Day 9
Leading a God-centred life
The fifth aya of Surah al-Fatihah teaches us to lead a God-centred life rather than a self-centred one.
Our Quest today is plan our life with God at the centre. In anything we do, we will always prioritise Allah before anything else, including ourselves.
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Welcome to day 9 of "Be Quranic," where we take short messages from the Quran every day, extract practical lessons from them, and apply these to our daily lives so that we can be more Quranic.
Insha'Allah, today we will continue our study of Surat Al-Fatiha and explore the fifth ayah of this Surah, "Iyyaka na'abudu wa iyyaka nasta'een." The common translation is, "Only you we worship and only you we ask for help." The word 'worship' here is 'na'abudu,' which stems from 'abd,' meaning 'slave.' A more accurate translation might be, "Only you we enslave ourselves to."
This ayah explains our relationship with Allah. The earlier parts of the Surah, "Alhamdulillahi Rabbil A'lameen," establish that Allah is our Rabb, and now we are declaring ourselves as Allah's slaves. This encapsulates the master-slave nature of our relationship with Allah, where a slave is obedient to his master, obeying without expecting anything in return, continuously and without question.
But what of our intellect that Allah has given us? When it comes to matters of belief and creed, scholars have traditionally used logical thinking and intellectual argument, grounding our faith in reason. Once we accept Allah as Rabbul Alameen and Malik Yawmiddin, we shouldn't question His wisdom. We can seek to understand His commands, but our failure to do so merely reflects our own intellectual limitations.
Regardless of our understanding, we are to obey Him as a declaration of our enslavement to Allah. The flow of this Surah introduces Allah as Ar-Rahman, Ar-Raheem, Rabbul Alameen, and Malikiya wa Min Deen. After internalising these lessons, we declare our slavery and our reliance on Him for help. 'Isti'ana,' the help we seek, implies we've made an effort first before asking for assistance.
This concept is evident in a hadith where Rasulullah (saw) advised working hard for beneficial things and then seeking Allah's help. Thus, 'wa Iyaka Nasta'een' means we put in our effort and seek help for what we cannot achieve alone.
Today's lesson, drawing from Sheikh Muhammad Muta'walli Sharawee's tafsir, focuses on why the ayah is structured as "Iyyaka na'abudu wa Iyyaka nasta'een." It emphasises putting Allah's rights before our needs, leading a God-centric life where we prioritise Allah in all our actions and plans. Our quest is to centre our lives around Allah, fulfilling His rights before our own. This approach ensures a life that is not self-centred, but God-centred, with Allah, the most Compassionate and Merciful, at its core.