Linguistically, `Ibadah means subdued. For instance, a road is described as Mu`abbadah, meaning, `paved'. In religious terminology, `Ibadah implies the utmost love, humility and fear.
"You...", means, we worship You alone and none else, and rely on You alone and none else. This is the perfect form of obedience and the entire religion is implied by these two ideas. Some of the Salaf said, Al-Fatihah is the secret of the Qur'an, while these words are the secret of Al-Fatihah,
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
(5 You we worship, and You we ask for help from.)
The first part is a declaration of innocence from Shirk (polytheism), while the second negates having any power or strength, displaying the recognition that all affairs are controlled by Allah alone. This meaning is reiterated in various instances in the Qur'an. For instance, Allah said,
فَاعْبُدْهُ وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَيْهِ وَمَا رَبُّكَ بِغَـفِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ
(So worship Him (O Muhammad ) and put your trust in Him. And your Lord is not unaware of what you (people) do.) (11:123),
قُلْ هُوَ الرَّحْمَـنُ ءَامَنَّا بِهِ وَعَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْنَا
(Say: "He is the Most Gracious (Allah), in Him we believe, and in Him we put our trust.") (67:29),
رَّبُّ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ لاَ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ فَاتَّخِذْهُ وَكِيلاً
((He alone is) the Lord of the east and the west; La ilaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He).
So take Him alone as Wakil (Disposer of your affairs)), (73:9), and,
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
(You we worship, and You we ask for help from).
We should mention that in this Ayah, the type of speech here changes from the third person to direct speech by using the Kaf in the statement Iyyaka (You). This is because after the servant praised and thanked Allah, he stands before Him, addressing Him directly;
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
(You we worship, and You we ask for help from).
So take Him alone as Wakil (Disposer of your affairs)), (73:9), and,
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
(You we worship, and You we ask for help from).
We should mention that in this Ayah, the type of speech here changes from the third person to direct speech by using the Kaf in the statement Iyyaka (You). This is because after the servant praised and thanked Allah, he stands before Him, addressing Him directly;
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
(You we worship, and You we ask for help from).
The beginning of Surat Al-Fatihah contains Allah's praise for Himself by His most beautiful Attributes and indicates to His servants that, they too, should praise Him in the same manner. Hence, the prayer is not valid unless one recites Al-Fatihah, if he is able. The Two Sahihs recorded that `Ubadah bin As-Samit said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
«لَا صَلَاةَ لِمَنْ لَمْ يَقْرَأْ بِفَاتِحَةِ الْكِتَابِ»
(There is no valid prayer for whoever does not recite Al-Fatihah of the Book.)
Also, it is recorded in Sahih Muslim that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
«يَقُولُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى : قَسَمْتُ الصَّلَاةَ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ عَبْدِي نِصْفَيْنِ، فَنِصْفُهَا لِي وَنِصْفُهَا لِعَبْدِي وَلِعَبْدِي مَا سَأَلَ، إِذَا قَالَ الْعَبْدُ:
«الْحَمْدُ للَّهِ رَبّ الْعَـلَمِينَ يَوْمِ إِنَّ اللَّهُ يُؤْمِنُونَ كَفَرُواْ اللَّهُ يُؤْمِنُونَ غِشَـوَةٌ عَلَى الْمَغْضُوبِ يُنفِقُونَ اللَّهُ سَوَآء قُلُوبِهِمْ يُؤْمِنُونَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ قُلُوبِهِمْ تُنذِرْهُمْ يُوقِنُونَ اللَّهُ بِالْغَيْبِ سَمْعِهِمْ يُؤْمِنُونَ قُلُوبِهِمْ تُنذِرْهُمْ يَوْمِ أَمْ اللَّهُ لّلْمُتَّقِينَ قُلُوبِهِمْ بِمَآ اللَّهُ يُؤْمِنُونَ إِنَّ اللَّهُ يُؤْمِنُونَ كَفَرُواْ اللَّهُ الْمَغْضُوبِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ»
، قَالَ اللهُ: أَثْنى عَلَيَّ عَبْدِي فَإذَا قَالَ:
مَـلِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ ، قَالَ اللهُ: مَجَّدَنِي عَبْدِي، وَإِذَا قَالَ:
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ ، قَالَ: هذَا بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ عَبْدِي، وَلِعَبْدِي مَا سَأَلَ، فَإِذَا قَالَ:
اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ
صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ الضَّآلِّينَ ، قَالَ: هذَا لِعَبْدِي، وَلِعَبْدِي مَا سَأَلَ»
(Allah said, `I divided the prayer into two halves between Myself and My servant, one half is for Me and one half for My servant. My servant shall have what he asks for.' When the servant says,
الْحَمْدُ للَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَـلَمِينَ
(All praise and thanks be to Allah, the Lord of all that exists.), Allah says, `My servant has praised Me.' When the servant says,
الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ
(The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful), Allah says, `My servant has praised Me.' When the servant says,
مَـلِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ
(The Owner of the Day of Recompense), Allah says, `My servant has glorified Me.' If the servant says,
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
(You we worship, and You we ask for help), Allah says, `This is between Me and My servant, and My servant shall have what he asked.' If the servant says,
اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ - صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ الضَّآلِّينَ
(Guide us to the straight path. The path of those on whom You have bestowed Your grace, not (that) of those who have earned Your anger, nor of those who went astray), Allah says, `This is for My servant, and My servant shall have what he asked.')
