‘O Allah, this is from You and for You.’” Whatever is not through Allah cannot come to be, for there is no might or power except through Allah; and whatever is not through Allah brings no benefit and does not endure.

Worship of Him requires two fundamental principles: the first is to devote one’s religion sincerely to Him; the second is to conform to His command, with which He sent His messengers.

For this reason, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb, may Allah be pleased with him, used to say in his supplication:

“O Allah, make all my deeds righteous, make them sincerely devoted to seeking Your Face, and let no one else have any share in them.”

Regarding Allah Most High’s words,

“that He may test you as to which of you is best in deed,”

al-Fudayl ibn ‘Iyād said, “The most sincere and the most correct.” They asked, “O Abū ‘Alī, what does ‘the most sincere and the most correct’ mean?” He replied:

“If a deed is sincere but not correct, it will not be accepted. If it is correct but not sincere, it will not be accepted until it is both sincere and correct. Sincerity means that it is done for Allah, and correctness means that it accords with the Sunnah.”

For this reason, Allah censured the polytheists in the Quran for following what their partners had prescribed for them in religion without Allah’s permission: worshipping others besides Him and engaging in religious practices He had not prescribed. As Allah Most High says:

“Or do they have partners who have prescribed for them in religion what Allah has not authorized?”

He likewise censured them for prohibiting what Allah had not prohibited. The true religion is that nothing is forbidden except what Allah has forbidden, and nothing belongs to religion except what He has prescribed.

People fall into four categories with respect to worshipping Him and seeking His help: