After reciting the Tauz, the Tashahhud and the first chapter of the Holy Qur’an, Hazrat Amir ul Mo’meneen Zafrullah Domun said:

As from last week I have started giving you some additional explanations about the first chapter of the Holy Quran known as Al Fatiha. I spoke about the four main attributes of Allah as they have been mentioned namely Lord of all the worlds, Al Rahman , Al Raheem and Master of the Day of judgment. All these attributes are preceded by the phrase “All praise belongs to Allah”. I also told you that this chapter of the Holy Quran is divided into two parts. The first part concerns Allah and the second part concern His Servants. So immediately after explaining to us who is the Allah that we are called upon to pray to, Allah teaches His Servants to say “Iyyaka na’bodo wa iyyaka nasta’een” which means “To You alone do we pray and from You alone do we seek help.”

This is the first prayer that is found in the Holy Quran and it is the most important one. Here the Muslim is taught a great lesson about monotheism (Tauheed). He is taught to make only Allah, his object of worship and the only Being from whom he or she should seek help. This is a powerful prayer for all Muslims. If this prayer is done with full sincerity and with the hope that Allah has all the power at His disposal to grant it man will become free from all other worldly powers and He will have access to a source of Power that he has never dreamed of. Those who have had this access speak real words of praise for this treasure that they have found. For example there is this famous passage of Kishti Nuh where Hazrat Masih Maood ^as says:

This is only one of such extracts from his writings where Hazrat Masih Maood^as talks to us about the greatness of Allah. Someone who stands up in front of Allah for prayer should strive to imagine the greatness of the Power of Allah which is embodied in the four main attributes of Allah as have been mentioned in the first chapter of the Holy Quran.  But no one should labour under the delusion that he or she will be able to have this Grandeur of Allah always in front of him when he stands up for prayer. This is a Grace of Allah that will be given to every earnest seeker of truth provided he is steadfast and really wants to partake of this spiritual delight. Here practice is more important than knowledge. Just knowing is not sufficient. Someone may know how to play football or how to fish. But unless and until he starts playing or fishing and wins and gets fish we will not say that he has any skill in these matters. It is the same in the spiritual field. One should practice what one knows in order to gain mastery. So you should be patient and search for Allah through your prayers then little by little Allah will attract you towards him and He will liberate you of all your fears or of all your chains that make you a prisoner of outdated ideas or vitiated thinking. This is the challenge. Every Muslim of every age will have to make his own search. In this path it is not just sufficient to slavishly follow what you have been told. You should make your own experience under the guidance of someone living and who knows and who has treaded the path. He might act as a guide for you and help you. But you are the one who has to undergo all the deprivations and the necessary troubles that will lead you to Allah if you really desire him.

Since this prayer is a declaration of the unity of Allah so to say, let us read another extract from Hazrat Masih Maood ^as. He says:

“The true Unity of God, the confession of which is demanded by God and upon which heaven depends, is to believe that God in His Being is free from every associate, whether it is an idol or a human being, or the sun or moon or one's ego, or one's cunning or deceit; and to conceive of no one as possessing power in opposition to Him, nor to accept anyone as sustainer, nor to hold anyone as bestowing honour or disgrace, nor to consider anyone as helper or assistant; and to confine one's love to Him and one's worship to Him and one's humility to Him and one's hopes to Him and one's fear to Him. No Unity can be complete without the following three types of particularization. First, there is the Unity of Being, that is to say, to conceive the whole universe as nonexistent in contrast with Him and to consider it mortal and lacking reality. Secondly, the Unity of attributes, that is to say, that Rububiyyat and Godhead are confined to His Being and that all others who appear as sustainers or benefactors are only a part of the system set up by His hand. Thirdly, the Unity of love and sincerity and devotion; that is to say, not to consider anyone as an associate of God in the matter of love and worship and to be entirely lost in Him ”(Answer to four questions of Sirajuddin, Christian, pp. 23-24).

At another place he said:

“The Unity of God is a light which illumines the heart after the outer and inner deities are totally negatived, and it courses through every particle of man's being. It cannot be acquired by anyone on his own, but only through God and His Messenger. Man's function is that he should impose a death upon his ego and should discard the Satanic vanity that he is a learned person. He should deem himself ignorant and should be occupied with supplication. Then the light of Unity would descend upon him from God and would bestow new life upon him” [Haqiqatul Wahi)

Furthermore I would like also to tell you that Hazrat Masih Maood ^as has also advised us to repeat this prayer when we are praying alone and performing Sunnat or nafil prayers. So you should try this experience. Repeat these words while thinking about their meanings and you will see what sort of feelings will gush from your heart. On the one hand there will be hope which will be followed by a certain reliance on Allah for the accomplishment of all your noble and good desires. But this is not something that you will get within a few days. In the beginning you will get glimpses of these favours but later on after some years practice Allah will open such doors of His Mercy for you that ordinary people who have been content throughout their lives with mere lip prayers will fail to understand how you can attain such a rank in the eyes of Allah. If you are familiar with the history of Islam you will not fail to see that such incidents that been repeated many times through the life of many saints.

So I was saying that Hazrat Masih Maood as has advised us to repeat the words ““Iyyaka na’bodo wa iyyaka nasta’een” whenever we pray alone. This will increase our concentration and will open for us the doors of Allah’s mercy. I have also told you that the sura is divided in two parts. So according to Hazrat Masih Maood ^as when the servant says “Inyyaka na’bodo” he should have in mind “All praise belongs to Allah”. In fact it is because he is being taught that “All praise belongs to Allah” that automatically his response should be “You alone do we worship”. Since you are worthy of all praise so you are the only one that is worthy of worship. The Muslim makes this commitment and he is expected to follow through throughout his life. Similarly since Allah is the “Rabbul Alameen”(the Creator, Sustainer and developer) of all the worlds He is the one whose help is to be sought. Usually we seek the help of someone who has more power or who knows better than we know. Here Allah has taught us that “He is the Creator of all worlds” and hence He knows about the mechanism of the world, its ins and out and He is most apt to help. Were I to tell you every comments that Hazrat Masih Maood ^as has said about this verse I will have to devote many sermons only upon it. But I am trying just to whet your appetite so that you might strive to know more by yourself. Incha Allah we will continue next time. In the mean time try to put into practice the different advices that I have been giving you.