praising Him for them, declaring Him free of everything unbefitting Him by glorifying Him, submitting to Him by proclaiming His greatness, and acknowledging before Him his inability to do anything except with His aid—Allah has promised that when such a person supplicates to Him, He will answer him, and when he prays, his prayer will be accepted. Whoever learns of this hadith should seize the opportunity to act upon it and sincerely devote his intention to his Lord—Glorified is He.”1 End quote.
The words in the hadith, “Whoever awakens during the night,” mean: whoever wakes from sleep at night.
The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—began these phrases with the declaration of monotheism, “There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah,” emphasizing its meaning and all that it signifies by saying, “alone, without partner.” This is because “There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah” comprises two great pillars: negation and affirmation. The negation is expressed in the words, “There is no deity,” which deny that anyone besides Allah is entitled to worship; and the affirmation is expressed in the words, “except Allah,” which affirm that worship in all its forms belongs to Allah—Glorious and Majestic.
He further emphasized these two principles by saying, “alone, without partner.” The word “alone” reinforces the affirmation, while “without partner” reinforces the negation.
This demonstrates the importance of monotheism, of beginning with it and giving it precedence over everything else, and of taking particular care to understand its meaning, fulfill what it signifies, and put its requirements into practice.
He then said, “All dominion and praise belong to Him, and He has power over all things.” These are proofs and evidences of monotheism. The One who alone is entitled to pure monotheistic worship is the Sovereign of all dominion, the One deserving of all praise, and the One who has power over all things. None besides Him deserves any share of worship: “Say, ‘Call upon those whom you claim to be deities besides Allah. They possess not even an atom’s weight in the heavens or on earth, nor do they have any share in either, nor does He have any helper from among them.’” 2.