الآية رقم (102) - ذَلِكُمُ اللّهُ رَبُّكُمْ لا إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ فَاعْبُدُوهُ وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَكِيلٌ

(102) - (That is Allah, your Lord; there is no deity except Him, the Creator of all things, so worship Him. And He is Disposer of all things.)

(… ذَٰلِكُمُ اللَّهُ رَبُّكُمْ ۖ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ) (That is Allah, your Lord; there is no deity except Him, ): Allah (swt) is the One whose existence is necessary. This necessitates obedience to Him, as He is our God and Lord. The (Lord) is the nurturer, the giver and the bestower of blessings. The (Deity) is the One who is worshipped and obeyed.

This verse is the testimony by the Divine Essence of the Divine Essence. This is the greatest testimony ever, as Allah (swt) says in another verse:

 شَهِدَ اللّهُ أَنَّهُ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ وَالْمَلاَئِكَةُ وَأُوْلُواْ الْعِلْمِ قَآئِمَاً بِالْقِسْطِ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ

(Allah (Himself) is a Witness that there is no god (worthy of worship) except Him—and so are the angels and people of knowledge. He is the Maintainer of justice. There is no god (worthy of worship) except Him—the Almighty, All-Wise) (Ali-Imran: 18)

Here, Allah (swt) witnessed first of all that there is no god worthy of worship except Him. This is a testimony by the Divine Essence of the Divine Essence, which is greater than any other testimony. As such, after explaining all the signs, evidence and proofs, such as Him being the One who causes the seeds and fruit stones to sprout and the One who causes the dawn to break, He says: That is Allah—your Lord! There is no god (worthy of worship) except Him.

So here, we are getting to know Allah (swt) through His creation.

(… خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ… ) (…the Creator of all things,): He created all things, thus none of the creation is able to challenge Him in His supreme reign and authority.

(… فَاعْبُدُوهُ… ) (…so worship Him.): Meaning, ‘so obey Him’. Obedience to Allah (swt) is necessary for every single action a person does, as every goodness carried out in this life is an act of worship. For example, a smile you flash to your brother is an act of worship and charity and removing something harmful from the path is an act of worship and charity. Additionally, doing one’s best in his work is also a form of worship. A farmer who cultivates, harvests and plants well is in the midst of an act of worship. A worker in the factory who does his job well is in the midst of an act of worship. A soldier in the battlefront who fights and defends to the best of his ability is in the midst of an act of worship. Therefore, worship covers all the aspects of one’s life. As such, we say that worship is a pathway of having obedience to Allah (swt). It is not as some people perceive it to be, consisting only of carrying out the five pillars of Islam. This is known through this Hadith, in which the Messenger of Allah (saws) said:

“Islam is built upon five things: The testimony that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger, the observance of the prayer, the payment of zakat, the Pilgrimage, and the fast during Ramadan.”[1]

He (saws) did not say that Islam is only limited to these five things; but instead, he said that it is built upon these five pillars.

(  وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَكِيلٌ… ) (…And He is Disposer of all things): The Arabic word of (Disposal) means the one who manages your affairs. However, Allah (swt) is the Disposal (over) a person, which means that He manages every single affair, He is elevated above everything, and He handles the affairs of every single creation in this life.

[1] Sahih al-Bukhari: The Book of Faith, Chapter of Faith and the Prophet’s saying “Islam is built upon five things”, Hadith No. 8.