Surah al-Fatihah not only conceptualises a number of Islamic beliefs in their
quintessential form, but it also attractively presents the concept of appeal for
help. It is stated:
(O Allah!) We worship only You and we seek help only from You.
[32]
It is this Qur’anic verse that lays the foundation of appeal for help and
assistance where worship and help are mentioned one after the other. The first
part of the holy verse
¾
iyyaka na‘budu
¾
consists of the concept of Islamic worship, and the second part
¾
iyyaka nasta‘inu
¾
explains the concept of help and assistance. It is this verse whose superficial
understanding has prompted some individuals to level allegations of disbelief
against the entire Muslim community.
In fact, a superficial study of the verse has induced in them the baseless idea
that both of its parts comprise semantically identical words. The first part
mentions worship, which is exclusively reserved for Allah, while the second part
refers to help and assistance. The use of identical words generally reflects an
identical reality, and if one looks at this relationship superficially, one is
likely to be deceived by the surface resemblance and may draw an incorrect
inference. These people are the victims of a similar deception. They ignore the
contextual implications of these words and equate appeal for help and assistance
with the act of worship.
But
if we dispassionately analyse the Qur’anic verse, we come to an entirely
different conclusion. Though the repetition of similar words cannot be denied,
the interpolation of the letter waw (and) between the two parts of the
Qur’anic verse is not to be ignored either as it reflects a much deeper and more
significant reality. If the injunction relating to help and worship were
identical, Allah would never have inserted the letter waw between the two
parts. The addition of waw points towards a clear-cut differentiation
between the apparently similar expressions. This difference in meaning leads to
the formulation of a different injunction for each one of them. If the appeal
for help in iyyaka nasta‘inu were equated with the worship of God, the
Qur’an would not have disassociated it from iyyaka na‘budu through the
conjunction of separation i.e. waw. The use of the separative particle
clearly indicates that the two parts of the holy verse reflect two different
types of reality. If they were meant to portray identical reality, the two parts
would not have been delinked by placing waw between them.
The
Qur’an is an inimitable model of verbal condensation and precision and is,
therefore, immune to the fallacies and distortions coined by logicians and
philosophers. Each word in the Qur’an carries a precise and specific denotation
and none of its letters can be declared irrelevant and superfluous as it
discards all forms of waste and superfluity. If God had meant to forge a
semantic coalescence between the two parts of the verse, He would never have
differentiated them semantically through the addition of the particle of
separation. The Qur’an contains scores of examples to endorse this
dissimilarity. Where the difference is not intended, there the distinction is
made conspicuous by the absence of any delinking element. Surah
al-Fatihah, especially its first four verses, furnishes a clear proof of
distinction:
All praise
is only for Allah Who is the Sustainer of all the worlds. He is extremely Kind
and Merciful. He is the Lord of the Day of Judgement. (O Allah,) we worship only
You and we seek help only from You.[33]
An
examination of these four verses reveals that, after a description of
His
extraordinary nature, four of His attributes are consecutively
mentioned. Since
they are not mutually exclusive and are specifically designed to create a
cumulative impression so that each attribute reinforces the other, the
separative waw is nowhere inserted between them. But, in the following
verses, where difference is intended, the linguistic particle waw, is
inserted to indicate the difference. Thus, it proves that du‘a’ and
appeal for help and assistance are two different realities and,
therefore,
deserve different treatment and reception, and any attempt to expunge
their
semantic difference is an explicit violation of the inherent purpose of
the
Revelation. An exclusive reliance on flawed human reasoning spawns
various forms
of disbelief and those who are trapped in philosophical nuances and
innuendoes
drift far away from their real destiny. They not only create doubts in
the minds
of others but also become hostages to infinite confusion and fuzziness.
[32]. Qur’an (al-Fatihah, the Opening) 1:4.
[33]. Qur’an (al-Fatihah, the Opening) 1:1-4.
