His commands. Obeying Him is close to my heart, and I loathe even to consider rebellion against Him. I run for khayr (good), avoid shar (evil), and know the beginning of khayr to be established in truth. I will never bow down to anything that does not comply with Allah's orders and is not done for His sake. I did not exist; He brought me into existence, disciplined me, and gave me freedom. This soul, this conscience, and this freedom are a trust from Him to me. Whoever does this can do it indefinitely and infinitely. For this reason, I stand for goodness and bear against injustice. This is how I serve Him. If I’m left to myself, I am nothing, but by connecting to Him, I am everything...”
How great it is to be able to say these things and be deeply committed to this promise! And how can a greater power or a more noble cause be conceived of for man? (Hak Dini Kur’an Dili)
Imam Ghazali (rahmatullahi alayh) classified the forms of worship in his work Al-Arbain as follows:
Salah • Zakat • Fasting • Hajj • Reading the Qur’an • Always being busy with the divine dhikr • Seeking halal sustenance • Complying with Islamic brotherhood and friendship rights • Enjoining good and forbidding evil • Following the sunnah.
Living according to the sunnah is a sign of divine love and the key to peace and happiness. As a matter of fact, Allah Almighty says in the Qur’an, “Say, ‘O Prophet,’ “If you sincerely love Allah, then follow me; Allah will love you.” (Ali Imran, 31) (Ruhu’l-Bayan)
Why do we say ‘we’ and not ‘I’?
There are countless subtleties in the plural of divine address that those with qalb-i salim can realize.
All the first muslims, who gathered under the Liwau’l-Hamd (The Banner of Praise) of our Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), saying, “You alone we worship,” and spread all the glories of Al-Haqq all over the world within twenty or thirty years, were imbued with this spirit. When Muslims lost this spirit, they submitted to the world. Undoubtedly, the phrase “You alone we worship” is a considerable burden. It is not a goal that can be easily attained, nor a destination easily reached. The servant's helplessness and weakness prevent them from making such a commitment unaided and unaccompanied. For this reason, when the servant says, “You alone we worship,” they have to ask for help with the same feeling when saying, “You alone we ask for help.” (Hak Dini Kur’an Dili)
If the servant had said “you alone I worship” instead of “You alone we worship,” it would be arrogance and vainglory. When they say, “(Our Lord!) You alone we worship,” it means, “I am only one of your servants.” Accordingly, the first expression indicates arrogance, while the second shows humility. (Tafsiru’l-Kabir)
According to Fakhraddin al-Razi's statement, the use of “we” in this verse also draws attention to the fact that it is most fitting for a believer to pray in congregation.
The one who prays in congregation naturally says, “we worship.” In this case, this gathering is meant by the expression “we.” If the person is praying by themselves, “we” means both the person themselves and the angels present at their worship.
Fakhraddin al-Razi (rahmatullahi alayh) continues as follows:
“Believers are brothers and sisters. If it had been said, ‘I worship,’ the person would have only mentioned their own worship and ignored the worship of their brothers and sisters. But when they say ‘we worship,’ they mention both their own worship and the worship of all their fellow believers; thus, it is as if they are trying to improve the affairs of other believers.
Saying ‘we worship’ is a supplication of a worshiper worshipping alone. For the acceptance of their worship, they say, ‘O Lord, my worship alone has not reached a worthy enough level because it has several flaws. However, I add it to the worship of all worshippers and say that ‘we worship’ by gathering all of them in a single expression. We beseech you, accept our worship.” (Tafsiru’l-Kabir)
The fact that “You alone” came before the expression “we worship” in the verse holds a wealth of wisdom. This expression states that servitude is not for anyone but for Allah. By extension, a believer who says, “You alone we worship,” declares:
“O our Lord, who has mercy on us and bestows his grace and countless blessings upon us! We feared the Day of Punishment and gave our shukr (thanks) to you. We tried to obey you and carry out your commands. You are the only god and you alone are worthy of worship. Our worship and obedience are only to you.” (Hak Dini Kur’an Dili; Abu’l-Lays Samarkandi, Tafsiru’l-Qur'an)
One of the reasons why the phrase “you alone” comes before “we worship” is to draw attention to the necessity of being mindful of Allah and pleasing Him first in everything. Namely:
If a person ponders the giver and not what is given when given a blessing, they will similarly be aware of the giver rather than what is given when faced with troubles and hardships. Then, they will act with sensitively refined knowledge and a deeper understanding (with marifatullah). Anyone who behaves this way will have their heart imbued with peace and joy.
If a person ponders what is given rather than the giver when given a blessing, they will only consider the hardship instead of the one who creates it in times of difficulty. Such a person is swallowed by ghaflah, constantly keeping themselves busy with things other than Allah. For this reason, Allah the Almighty first mentioned Himself in the holy verse so that His servants might see Him before the blessings.
