The Seven Oft-Repeated Verses

PART THREE

INVESTIGATING ALLAH’S STATEMENT:

“You alone we worship and from You alone we seek help.”

This verse expresses one of the greatest concepts in existence. It is recognition of subservience to Allah and that Allah is the focus of all worship. This is the foundation of monotheism. The Messengers were sent for no other reason but to convey this idea. Allah says that the message of the Prophets was: “…that you worship none but Allah.” [Sûrah Hûd: 26]

Polytheism in worship is one of the most serious manifestations of polytheism. It is the bane of all nations. It has even found its way into Muslim societies, so much so that many Muslims can be found offering worship to other than Allah. This is why this form of polytheism is the most dangerous. The concept of Allah’s absolute Lordship is part of a person’s natural disposition. It is recognized instinctively by the human soul. Consequently, it does not need to be overemphasized. Some deviance does exist in understanding Allah’s names and attributes, but it is nothing compared to the deviance that exists in offering worship to other than Allah. For this reason, calling people to the worship of Allah alone is of paramount importance. This concept is the foundation of the faith and the basis of monotheism.

Allah says: “You alone we worship.” In this statement, the object of the verb precedes the verb. In Arabic, this conveys the meaning of exclusivity.

The statement: “…and from You alone we seek help” asserts that Allah is the only one Whose help should be sought. It is like saying: “We seek none other than Your assistance. We seek the help of no one else, we can never be independent of Your grace.”

There are some people who seek help from other than Allah, and others who seek help from Allah and from others at the same time. Still, there are others who simply do not seek Allah’s help at all. None of these people fulfill the requirements of the words: “…and from You alone we seek help.”

This is why Allah says about this verse (as we have already seen in the hadîth qudsî): “This is between Me and My servant.”¹⁴ The statement “You alone we worship” shows the right of Allah over His servant. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Allah’s right over His servants is that they worship Him and do not associate any partners with Him.”¹⁵

As for the statement: “…and from You alone we seek help”, it shows the servants reliance upon Allah, since the servant has not even the ability to believe in Allah alone or to accomplish anything else, except with the help of Allah. For this reason, Allah has said: “The shall say: ‘Praise be to Allah who has guided us to this, and we could never have been guided were it not for the guidance of Allah.” [Sûrah al-A`râf : 43]

14 Muslim (598) as previously referred to.
15 Bukhârî (2644, 5510, 5796) and Muslim (43, 45).