إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ

5.¹¹You alone do We worship,¹² and from You alone do we seek help.¹³

11. It is reported from God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, that God said: “The half of al-Fātihah belongs to Me, while the other half to My servant” (Muslim, “Salāh,” 38). The part up to this verse (i.e. verses 1–4) belongs to God. In it, the servant addresses God, as it were, in the third person, praising Him. These four verses of praise serve as a ladder to rise to His Presence and there attain the dignity of addressing Him in the second person (verses 5–7). At this point, the servant addresses a petition to the One praised with His most comprehensive Attributes in the preceding verses. According to the Tradition mentioned above, verse 5 belongs to both God and the servant, whereas the following verses (6 and 7), when the servant prays to God for his/her most pressing need (i.e. right guidance), belong to the servant.

12. The words “we worship” translate the Arabic na‘budu, first person plural in the imperfect tense of the verb ‘A-Ba-Da. It means doing something with energy and determination. ‘Ibādah is derived from it and, as a term, means adoration and submission. The verb ‘A-Ba-Da has two other important infinitives, both of which are deeply related with worshipping. ‘Ubūdah means humility and submission, and ‘ubūdiyah, doing the duty of worship in a systematic way. “You alone do we worship” translates the meaning of the Arabic construction iyyā-ka na‘budu, which puts the pronoun “You” in an emphatic position; the same emphasis is found in the next phrase also:  iyyā-ka nasta‘īnu (instead of the usual nasta‘īnu-ka). Thus, the meaning here is that we worship God in awe and with utmost submission, sincerity and humility, and in a systematic way. In so doing, we express our total devotion, submission and subjection to God and declare our faith that none other than God deserves worship, which expresses at-tawhīd al-‘ubūdiyah. The fact that na‘budu is in the first person plural, and in the imperfect tense, means that the duty of worship is not restricted to one occasion only or discharged once only, but rather that it is due always, and due collectively as well as merely individually. Indeed, worship in congregation is preferable. The collective aspect refers to (i) the individual person with all the systems and cells of his/her body, (ii) the group(s) of believers who have come together at any place or time to worship God, and (iii) to the whole body of believers throughout the world who have turned to the Ka‘bah to worship.

13. Since the relationship between the worshipping servant and God as the One Worshipped is not maintained in other religions with the strict clarity proper to it – especially given the influence of the modern trends of humanism and individualism – it may give rise to certain misconceptions, which we will try to clarify.

Servanthood in Islam means freedom from all other kinds of servitude and slavery. The response of Rabī‘ ibn ‘Āmir, the envoy of the Muslim army’s commander, before the battle of Qadīsiyah, when asked by the commander of the Persian armies about the meaning and message the Muslims sought to proclaim, expresses well what servanthood means in Islam: “We invite people from servanthood to false deities to servanthood to One God, from the suffocating dungeon of the world to the exhilarating expanse of the heavens, and from the darkness of false religions to the light of Islam.” (Ahmed Cevdet Paşa, 1: 391)

Servanthood in Islam is the only means to true human freedom and dignity. No one is greater than any other in being a servant and, therefore, none is worthy of worship or adoration. Every created being, whether a Prophet or a common human, is equally removed from being an object of worship. The Prescribed Prayer (the Salāh) and the Pilgrimage (the Hajj) are public occasions that demonstrate this most clearly.

One who claims human freedom in rebellion to God may be a Pharaoh-like tyrant, but he is one who will abase himself, in order to serve his interest, so far as to bow in worship before the meanest thing. He may be haughty and arrogant, and yet so wretched as to accept degradation for the sake of a momentary pleasure; unyielding in self-esteem, and yet so ignoble as to kiss the feet of devilish people for the sake of some trivial advantage. He may be conceited and domineering, but since he can find no point of support in his heart against death, misfortunes and innumerable enemies, he knows himself within as an impotent, vainglorious tyrant. He may be a self-centered egoist who, in striving to gratify his own carnal desires or personal interests or the advantage of his racial or cultural group, quickly becomes a slave to those desires and interests.

As for the sincere servant of God, he is a worshipping servant who does not degrade himself to bow in worship, even before the greatest of the creatures. He is dignified and does not regard as the goal of worship a thing of even the greatest benefit like Paradise. Also, though modest, mild and gentle, he does not lower himself before anybody other than his Creator. He is indeed weak and in want, and aware of his weakness and neediness. Yet he is independent of others, owing to the spiritual wealth that his Munificent Owner has provided for him, and he is powerful in that he relies on the infinite power of his Master. He acts and strives purely for God’s sake and for God’s pleasure, and to be endowed with virtues (The Words, “the 12^th Word,” 147).