Be a Servant of Allāh

Allāh has also called the obedience of Shaytān in disobedience to Him, worship of him,

أَلَمْ أَعْهَدْ إِلَيْكُمْ يَا بَنِي آدَمَ أَن لَّا تَعْبُدُوا الشَّيْطَانَ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ

Did I not make a contract with you, tribe of Adam, not to worship Shaytān, who truly is an outright enemy to you. [Ya Sin 36:60]

Allāh, Exalted is He, quotes His beloved Ibrahim as saying to his father,

يَا أَبَتِ لَا تَعْبُدِ الشَّيْطَانَ إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ عَصِيًّا

Father, do not worship Shaytān. Shaytān was disobedient to the All-Merciful. [Maryam 19:44]

Whoever has not actualized the worship of the All-Merciful and His obedience will worship Shaytān through obeying him. A person cannot free himself of the worship of Shaytān except by making his worship sincere and wholly for the All-Merciful. The latter are the people about whom He said,

You have no authority over any of My slaves except for the misled who follow you. [al-Hijr 15:42]

These are the people who have actualized, ‘None has the right to be worshipped save Allāh’: those who were sincere in articulating it and their deeds testified to the truth of their words. These are people who have not turned to any other besides Allāh in their love, hope, fear, obedience, and reliance. These are people who remained true to their testification: these are the true servants of Allāh.


As regards the person who testifies that none has the right to be worshipped save Allāh, a testimony of the tongue, but then obeys Shaytān and his desires in disobedience to Allāh, his deeds prove the lie of his testimony and his Tawhīd is diminished according to the extent of his sin.

وَمَنْ أَضَلُّ مِمَّنِ اتَّبَعَ هَوَاهُ بِغَيْرِ هُدًى مِّنَ اللَّهِ

And who could be further astray than someone who follows his whims and desires without any guidance from Allāh? [al-Qasas 28:50]

وَلَا تَتَّبِعِ الْهَوَى فَيُضِلَّكَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَضِلُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ

… and do not follow your whims and desires, letting them misguide you from the Way of Allāh. [Sad 38:26]

So be a servant of Allāh and do not be a servant to your desires for desires throw a person into a Fire,

أَأَرْبَابٌ مُّتَفَرِّقُونَ خَيْرٌ أَمِ اللّهُ الْوَاحِدُ الْقَهَّارُ

…are many lords better, or Allāh, the only One, the Conqueror ? [Yusuf 12:39]

May the servant of the dirham perish! May the servant of the dinar perish! By Allāh, none shall be saved from the punishment of Allāh tomorrow except for one who actualizes his servitude to Allāh Alone and is not duped into following empty desires. Whoever knows that his God and object of worship is one, let him single Him out alone for worship and not associate anything in the worship of his Lord.

Transcribed from: The Key to Paradise | Ibn Rajab Al-Hanbali | A Translation of his: Tahqiq Kalimatu’l-Ikhlas
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