Another duty that falls on the servant is this: The servant must first turn toward their supreme deity, His divine personage, and know that they are entering into worship with the mercy and strength coming from Him. The servant should not think that the worship they perform is something that starts with themselves; on the contrary, they should accept that it is an honorable work belonging to Allah the Most High and a means of achieving the ultimate union between them and their Lord. (Ibn Ajibah, Bahru’l-Madid; Tafsiru’l-Kabir)
“You alone we ask for help”
“Istianah” in the verse means asking for help in all worldly and otherworldly affairs. Although it is often thought of as synonymous with salah etymologically, there is a difference between istianah and salah. Some scholars even say that people are divided into two: those who ask and those who pray. The person who asks requests it, as and when they see fit. The one who prays is in distress, helpless and needy. People ask as long as they have the opportunity to choose. In case of necessity, they pray. There is a response to the one who asks, and there is an answer to the one who prays.
The following is stated in a holy hadith, “Is there any beggar so that they be given? Is there any supplicator so that they be answered?” (Muslim, Salati Al-Musafirin, 170)
The believing servant should ask for every khayr from their Lord day and night by saying:
“Our Lord, we are weak and sinful. We cannot worship you properly. We only ask for your help. Guide us so that we may be protected from the evil of Shaytan. Make us constant in your worship. You created us and deemed us worthy of worshipping you. You alone we worship. Give us strength and power so that we can serve, worship, and obey you as long as this soul is in this body.”
İsmail Hakkı Bursevi summarized the situations in which help should be sought from Allah as follows:
• We ask for your help in order to worship and serve you.
• We ask for your help against things we cannot bear or do not have the strength to overcome.
• We ask for your help in the fight against the devil who is trying to keep us from serving you.
• We ask for your help in our works that help improve our religion and lives in this world. (Ismail Hakki Bursevi, Ruhu’l-Bayan)
As can be seen in this summarization, the servant needs the help of Allah Almighty in all their affairs. They cannot do anything without His help.
Mentioning worship before the request for help in the holy verse teaches us that the means and the vehicle should be prioritized when trying to accomplish something. From this point of view, when we look at the surah holistically from the beginning to the present, we can draw the following conclusions:
When a servant wants to make a request from Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala), they should first praise Him. After admitting that He is the Creator and accepting that He is the Lord who holds all the qudrat (power), they should make the request. Thus, this surah teaches the servant the method of praying. (Ruhu’l-Bayan; Hulasatu’l-Bayan)
Seeking help from others
There is another matter of consideration regarding asking only from Allah (jalla jalaluhu) that is useful to point out due to its importance:
The All-Knowing and Almighty Allah creates everything in this world for a reason. That is sunnatullah. It is how wisdom manifests itself. When the servant gets sick, they can go to a doctor. When they are in trouble, they can ask for help from someone; they can even be a disciple of an arif billah to discipline their nafs. In short, they can follow the sunnatullah for this world and the hereafter to ask for help from someone. In some cases, getting help from others can even be considered fard (obligatory).
However, the point to be considered here is to correct the intention at the beginning of any work and turn to Allah the Most Merciful, to know that the real help, qudrat, and creation belong only to Him, and to resort accordingly to the causes that He creates.
He creates everything out of nothing and meets all the needs of those He created; He is the Lord of the Worlds, who made clouds for rain, medicine for healing, prophets for bringing His religion to people, and murshids and those who make tabligh in the name of Islam for the spiritual improvement and betterment of people. As stated in the Holy Qur'an:
“When Isa (Jesus) sensed disbelief from his people, he asked, ‘Who will stand up with me for Allah?’” (Ali Imran, 52)
This verse clearly states that Prophet Isa (alayhissalam) asked the apostles for help against the disbelievers.
As a result, it can be said that because a servant loves Allah, they love their prophet, parents, spouse, children, work, and the other servants of the Almighty Creator. This is a requirement of tawhid. But they do not love Allah because they love a waliyullah (friend of Allah). Allah is not loved because of something; rather, everything else is loved because of Allah. If Allah is loved for the sake of something else or someone else, it is shirk (polytheism). It is the same for all loved ones in the world. Love is righteous and acceptable if it comes in a descending hierarchy. Therefore, the first being that all must love, and for the sake of whose love everything else must be loved, is none other than Allah (jalla jalaluhu).
To reiterate, all manners and forms of requests are made of Allah the Exalted. After the intention is set correctly, it is a necessity of wisdom to follow the sunnah of Allah Almighty, to ask for something from the servants, and to make them a means to the end.
Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) knows best.
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