Why do we worship Allah?

{ وَقَضَىٰ رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا}

{And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him. And that you be dutiful to your parents.}

[17:23]

This is a question that every single Muslim and Muslimah should be able to answer with no problem. But as we begin to ponder on the answer to this question, we find some difficulty in putting it into words. Doesn’t this bother you? How long have we been Muslim? How is it that so many of us find so much difficulty explaining why we worship Allah alone?

As far as those that are actually able to answer this question, many times it is only due to the fact that we have memorized an answer. But is this really enough? Shouldn’t the answer be understood and located securely in our hearts, and not just something that is memorized? Well, this is what we want to discuss in this article.

When we talk about Allah, we understand that He has certain actions that only He is able to carry out. Obviously, we can’t name all of them here, as this is an article and not a book. We do though, want to list a few of them, because once we understand these things, it becomes crystal clear as to why we single out Allah in His worship.

The first of these actions is that of creation. Allah is the only One that has the ability to bring things into existence from absolutely nothing. This is something that is easy for Allah. It is as simple as saying be an it is. We see this is mentioned in His book when He says, 

{ اللَّـهُ خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ ۖ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَكِيلٌ}

{Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the Wakil (Trustee, Disposer of affairs, Guardian, etc.) over all things.}

[39:62]

We see from this that the whole situation of bringing something into existence from nothing is very easy for Allah. Who do you know that has this ability? That’s right, absolutely no one. This is impossible for the creation to do. This is something that can only be done by The Ever Powerful, The Creator of everything. The One who alone reserves the ability to do this, shouldn’t He have the right to be singled out in worship?

The second thing that we want to discuss is the ability to be able to provide for all of creation, everything that it needs with out it diminishing anything from his dominion. There is only one entity that hold everyone and everything provisions and has no problem providing. We many-times, look at it as difficult to give to those that we are responsible for, or at the very least tiresome. Mind you, that our responsibility is limited to only a few individuals. Have you sat than thought about the fact that something is giving us the provisions that we are providing for others. Not only does Allah give us, but all of those people and things that we know of, as well as all we do not know of, Allah provides for them all that they need. This is easy for Allah. Is the one that is able to do this so easily not the one that has the right to be worshiped alone?  The Quran and the Sunnah is full of proofs and evidences about this fact. Listen to what Allah said,

{ وَمَا مِن دَابَّةٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ إِلَّا عَلَى اللَّـهِ رِزْقُهَا وَيَعْلَمُ مُسْتَقَرَّهَا وَمُسْتَوْدَعَهَا ۚ كُلٌّ فِي كِتَابٍ مُّبِينٍ}

 {And no (moving) living creature is there on earth but its provision is due from Allah. And He knows its dwelling place and its deposit (in the uterus, grave, etc.). all is in a Clear Book (Al-Lauh Al-Mahfuz – the Book of Decrees with Allah).}

[11:6].

The next thing that we should all take into consideration is the fact that Allah is the organizer of the affairs of all of creation, without exception. Subhanna Allah. Look at how much trouble we have trying to keep our own situations in order (when in actuality it is Allah that places things in order for us). Look at how many people go crazy and do all sorts of wild things to get things situated.

Now let’s step it up one notch. Do you see how hard these people have it, that have to plan out and organize the situation for the entirety of their family,  business or organization. ? Do you see how confused and tired these people become? This is definitely a difficult job. Look at all that needs to go into running a small town, city or state. There is no way that one person can do this all by themselves. How much more does this carry true for the entirety of the world? But Allah does it with ease. It takes no effort from Him. Subhanna Allah. Let’s take a look at what Allah says about this. There is a verse that our Scholars use many times to discuss the fact that even the disbelievers from the time of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم) bore witness to the fact that Allah is The Provider and The Organizer of the affairs of the whole of the world. Let’s take a look at this verse. 

{قُلْ مَن يَرْزُقُكُم مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ أَمَّن يَمْلِكُ السَّمْعَ وَالْأَبْصَارَ وَمَن يُخْرِجُ الْحَيَّ مِنَ الْمَيِّتِ وَيُخْرِجُ الْمَيِّتَ مِنَ الْحَيِّ وَمَن يُدَبِّرُ الْأَمْرَ ۚ فَسَيَقُولُونَ اللَّـهُ ۚ فَقُلْ أَفَلَا تَتَّقُونَ}

{Say (O Muhammad SAW): “Who provides for you from the sky and from the earth? Or who owns hearing and sight? And who brings out the living from the dead and brings out the dead from the living? And who disposes the affairs?” They will say: “Allah.” Say: “Will you not then be afraid of Allah’s Punishment (for setting up rivals in worship with Allah)?”}

[10:31]

So in conclusion: We see that Allah is unmatched in terms of His abilities, control and ownership over everything. There is nothing like Him what-so-ever. Nothing is more powerful nor has a say beyond that which He decrees. So is it not befitting that we make Him the sole focus of our worship? Is it befitting that we honor something other than Allah by worshiping them, and we already understand that Allah is the one that created  us and everything we could possibly imagine, that He is the one that owns everything and gives it to whom He pleases. Then how can we come behind understanding this and justify worshiping other than Allah? The answer is simply – we can not. 

May Allah keep us from being of those people that leave off singling out Allah in all of our worship. May Allah keep us guided upon the straight path. May Allah make easy for us all of our affairs. May Allah pardon us all for our sins. Ameen Ameen Allahuma ameen.