Published on Aug 19 2011 

‘Thee alone do we worship and Thee alone do we implore for help’

The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said that prayer alone is needed to able to offer true and sincere prayer. He said Salat adorns one’s faith as well as one’s worldly matters and it protects one from every bad practice and indecency. However, it is not in the control of a person to offer such a Salat. The method cannot be attained without the help of God.

Hudhur said this draws us to the question as to what should our prayers, our Salat be like? What manner should we adopt and what effect should worship and prayer have on us and how does worship, prayer and Salat achieve acceptance? If we truly understand that worship of God is the objective of our creation, we would disregard all else and focus on attaining this most important objective. However, as the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said, prayer alone is needed to have the capacity to make sincere prayer. Mere effort on our part cannot take us to the objective of our creation. God is Most Gracious, but in the very first Surah of the Holy Qur’an He taught us the prayer of ‘Thee alone do we worship and Thee alone do we implore for help’ (1:5) and made it obligatory for this prayer to be repeated in every unit of the five daily Salat. When this prayer is made with sincerity of intent, then God enables a person to attain his or her purpose. It is also a blessing of God to grant us the month of Ramadan and declare that He is near, that He listens to every one of that servant of His who turns to Him and practices His commandments. If there is any deficiency, it is in us. In this age God commissioned the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) for our reformation. He came in his capacity as the servant of the perfect man to once again impart to us the teachings of Islam.

If we try and understand and then make it a part of our life, given the depth and exquisiteness with which the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) has explained the meaning of ‘Thee alone do we worship and Thee alone do we implore for help’ to us, we would be making an effort to fulfil our dues of ebudiyyat (servitude to God) of God. We would be able to strengthen our faith in the manner which God commands and that which is expected of a believer.

Hudhur presented a few gems from the writings of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace). He wrote:

‘Allah, Lord of Honour and Majesty, has placed the phrase: We worship Thee alone; before the phrase: We implore only Thy help; as a reminder of the grace of Rahmaniyyat (Divine Graciousness) before supplication. Thus the worshipper begins, as it were, with: Lord, I thank Thee for Thy bounties with which Thou hast favoured me long before my petitions and prayers and my deeds and efforts and my seeking help from Thy Providence (Rabubiyyat) and Graciousness (Rahmaniyyat) that precedes the supplication of a suppliant. Now I beg of Thee the strength, virtue, prosperity, success and aims that are bestowed only on supplication, prayer and begging for help, for Thou art the most munificent Bestower of bounties.’ [Commentary of the Holy Qur’an Vol I, p. 191]

Hudhur explained that when a person prays to God mindful and grateful of the favours He has bestowed by virtue of His Rahmaniyyat , it is the first step towards worship and becoming a true servant of God. Once this insight is achieved, further effort is made in worship and a person tries to attain the levels that God has determined for one to become a servant of God. One wishes for further material as well as spiritual development but is aware that all this cannot be attained without God’s help. This opens further doors and stages of development are attained. This is the basic point and the essence which should be in view when praying: ‘Thee alone do we worship and Thee alone do we implore for help’.

The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) expounds as to why should we be drawn to this prayer. He says:

‘These verses urge towards grateful appreciation of gifts that have been granted and towards steadfast supplication for that which is needful and towards eagerness for whatever is perfect and excellent so that the worshipper may be steadfastly grateful. They also urge towards non-reliance on one's own competence and ability and towards throwing oneself before the Holy One in hope and expectancy, persisting in supplication and prayer in humility with glorification and praise, in a state between fear and hope, like a suckling infant in the arms of the wet-nurse, dead to the rest of creation and everything on earth.’ [Commentary of the Holy Qur’an Vol I, p. 191]

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