Surah Description

The Linguistic and Religious Meaning of `Ibadah


Linguistically, `Ibadah means subdued. For instance, a road is described as Mu`abbadah, meaning, `paved'. In religious terminology, `Ibadah implies the utmost love, humility and fear.

The Merit of stating the Object of the Action before the Doer of the Act, and the Merit of these Negations


"You...'', means, we worship You alone and none else, and rely on You alone and none else. This is the perfect form of obedience and the entire religion is implied by these two ideas. Some of the Salaf said, Al-Fatihah is the secret of the Qur'an, while these words are the secret of Al-Fatihah,

ÅöíøóÇßó äóÚúÈõÏõ æóÅöíøóÇßó äóÓúÊóÚöíäõ

(5. You we worship, and You we ask for help from.) The first part is a declaration of innocence from Shirk (polytheism), while the second negates having any power or strength, displaying the recognition that all affairs are controlled by Allah alone. This meaning is reiterated in various instances in the Qur'an. For instance, Allah said,

ÝóÇÚúÈõÏúåõ æóÊóæóßøóáú Úóáóíúåö æóãóÇ ÑóÈøõßó ÈöÛóÜÝöáò ÚóãøóÇ ÊóÚúãóáõæäó

(So worship Him (O Muhammad ) and put your trust in Him. And your Lord is not unaware of what you (people) do.) (11:123),

Þõáú åõæó ÇáÑøóÍúãóÜäõ ÁóÇãóäøóÇ Èöåö æóÚóáóíúåö ÊóæóßøóáúäóÇ

(Say: "He is the Most Gracious (Allah), in Him we believe, and in Him we put our trust.'') (67:29),

ÑøóÈøõ ÇáúãóÔúÑöÞö æóÇáúãóÛúÑöÈö áÇó ÅöáóÜåó ÅöáÇøó åõæó ÝóÇÊøóÎöÐúåõ æóßöíáÇð

((He alone is) the Lord of the east and the west; La ilaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He). So take Him alone as Wakil (Disposer of your affairs)), (73:9), and,

ÅöíøóÇßó äóÚúÈõÏõ æóÅöíøóÇßó äóÓúÊóÚöíäõ

(You we worship, and You we ask for help from). We should mention that in this Ayah, the type of speech here changes from the third person to direct speech by using the Kaf in the statement Iyyaka (You). This is because after the servant praised and thanked Allah, he stands before Him, addressing Him directly;

ÅöíøóÇßó äóÚúÈõÏõ æóÅöíøóÇßó äóÓúÊóÚöíäõ

(You we worship, and You we ask for help from). So take Him alone as Wakil (Disposer of your affairs)), (73:9), and,

ÅöíøóÇßó äóÚúÈõÏõ æóÅöíøóÇßó äóÓúÊóÚöíäõ

(You we worship, and You we ask for help from). We should mention that in this Ayah, the type of speech here changes from the third person to direct speech by using the Kaf in the statement Iyyaka (You). This is because after the servant praised and thanked Allah, he stands before Him, addressing Him directly;

ÅöíøóÇßó äóÚúÈõÏõ æóÅöíøóÇßó äóÓúÊóÚöíäõ

(You we worship, and You we ask for help from).

Al-Fatihah indicates the Necessity of praising Allah. It is required in every Prayer.


The beginning of Surat Al-Fatihah contains Allah's praise for Himself by His most beautiful Attributes and indicates to His servants that, they too, should praise Him in the same manner. Hence, the prayer is not valid unless one recites Al-Fatihah, if he is able. The Two Sahihs recorded that `Ubadah bin As-Samit said that the Messenger of Allah said,

«áóÇ ÕóáóÇÉó áöãóäú áóãú íóÞúÑóÃú ÈöÝóÇÊöÍóÉö ÇáúßöÊóÇÈö»

(There is no valid prayer for whoever does not recite Al-Fatihah of the Book.) Also, it is recorded in Sahih Muslim that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said,

