إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
11:3; 12:41; 16:37; 17:24; 41:38.
2:46, 154; 21:113.
Important Words:
نعبد (we worship) is derived from عبد. We say عبد اللّٰه meaning: he believed in the Oneness of God and served and obeyed Him with humility and sub-missiveness. عبادة which is the noun-infinitive from عبد signifies humility, submissiveness, obedience and service; the idea is not of simple humility but of complete humility. It also implies belief in God’s Oneness and declaration of it (Aqrab). عبودیة has the same meaning, but عبادة is more intensive and more extensive in its significance (Mufradat). Another meaning of the word is to accept the impress of a thing. In Mufradat we have طریق معبد ای مذلل i.e. a way becomes a way when, on account of constant travelling, it becomes susceptible to the travellers’ footprints. With reference to God the meaning would be "receiving the impress of His attributes". عبد means: a man, whether free or slave; a male slave or a bondman (Aqrab); a servant or worshipper of God. عبد الطاغوت means, one who serves or worships the devil (Lane).
Commentary:
True worship demands perfect humility and complete submissiveness, and this is not possible unless there is born in the heart of man a state agreeable to it. So a person can worship God in the real sense of the word only when acts of worship are performed with complete humility of heart.
It should, however, be noted that in Islam عبادة does not merely mean the performance of certain known acts of worship, e.g. Prayer, Fasting, etc. It has a much wider significance. In fact, the Holy Prophet of Islam is reported to have said that any act performed in obedience to God’s commands and to seek His pleasure is an act of ‘Ibadah. Says the Holy Prophet: "If you give a morsel of food to your wife (believing that you are thereby obeying a behest of God), you will find the reward thereof with God" (Bukhari).
In the verse the word نعبد has been placed before the word نستعین to signify that after man has become aware of God, his first impulse is to worship Him. The idea of invoking God’s help comes after the impulse to worship. Man wishes to worship God but he finds that for doing so he needs God’s help. That is why the word نستعین is placed after the word عبد. Man should first make up his mind to worship God, then seek His help for carrying out this resolve.
The word ایاك (Thee alone) has been placed before the words نعبد and نستعین to point to the fact that not only is God alone deserving of worship but that He alone can give the help which man needs to discharge this duty truly and effectively. As long as man is not granted the power and means necessary for his guidance, it is not possible for him to become God’s عبد or servant in the real sense of the word. No man-made law can make man a good and true servant of the Lord; it is only God’s help that can bring about this change in him.
The use of the plural number in عبد and نستعین directs our attention to two very important points:
(1) That man is not alone in this world but is part and parcel of the society that surrounds him. He should, therefore, seek not to go alone but to carry others also with him on the path of God.
(2) That as long as a person does not reform his environment, his own reform cannot make him immune from danger; for a house surrounded by others on fire cannot enjoy security for long. Thus the use of the plural number points to a principle which is of vital importance for the moral, cultural and spiritual uplift of Muslims as well as for their success in missionary and other activities. The principle is a special feature of Islam and remains as important today as it ever was.
The verse also contains a hint about the eternal controversy whether man is free or predestined to follow a given course of action. Men of learning in all ages have disagreed upon this point, and no solution has yet been found. Some are of the opinion that man is the master of his will and is free to do what he likes, while others believe that freedom of action is an illusion and man only acts in a manner predestined for him. The verse offers an easy solution of this difficult problem.
The words ایاك نعبد (Thee alone do we worship) which have been put by God in the mouth of man draw our attention to the fact that man is not predestined but free to choose and carry out a course of action as he likes. On the other hand, the words ایاك نستعین (Thee alone do we implore for help) remind us of the fact that, though free, we may yet suffer from constraints and compulsions of various kinds. The prayer, Thee alone do we implore for help, implies that God keeps a watch over our actions and takes steps to remove the constraints which keep us from the path He calls upon us to tread.
The Christian doctrine that man has inherited sin from Adam and therefore cannot get rid of it without atonement is tantamount to the belief that man is not free but is bound to adopt a course predestined for him. Similarly, the Hindu doctrine of transmigration of souls is also a form of predestination. That man’s state in the present life is the result of his actions in a previous life, only means that man is bound to follow the course to which he is prenatally destined. Of modern thinkers, Freud, the famous Austrian psychologist, has also lent powerful support to this view. He has tried to show that the adult has his actions determined by the environment and experiences through which he passes in early childhood. Unable to shed the influence of his early days, the adult is not free. True, early environment exerts an influence on the later life. The Holy Prophet of Islam, fourteen hundred years ago, drew attention to the fact that one’s childhood environment exerts a distinct influence on adulthood. Says he: "A child is born in the likeness of Islam; it is his parents that make him a Christian, a Jew or a Fire-worshipper" (Bukhari). In spite of this, Islam repudiates the idea that man is not free. It is commonly seen that later in one’s life, one often outgrows the atmos-phere and ideas of his childhood and instead adopts a course of life quite different from the life he would have lived if he had not outgrown those ideas.
There is yet another point to be cleared about this verse. In the first four verses of this chapter, God is spoken of in the third person, but in this verse He is suddenly addressed in the second person. This abrupt change from the third to the second person may appear to be an example of bad grammar. Nothing of the kind. A thoughtful contemplation of the divine attributes in the first four verses brings to the mind of the worshipper such an attractive picture of his Creator that he feels irresistibly drawn towards Him, and this, coupled with the realization of His presence, makes him address his Lord and invoke His assistance in a supplicatory tone. The Quran is not a book of philosophy but has been sent to bring about a change in man and to open up to him avenues of spiritual progress. Therefore, its style is made to fit in with the nature of man and with his innermost feelings. The contemplation of the four attributes creates in man such an irresistible longing for his Creator and such an intense desire to offer his whole-hearted devotion to Him that, in order to satisfy this longing of the soul, the third person used in the first four verses has been changed to the second in the fifth verse. It is to this point that the Holy Prophet has beautifully alluded in a hadith. Says he: "Allah has divided the chapter As-Salat equally between man and Himself, the first half belongs to Allah, the second to His servant. When, therefore, a man offers this prayer to God from the fullness of his heart and asks for something, the same is given to him" (Muslim).
‘Ibadah signifies complete and utmost humility, submissiveness, obedience and service. It also implies belief in God’s Unity and declaration of it. The word also signifies, the acceptance of the impress of a thing. In this sense ‘Ibadah would mean, receiving the impress of Divine attributes and imbibing and reflecting them in one’s own person.
The words, Thee alone do we worship, have been placed before the words, Thee alone do we implore for help, to signify that after man becomes aware of God’s great attributes, his first impulse is to worship Him. The idea of invoking God’s help comes after the impulse to worship. Man wishes to worship God but he finds that for doing so he needs God’s help. The use of the plural number in the verse directs attention to two very important points; (a) that man is not alone in this world but is part and parcel of the society that surrounds him. He should, therefore, seek not to go alone but to carry others also with him on the path of God; (b) as long as man does not reform his environment, he is not safe.
It is worthy of note that God is spoken of in the first four verses in the third person, but in this verse He is suddenly addressed in the second person. The contemplation of the four Divine attributes creates in man such an irresistible longing for seeing his Creator and such an inte