Tafsir of Al-Fatihah 1:5

The effects of this manifestation [tajalli] are: the obedience of the physical bodies through worship, the obedience of the satanic soul by seeking help [isti'ana], the [obedience of] the ferocious [sabu'iyyah] nature by seeking guidance [hidayah], and [the obedience of] the animalistic [bahimiyyah] nature by seeking steadfastness [istiqamah]. The holy spirit [al-ruh al-qudsiyyah] becomes humble and thus presents itself to be delivered to the exalted, purified spirits. Furthermore, the pillars of Islam are five: the Testimony [Shahadah] is from the lights of the manifestation of Allah; the Prayer [Salah] is from the lights of the manifestation of the Lord [al-Rabb]; giving Zakat is from the lights of the manifestation of the All-Merciful [al-Rahman]; fasting Ramadan is from the lights of the manifestation of the Bestower of Mercy [al-Rahim]; and the Pilgrimage [Hajj] is from the lights of the manifestation of the Master of the Day of Judgment [Malik Yawm al-Din]. It is as if for this reason, [this verse] was requested in the Prayer, which is the pillar.

When the praise reached its absolute limit, the Exalted said: "You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help." Iyya (إيا) is, according to the well-known view, a detached accusative pronoun, and the suffixes are letters added to clarify the state. It is said that they are nouns to which it is appended; it is said the pronoun is the suffixes themselves and iyya is a support; it is said the pronoun is the totality; it is said iyya is an ambiguous manifestation appended to the suffixes. Abu Ubaydah claimed it is derived [from a root], which is an amazing ignorance, and the investigation of this is exhaustive in the science of grammar. It has come as wayyaka (وياك) with the hamza turned into a waw, though I do not know if this is from the reciters or from the Arabs. Amr ibn Fa'idah recited from Abu [Amr] iyyaka (إياك) with a kasra on the hamza and lightening of the ya. Abu al-Fadl al-Raqashi [recited] ayyaka (أياك) with a fatha on the hamza and shadda. Abu al-Siwar al-Ghanawi [recited] hayyaka (هياك) by replacing the hamza with a ha in both kasra and fatha states. The majority [recited] iyyaka (إياك) with kasra and shadda.

Worship [ibadah] is the highest rank of submission. It is not permissible, legally or intellectually, to perform it except for Allah, the Exalted, because He is the only one worthy of it, being the Giver of the greatest blessings—life, existence, and their concomitants. For this reason, prostration to other than Him, the Exalted, is forbidden, because placing the most noble of members [the forehead] upon the lowliest of things—the earth, which is trodden by feet and sandals—is the ultimate degree of submission. It is said that it is not used except in submission to Him, the Exalted. What has appeared in such expressions as His saying, "Indeed, you and what you worship other than Allah," is directed at their [the idolaters'] claims, as a reproach to them and a proclamation of their stupidity. It is used in the sense of obedience, as in "That you do not worship Satan"; in the sense of supplication, as in "Indeed, those who are arrogant toward My worship [will enter Hell]"; and in the sense of monotheism, as in "I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me." All these are close in meaning.

Some researchers have mentioned that it has three degrees:

1. One worships Allah, the Exalted, out of desire for His reward or fear of His punishment. This is specific to the name of the "Ascetic" [Zahid], as he turns away from following the world and its pleasures, coveting what is more permanent and noble. This is a lower rank among the People of Allah, and it is called Ibadah.
2. One worships Allah, the Exalted, for the honor of His worship, or for accepting His obligations, or for the attribution to Him. This is a middle rank and is called Ubudiyyah.
3. One worships Allah, the Exalted, for His inherent worthiness, without looking to himself in any way whatsoever, and nothing dictates it except submission and humility. This is the highest rank and is called Ubudah. To this refers the words of the one praying: "I pray to Allah, the Exalted." For if he said, "I pray for His reward, for instance, or for the honor of His worship," his prayer would be spoiled.

Isti'ana is seeking aid, and the ya of its verb is converted from a waw. The Determinists [Jabriyyah] and the Free-Willers [Qadariyyah] have clung to this verse. As for the Jabriyyah, they said: "If the servant were independent, there would be no benefit in seeking aid for the action." As for the Qadariyyah, they said: "The request is only sound if the servant were capable in the root of the action, so he seeks aid from another. If he were not capable of it, there would be no benefit in seeking aid."

Nasir al-Milla wa al-Din al-Baydawi—may Allah whiten the face of his proof—indicated through an explanation of "aid" that there is no grip for either party in this, where he said: "It [aid] is either necessary or otherwise. The necessary [aid] is that without which the action cannot take place, such as the agent's ability, his conception, and the obtainment of the tool and material with which the action is performed. When these are gathered, it is valid to describe the person as having capacity and it is valid to hold him accountable for the action. The non-necessary [aid] is obtaining what makes the action easy and smooth, such as a mount for a journey for one capable of walking, or what draws the agent toward the action and encourages him to do it. This category is not what the validity of accountability depends upon." He concluded.

The essence of this is that seeking aid is a request for what enables the servant to perform the action or makes it easier for him; neither of these necessitates Determinism nor [human] Power. In my view, if the verse is used to argue for anything regarding the debate on the creation of actions, it should be used to argue that servants possess effects-producing powers [qadran mu'athirah] by the permission of Allah, not by independence—which is what I firmly believe—not that they have no power at all, like the movement of a trembling person, as the Jabriyyah say, since necessity refutes it. Nor that they have power that produces no effect at all, like a paralyzed hand, as is the common doctrine of the Ash'arites, since that is, in the end, the same as the saying of the Jabriyyah—for what is the difference between a power that has no effect and the total absence of power, except what is like a mirage in a lowland which the thirsty one counts as water until, when he reaches it, he finds it to be nothing? Nor that they have a power independent in actions with which they do what they will, so that Allah wills what the servant does not do, and the servant does what Allah does not will, as the Mu'tazilah say, since the categorical texts refute this, as you will hear, if Allah wills.

The mode of reasoning is that "You alone we worship" points to the occurrence of the action from the servants, and that demands a power with which the creation occurs. One who has no power, or has a power that has no entry into creation, is not told "create!" And the validity of this, by way of Kasb [acquisition], no matter how it is interpreted, is not satisfying to the fair-minded, intelligent person. His saying "and You alone we ask for help" indicates the negation of independence in it, and that it is by the permission of Allah and His aid, as pointed to by "There is no power and no strength except by Allah." This is the pure milk that comes from between dung and blood; there is neither Determinism [Jabr] nor Delegation [Tafwid]. So memorize this and await its completion. If this were the place for speech, my heart would be quenched, but there are places for talk.