He Most High also says:
“Say, ‘Invoke those you claim besides Allah.’ They do not possess an atom’s weight in the heavens or on earth, nor do they have any share in either, nor does He have any helper among them.”
“Intercession does not benefit anyone with Him except one whom He permits.”
He Most High also says:
“Say, ‘Invoke those you claim besides Him.’ They have no power to remove harm from you or to transfer it elsewhere.”
“Those whom they invoke themselves seek a means of nearness to their Lord, striving to be the closest. They hope for His mercy and fear His punishment. Indeed, the punishment of your Lord is something to beware of.”
He Most High also says:
“Do not invoke another god alongside Allah. There is no deity worthy of worship except Him. Everything will perish except His Face. His is the judgement, and to Him you will be returned.”
He Most High also says:
“Put your trust in the Ever-Living, who never dies, and glorify Him with praise. He is sufficient as One fully aware of His servants’ sins.”
“He who created the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them”—to the end of the verse.
He Most High also says:
“They were commanded only to worship Allah with sincere devotion to Him, upright in faith, to establish prayer and to give zakah”—to the end of the verse.
There are many similar passages in the Quran, as there are in the hadiths. This is likewise affirmed by the consensus of the Muslim community, particularly its people of knowledge and faith. For them, this is the very axis around which religion revolves, as indeed it is.
We shall explain this from several perspectives, first setting out an introduction. The servant—indeed, every living being, and even every created thing other than Allah—is dependent and needs to obtain what benefits it and ward off what harms it. For a living being, benefit consists in bliss and pleasure, while harm consists in pain and torment.
It therefore requires two things:
The first is the desired, intended and beloved object from which it derives benefit and pleasure.
The second is the helper who brings it to that intended end and secures it, and who prevents the averting of what is disliked.
These are the two distinct things: the agent and the end. Thus, there are four things here:
The first is something beloved whose existence is sought.