«íóÞõæáõ Çááøóåõ ÊóÚóÇáóì : ÞóÓóãúÊõ ÇáÕøóáóÇÉó Èóíúäöí æóÈóíúäó ÚóÈúÏöí äöÕúÝóíúäö¡ ÝóäöÕúÝõåóÇ áöí æóäöÕúÝõåóÇ áöÚóÈúÏöí æóáöÚóÈúÏöí ãóÇ ÓóÃóáó¡ ÅöÐóÇ ÞóÇáó ÇáúÚóÈúÏõ:


«ÇáúÍóãúÏõ ááøóåö ÑóÈø ÇáúÚóÜáóãöíäó íóæúãö Åöäøó Çááøóåõ íõÄúãöäõæäó ßóÝóÑõæÇú Çááøóåõ íõÄúãöäõæäó ÛöÔóÜæóÉñ Úóáóì ÇáúãóÛúÖõæÈö íõäÝöÞõæäó Çááøóåõ ÓóæóÂÁ ÞõáõæÈöåöãú íõÄúãöäõæäó Çááøóåõ Úóáóíúåöãú ÞõáõæÈöåöãú ÊõäÐöÑúåõãú íõæÞöäõæäó Çááøóåõ ÈöÇáúÛóíúÈö ÓóãúÚöåöãú íõÄúãöäõæäó ÞõáõæÈöåöãú ÊõäÐöÑúåõãú íóæúãö Ãóãú Çááøóåõ áøáúãõÊøóÞöíäó ÞõáõæÈöåöãú Èöãó Çááøóåõ íõÄúãöäõæäó Åöäøó Çááøóåõ íõÄúãöäõæäó ßóÝóÑõæÇú Çááøóåõ ÇáúãóÛúÖõæÈö ÇáÑøóÍúãóÜäö ÇáÑøóÍöíãö»


¡ ÞóÇáó Çááåõ: ÃóËúäì Úóáóíøó ÚóÈúÏöí ÝóÅÐóÇ ÞóÇáó:


ãóÜáößö íóæúãö ÇáÏøöíäö ¡ ÞóÇáó Çááåõ: ãóÌøóÏóäöí ÚóÈúÏöí¡ æóÅöÐóÇ ÞóÇáó:


ÅöíøóÇßó äóÚúÈõÏõ æóÅöíøóÇßó äóÓúÊóÚöíäõ ¡ ÞóÇáó: åÐóÇ Èóíúäöí æóÈóíúäó ÚóÈúÏöí¡ æóáöÚóÈúÏöí ãóÇ ÓóÃóáó¡ ÝóÅöÐóÇ ÞóÇáó:


ÇåúÏöäóÇ ÇáÕøöÑóÇØó ÇáúãõÓúÊóÞöíãó


ÕöÑóÇØó ÇáøóÐöíäó ÃóäúÚóãúÊó Úóáóíúåöãú ÛóíúÑö ÇáúãóÛúÖõæÈö Úóáóíúåöãú æóáÇó ÇáÖøóÂáøöíäó ¡ ÞóÇáó: åÐóÇ áöÚóÈúÏöí¡ æóáöÚóÈúÏöí ãóÇ ÓóÃóáó»

(Allah said, `I divided the prayer into two halves between Myself and My servant, one half is for Me and one half for My servant. My servant shall have what he asks for.' When the servant says,

ÇáúÍóãúÏõ ááøóåö ÑóÈøö ÇáúÚóÜáóãöíäó

(All praise and thanks be to Allah, the Lord of all that exists.), Allah says, `My servant has praised Me.' When the servant says,

ÇáÑøóÍúãóÜäö ÇáÑøóÍöíãö

(The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful), Allah says, `My servant has praised Me.' When the servant says,

ãóÜáößö íóæúãö ÇáÏøöíäö

(The Owner of the Day of Recompense), Allah says, `My servant has glorified Me.' If the servant says,

ÅöíøóÇßó äóÚúÈõÏõ æóÅöíøóÇßó äóÓúÊóÚöíäõ

(You we worship, and You we ask for help), Allah says, `This is between Me and My servant, and My servant shall have what he asked.' If the servant says,

ÇåúÏöäóÇ ÇáÕøöÑóÇØó ÇáúãõÓúÊóÞöíãó - ÕöÑóÇØó ÇáøóÐöíäó ÃóäúÚóãúÊó Úóáóíúåöãú ÛóíúÑö ÇáúãóÛúÖõæÈö Úóáóíúåöãú æóáÇó ÇáÖøóÂáøöíäó

(Guide us to the straight path. The path of those on whom You have bestowed Your grace, not (that) of those who have earned Your anger, nor of those who went astray), Allah says, `This is for My servant, and My servant shall have what he asked.')

