To Seek the Help of Other than Allah is Shirk

Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, says:

"Do not call onto any beings other than Allah. These are capable of neither benefit nor harm. To do so is therefore guilty of wrongdoing. When Allah inverts you with an affliction, none can remove it except Him."

"Seek your livelihood from Him and worship Him alone."

"Who is more foolish than he who prays to other beings than Allah, to beings who are ever impotent to answer his prayer?"

"Is He not Allah Who answers the appeal of the needy when he calls upon Him and removes the deed?"

At-Tabarani reported, with respective isnad: At the time of the Prophet there was a hypocrite who rendered so much harm to the believers that some of them summoned the others to seek the help of the Prophet against him. When the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, heard of it, he said, "No man may seek my help. Only the help of Allah is worthy of being sought."

Issues addressed in this chapter

1. Adding prayers for the specific purposes to the general prayer of recoursing for help is like adding the particular to the general;
2. Explanation of the verse, "Do not call onto any beings other than Allah. These are capable of neither benefit nor harm ..." [Al-Qur'an 10:106];
3. To do this is the greatest form of shirk;
4. To this by even the most righteous and for totally altruistic purposes is nonetheless an act of wrong-doing;
5. Explanation of the verse that follows (viz. "When Allah invests you with an affliction ..." [Al-Qur'an 10:107]);
6. That, in addition to being blasphemous, recoursing to other than Allah will not avail in this world;
7. Explanation of the third verse (viz. "Seek your livelihood from Him ..." [Al-Qur'an 29:17]);
8. Prayer for livelihood may never be addressed to anyone besides Allah. Similarly prayer for paradise,
9. Explanation of the fourth verse (viz. "Who is more foolish ..." [Al-Qur'an 46:5]);
10. That nobody is more astray than he who recourses to other than Allah;
11. That the called is ignorant of the prayer of the caller;
12. Such prayer even causes hatred to develop between the caller and the called;
13. Calling to anyone is a kind of worship of the person called;
14. Blasphemy of such worship;
15. All these matters make the calling person the most foolish of all;
16. Explanation of the fifth verse [viz. "Who answers the appeal of the needy ..." [Al-Qur'an 27:62]);
17. The really amazing fact is that idolaters do admit that none responds to the needy except Allah; and for this reason; they too call on Him sincerely when they are in distress; and
18. The Prophet's protection of tawhid and discipline before Allah.

Sadly in this day and age there are many who call upon those other than Allah. For anyone living in the Indian subcontinent it becomes apparent that there is much grave worshipping - supposedly under the name of Islam. When a person goes to visit a dead person, often someone who is considered more pious than they are, and ask them for something or to approach Allah on their behalf, they commit some degree of shirk, for it is Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, alone who has the ability to listen and respond to prayers - and He, subhanahu wa ta'ala, does as He, subhanahu wa ta'ala, wills, and may He make things easy for all, amin.

In the words of Hud, alayhis-salam, the Messenger to the People of 'Ad:

"I put my trust in Allah my Lord and your Lord! There is not a moving creature but He hath grasp of its forelock. Verily it is my Lord that is on a Straight Path."

Therefore our trust and our intentions and our actions should be to Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, alone.

I was wondering about why any of us do good deeds. Some say that we do them to please others, e.g. I help a friend with some work in class. Others give other reasons, and Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, knows best. But when I considered this, and thought about it, effectively what any of us should be doing, whether it is kindness to a partner, to a friend, family member whoever, we do these things, to please Allah. To me the wise person is the one who recognises this, and whenever they act they do not do it for themselves, or to show of - so it could be said of them - rather they do it because this life is in essence a worship of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, and part of worshipping Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, is to keep good relations, and to help one another in whatever way we are able.

The greatest task however is that of pride and arrogance, that all of us face. Usually when we help someone, we feel good for doing it. That in itself is a very powerful rewards, however none of us should become big headed, and we should always remember that everything that we do do in this world should be as a preparation for the hereafter. And there is no better way to navigate this world that by remembering our Creator and attempting to live our lives as best we can in accordance to the laws He, subhanahu wa ta'ala, ordained for us, and may Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, make it easy for us all.

There are a couple of duas that are important for us:

O Ever Living, O Self Sustaining, by Your mercy I call for help. Set right my affairs completely and do not entrust me to myself even for the wink of an eye

O Allah make sufficient for me what you have made lawful so that I may avoid that which is unlawful. And make me self sufficient by your favour, free from need of anyone but you.

In both of the above examples, we are seeking refuge in Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, we are asking Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, to have mercy upon us, and we are asking Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, to guide us, and provide for us. And surely as written in the following:

"O ye who believe! when ye meet a force be firm and call Allah in remembrance much (and often); that ye may prosper."

"Say: 'He is my Lord! There is no god but He! On Him is my trust and to Him do I turn!' "

 From Kitab At-Tawhid