Ad-Dahhak narrated that Ibn `Abbas said,
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ
(You we worship) means, "It is You whom we single out, Whom we fear and Whom we hope in, You alone, our Lord, and none else.
وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
(And You we ask for help from), to obey you and in all of our affairs." Further, Qatadah said that the Ayah,
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
(You we worship, and You we ask for help from) "Contains Allah's command to us to perform sincere worship for Him and to seek His aid concerning all of our affairs." Allah mentioned,
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ
(You we worship) before,
وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
(And You we ask for help from), because the objective here is the worship, while Allah's help is the tool to implement this objective. Certainly, one first takes care of the most important aspects and then what is less important, and Allah knows best.
Allah called His Messenger an `Abd (servant) when He mentioned sending down His Book, the Prophet's involvement in inviting to Him, and when mentioning the Isra' (overnight journey from Makkah to Jerusalem and then to heaven), and these are the Prophet's most honorable missions. Allah said,
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِى أَنْزَلَ عَلَى عَبْدِهِ الْكِتَـبَ
(All praise and thanks be to Allah, Who has sent down to His servant (Muhammad ) the Book (the Qur'an)) (18:1),
وَأَنَّهُ لَّمَا قَامَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ يَدْعُوهُ
(And when the servant of Allah (Muhammad ) stood up invoking Him (his Lord ـ Allah in prayer)), (72:19) and,
سُبْحَانَ الَّذِى أَسْرَى بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلاً
(Glorified (and Exalted) be He (Allah) (above all that they associate with Him) Who took His servant (Muhammad ) for a journey by night) (17:1).
Allah also recommended that His Prophet resort to acts of worship during times when he felt distressed because of the disbelievers who defied and denied him. Allah said,
وَلَقَدْ نَعْلَمُ أَنَّكَ يَضِيقُ صَدْرُكَ بِمَا يَقُولُونَ - فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَكُنْ مِّنَ السَّـجِدِينَ - وَاعْبُدْ رَبَّكَ حَتَّى يَأْتِيَكَ الْيَقِينُ
(Indeed, We know that your breast is straitened at what they say. So glorify the praises of your Lord and be of those who prostrate themselves (to Him). And worship your Lord until there comes unto you the certainty (i.e. death)) (15:97-99).
Since the praise of Allah, Who is being sought for help, was mentioned, it was appropriate that one follows the praise by asking for his need. We stated that Allah said,
«فَنِصْفُهَا لِي وَنِصْفُهَا لِعَبْدِي، وَلِعَبْدِي مَا سَأَلَ»
(One half for Myself and one half for My servant, and My servant shall have what he asked.)
This is the best method for seeking help, by first praising the one whom help is sought from and then asking for His aid, and help for one's self, and for his Muslim brethren by saying.
اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ
(Guide us to the straight path.)
This method is more appropriate and efficient in bringing about a positive answer to the pleas, and this is why Allah recommended this better method.
Asking for help may take the form of conveying the condition of the person who is seeking help. For instance, the Prophet Moses said,
رَبِّ إِنِّى لِمَآ أَنزَلْتَ إِلَىَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ
(My Lord! Truly, I am in need of whatever good that You bestow on me!) (28:24).
Also, one may first mention the attributes of whoever is being asked, such as what Dhun-Nun said,
لاَّ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ أَنتَ سُبْحَـنَكَ إِنِّى كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّـلِمِينَ
(La ilaha illa Anta (none has the right to be worshipped but You (O Allah)), Glorified (and Exalted) be You (above all that they associate with You)! Truly, I have been of the wrongdoers) (21:87).
Further, one may praise Him without mentioning what he needs.
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