Tawhid Al-Uluhiyyah


Ad-Dahhak narrated that Ibn `Abbas said,

ÅöíøóÇßó äóÚúÈõÏõ

(You we worship) means, "It is You whom we single out, Whom we fear and Whom we hope in, You alone, our Lord, and none else.

Tawhid Ar-Rububiyyah



æóÅöíøóÇßó äóÓúÊóÚöíäõ

(And You we ask for help from), to obey you and in all of our affairs.'' Further, Qatadah said that the Ayah,

ÅöíøóÇßó äóÚúÈõÏõ æóÅöíøóÇßó äóÓúÊóÚöíäõ

(You we worship, and You we ask for help from) "Contains Allah's command to us to perform sincere worship for Him and to seek His aid concerning all of our affairs.'' Allah mentioned,

ÅöíøóÇßó äóÚúÈõÏõ

(You we worship) before,

æóÅöíøóÇßó äóÓúÊóÚöíäõ

(And You we ask for help from), because the objective here is the worship, while Allah's help is the tool to implement this objective. Certainly, one first takes care of the most important aspects and then what is less important, and Allah knows best.

Allah called His Prophet Õáì Çááå Úáíå æÓáã an `Abd


Allah called His Messenger an `Abd (servant) when He mentioned sending down His Book, the Prophet's involvement in inviting to Him, and when mentioning the Isra' (overnight journey from Makkah to Jerusalem and then to heaven), and these are the Prophet's most honorable missions. Allah said,

ÇáúÍóãúÏõ áöáøóåö ÇáøóÐöì ÃóäúÒóáó Úóáóì ÚóÈúÏöåö ÇáúßöÊóÜÈó

(All praise and thanks be to Allah, Who has sent down to His servant (Muhammad ) the Book (the Qur'an)) (18:1),

æóÃóäøóåõ áøóãóÇ ÞóÇãó ÚóÈúÏõ Çááøóåö íóÏúÚõæåõ

(And when the servant of Allah (Muhammad ) stood up invoking Him (his Lord Ü Allah in prayer)), (72:19) and,

ÓõÈúÍóÇäó ÇáøóÐöì ÃóÓúÑóì ÈöÚóÈúÏöåö áóíúáÇð

(Glorified (and Exalted) be He (Allah) (above all that they associate with Him) Who took His servant (Muhammad ) for a journey by night) (17:1).

Encouraging the Performance of the Acts of Worship during Times of Distress


Allah also recommended that His Prophet resort to acts of worship during times when he felt distressed because of the disbelievers who defied and denied him. Allah said,

æóáóÞóÏú äóÚúáóãõ Ãóäøóßó íóÖöíÞõ ÕóÏúÑõßó ÈöãóÇ íóÞõæáõæäó - ÝóÓóÈøöÍú ÈöÍóãúÏö ÑóÈøößó æóßõäú ãøöäó ÇáÓøóÜÌöÏöíäó - æóÇÚúÈõÏú ÑóÈøóßó ÍóÊøóì íóÃúÊöíóßó ÇáúíóÞöíäõ

(Indeed, We know that your breast is straitened at what they say. So glorify the praises of your Lord and be of those who prostrate themselves (to Him). And worship your Lord until there comes unto you the certainty (i.e. death)) (15:97-99).

Why Praise was mentioned First


Since the praise of Allah, Who is being sought for help, was mentioned, it was appropriate that one follows the praise by asking for his need. We stated that Allah said,

«ÝóäöÕúÝõåóÇ áöí æóäöÕúÝõåóÇ áöÚóÈúÏöí¡ æóáöÚóÈúÏöí ãóÇ ÓóÃóáó»

(One half for Myself and one half for My servant, and My servant shall have what he asked.) This is the best method for seeking help, by first praising the one whom help is sought from and then asking for His aid, and help for one's self, and for his Muslim brethren by saying.