SURah Al-Fatihah verse (4-5)

Verse 4

You alone we worship and from you alone seek him. Now this help asking of help has a double aspect one of prays and another of prayer. The arabic word IBADAH means worship it denotes showing the utmost humility submisiveness out of an intense respect and love for someone and such an attitude of  willing self a basement cannot just to be adopted towards anyone except Allah sabhana watallah and once it has been understood  that there is one being who can satisfy all our needs. It is equally natural and logical to turn for help in everything to him alone hence the phrase EYYAAKA NASTAEEN besides these two aspects has another dimension as well. It teaches man not to worship anyone except Allah not to consider anyone else as a being really  capable of satisfying his needs and not to be anyone else to satisfy these needs then the  acts of worship are not limited to prayer or fasting alone. According to IMAM GHAZALI(R.A) there are ten forms of worship.

1. Prayer .
2. Prescribe alms giving.
3. Fasting .
4. Hajj.
5. Resiting the Quran
6. Rememberance of Allah in all popssible situations.
7. Earning ones livelyhood in accordance with their regulation of the shariyah.
8. Fullfillig ones obligations toward ones companions and neighbours.
9. Persuading people to act rightly and stop for what is forbidden.
10. To follow the sunnah.

Therefore not associating anyone with Allah in worship means that one should not love, fear or depend on anyone else as one loves fear or depends on Allah nor should one put hope in anyone else nor should one consider obedience or submission or service to another as obligatory as the worship of Allah nor make an offering or dedicate anything to anyone or take a vow in the name of anyone nor should one show complete self-abasement and total humility before anyone as one is required to do before Allah nor should one engage in the particular GOD oriented acts of worship for anyone other than Allah. Now this point one must turn to Allah alone for help and no one else this requires some clarification. There is a kind of help that every man does seek from another man and the universal order is such that it has to be like that a tailor a tinker a carpenter or a blacksmith each is serving other and everyone is obliged to seek his help and seeking the help of this kind neither is nor can be forbidden by any religion for it is a part of the network of physical means provided to man by Allah and in the sphere of non-physical means to it is quite permissible who have one to seek the help of a prophet or a saint by asking him to pray to Allah in one’s behalf. The question is when does one fall into the sin of shirq in asking someone other than Allah that is if one seeks the help of an angel or a prophet or a saint or any creature believing him to be omnipotent like Allah. They admit Allah alone is omnipotent but also believe that he has delegated a part of his power to an angel, a prophet, a saint, or a smaller god who excises full and independent authority in that area this is what the Holy Quran forbids, and warns us against. It is shirq to ask a person who has no physical means of helping like asking a dead person and you know shirq has three categories:

1. Shirq in ibadah.
2. Shirq in action like doing sajdah to someone.
3. Shirq of attribute that is asking someone unseen like asking someone for children like asking someone for rizk.

Verse 5

Then we come to verses 5 6 and 7 these are the last three verses of surah AL-Fatiha and they consist of a prayer on the part of man in other words Allah sabhana watallah himself in his infinite mercy taught man what to pray. Verse 5 guides us on a straight path. Verse 6 the path of those on whom you have bistood your grace. Verse 7 not of those who you have incoure your wrath nor of those who have gone a straight. Now taking verse 5 let see what is the meaning of guidance. Now the best explanation of the word HIADYAH is leading someone to his destination gently and kindly while guidance in the real sense issues forth from Allah alone and it has several degrees. The first degree is guidance. This is the guidance that is common to all forms of creation may it be minerals animals, plants, jins everything that exists in the universe. The Quran speaks of this primary and general guidance. It is chapter 20 verse 50 “He gave to everything its distincted form and then guided it” and it says in another surah celebrate the name of your lord the most high who has created all things well proportioned them and who has determined them and guided them this is chapter 87 verse 1 and 2.  Now thanks to this general guidance everything in this universe is performing its allotted functions with such marvelous efficiency for example it is the ears that hear a sound, not the eyes or the nose similarly the nose smells but cannot see the eyes see but cannot smell in short as the Holy Quran says chapter 20 verse 93 “There is nothing in the heavens and the earth but comes to the old merciful as a servant. Then we come to the second degree of guidance unlike the first the second degree of guidance is not general but particular it is limited to those creatures that are considered to be rational that is men and jins. This kind of guidance comes to every man through prophets and revealed books. Now some accept this guidance and they become believers that is they become Muslims and some choose to reject it and become disbelievers. Then we come to the third degree of guidance. The third degree of guidance is still more particular being special to true believers that is the “mominun” and the god-fearing, “mutakeen” like the first-degree guidance the third-degree guidance to the sense directly to the individual from Allah, and it is called TOFEEK that is to say Allah grace provides a man with internal and external means and circumstance which should make it easy and even pleasing for him to accept an act upon the guidance of the Holy Quran and it becomes difficult for him to ignore or oppose it and the scope of the third degree of guidance is limitless and its levels are an indefinite increase in the virtuous deeds brings with it an increase in divine guidance. The Holy Quran itself gives us the promise of such increase it says in chapter 47 verse 17 “As for those who follow the straight path Allah will increase their guidance then it says in chapter 64 verse 11 “And whoever believes in Allah he guides his heart” then it says “Those who strive for us we will surely guide them in our path hence out of all the prayers man can address to Allah the most important prayer is the prayer for guidance which has been taught to us in the very first surah of the Quran and this prayer is as necessary for the greatest of prophets men of Allah as it is for an ordinary Muslim or a sinner. Now the next important theme of this surah is the determination to the staright path we all asked Allah to show us the right path. Now we want to know what exactly the straight path is and how it is determined. Coming to the meaning of the straight path it is the path which has no turns and twists this is the literal meaning one who follows the straight path would in a matter of doctrine and practice neither go beyond the limits nor short of them. Now the last two verses of surah AL-Fatiha define and identify the straight path.