to entrust all affairs to Him, and to disclaim any might or power except through Him. For this reason, Allah made it an act of worship for His servants to remember Him with this mighty phrase, which is one of the great gates of Paradise and one of its treasures.

It is a mighty phrase signifying that help must be sought sincerely from Allah alone, just as the declaration of monotheism, “There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah,” signifies that worship must be devoted sincerely to Allah alone. “There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah” cannot be truly fulfilled unless all worship is devoted sincerely to Allah, and “There is no might or power except through Allah” cannot be truly fulfilled unless all help is sought sincerely from Allah. Allah has joined these two matters together in Surah al-Fātihah, the finest surah in the Quran, in His words:

“You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.”

The first is a repudiation of associating partners with Allah, while the second is a disavowal of all might and power and an entrusting of affairs to Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Worship pertains to Allah’s divinity, whereas seeking help pertains to His lordship. Worship is the goal, and seeking help is the means. There is no way to attain that tremendous goal except through this means: seeking help from Allah, without whom there is neither might nor power. Hence, anyone who uses this phrase outside its proper context or for a purpose other than that intended is mistaken. Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said: “This phrase—that is, ‘There is no might or power except through Allah’—is a phrase for seeking help, not the declaration recited upon calamity. Many people say it when calamities befall them in place of that declaration, uttering it out of anguish rather than patience.”1

The righteous early generations’ understanding of this mighty phrase centered on the meaning just indicated. Ibn Abī Hātim related in his Tafsīr from Ibn Abbās—may