I Am Your Lord

“And I am your Lord, therefore worship Me Alone.” [Surah al-Anbiya’ (21):92]

So just as there is no Lord for you besides Me, then there is none for you to worship besides Me.' Allah, the Most High says:

 “O mankind! Single out  your  Lord  with all  worship – He  who created you  and  all  those who  came  before you, that  you  may be  of  those who  seek  to  avoid Allah’s punishment and  anger, those  whom  Allah is  pleased with.  He   who   has   made the earth  a resting place for  you, and  has  made the  sky  a canopy, and  Who sends down rain  from  the  clouds, and  who  brought out  with crops  and  fruits from  the  earth  as  provision for  you. So  do  not  set  up  rivals  for  Allah in  your  worship when you know that  there is no  Lord besides Him” [Surah Al-Baqarah (2):  21-22]

 “…worship when you know ..." is addressed to those who did set up such rivals.  This is why Allah addressed them in this manner. As to  what  these  people ‘knew,' Ibn  'Abbaas   and  others said,  ‘So do  not set up  partners with Allah  in your  worship when  you  know that you  have  no  Creator other than Allah,'  and  this  defines the meaning of the  saying  of the  Prophet !, "You created me and  I am Your slave and  worshipper."

There is no Creator besides Allah; therefore none has the right to be worshipped except Allah.   We   do   not  submit  and   humble ourselves;  we  do  not invoke   and supplicate;  we  do  not call  for deliverance except to Allah  alone-the One  Who brought us  into existence after  we were nothing.

So, since there is no Creator besides Allah, we do not direct any worship to anyone but Him.  The use of Tawheed of Allah's Lordship is a proof of Tawheed of worship. Therefore, a person who supplicates to other than Allah and invokes other than Allah is to be rebuked. He  is  not   only  rebuked for  invoking those  who  can neither benefit nor  harm him,  but  also for forsaking the  Creator, the Provider, the One  who  benefits and  harms, the One  who  grants all blessings, He Who controls all the affairs  of His creation.

So,  when   one  considers - and  this is  the sad  situation - some  of those  who   in   these  times  attribute  themselves to  Islam,  it   is apparent that although they  acknowledge that  there is no  Creator except  Allah,  although they  indeed say, ‘Laa ilaahaa illAllah,' they are  still  to  be found at  shrines and  tombs: the  tomb of al-Badawee, the  graves of Zaynab and  Nafeesah and  so on.  They make vows and sacrifices to them. They call upon them foe deliverance. They make request for things. They debase and humble themselves. They direct all these acts of worship to tombs that can neither harm nor benefit anyone:

“Say,   O  Muhammad,  to   those  who   worship  others  besides Allah, ‘Call  upon those you  claim are  deserving of  worship besides  Allah. They   do  not   have   the   power to  remove any harm  from  you  at  all,  nor  even to  move it  away  to  someone else.” [Surah Al-Isra’, (17): 56]

“Say, ‘Call upon those who you claim are deserving of worship besides Allah.  They   do   not   possess or   control an   atoms weight of good or evil, harm or benefit in the heavens and the earth. Nor do they even possess a share in any of that. Nor is there any helper for Allah from amongst them. Nor does any intercession benefit with Him except for him whom Allah grants permission." [Surah Saba, (34):22-23]

Therefore, the One  to whom  supplication is to be  made;  the One from  whom  deliverance is to be sought; the One  who  is to be relied upon and  worshipped is Allah  Alone,  the  Creator.

This is an excellent point, a tremendous and noble matter that is illustrated in this great hadeeth. Likewise,  his saying,  "None  has  the right  to  be  worshipped except You  ..." is acknowledgement and affirmation of Allah's  Divinity and  right  to  be  worshipped. It is a statement of the Shahadah ‘Laa ilaaha illAllah' - none has the right to be worshipped except Allah.

Thus, this  tremendous declaration, that comes  at  the  beginning of this hadeeth, states the purpose of  the whole  of  creation; that for which  the heavens and  the earth were established and  for which  the Paradise  and   the   Fire  were   created;  the   reason  why   the   people became divided into two groups, the fortunate and  the wretched-the people of Paradise and  the  people of the  Fire. Those who affirm  this saying  are  the people of  Paradise and  those who  reject  it  are  the people of the  Fire.

Then the  scholars have  clarified the  fact that this  saying  will not  be of benefit to the one  who says it unless  he fulfills its conditions, and these are mentioned in the Book  of Allah  and  in the Sunnah of His Prophet.  These conditions have   been rendered into verse as follows:

“And it is qualified by seven conditions that are truly reported in the texts of the Revelation. So one who says it will not be benefitted by saying it, unless he fulfills them. Knowledge, certainty, acceptance and compliance realise what I say. And truthfulness, sincerity and love of it. May Allah guide you to that which He loves."

Here, the  poet  has stated seven  very great  conditions for, ‘Laa ilaaha illAllah,' and  these are  supported by  many proofs  in  the Book  of Allah  and  in the  Sunnah of His Prophet !

Next, his  saying  in  the hadeeth, “And  I am  Your  slave  /worshipper ('abduka)...”  is  an  affirmation of  Allah's  right to  be  worshipped and   that the   creation  are  Allah's   slaves  ('Ibaad).  The   servitude ('Uboodiyyah) of the creation is of two   types:  servitude to His Lordship and servitude in worship of Him.

The  servitude to the Lordship of  Allah  means that the whole  of creation have  been  brought into existence by Allah Alone;  that He created them; that He  provides for  them; that He  gives  them life and  that He  causes  them to  die.  None shares with Him in this.  For these reasons, nothing in creation can escape   this servitude to Allah's Lordship.