I Am Your Lord

[ابوالوليد المسلم]

I Am Your Lord
Shaikh Abdur-Razzaaq





“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 ******* 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.