And acknowledging Allah’s exclusive right to worship encompasses one of the two kinds of supplication, for the true deity is the One worthy of being invoked through worship and through petition. That is Allah; there is no deity worthy of worship except Him.

The words:

“I have indeed been among the wrongdoers”

are an admission of sin, which implicitly includes a request for forgiveness. A person seeking something may ask explicitly, or may express the request as a statement describing his own condition, the attributes of the One being asked, or both. An example is the statement of Noah, peace be upon him:

“My Lord, I seek refuge in You from asking You about that of which I have no knowledge. Unless You forgive me and have mercy upon me, I will be among the losers.”

This is not phrased as a request. Rather, it is a statement concerning Allah: unless He forgives him and has mercy upon him, he will be lost. Yet this statement implicitly includes a request for forgiveness. The words of Adam, peace be upon him, belong to the same category:

“Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and unless You forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers.”

Another example is the statement of Moses, peace be upon him:

“My Lord, I am truly in need of whatever good You send down to me.”

This describes his condition: he is in need of whatever good Allah sends down to him. It implicitly includes a request that Allah send good down to him.

Al-Tirmidhī and others narrated that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“If reciting the Quran keeps someone from remembering Me and asking of Me, I will give him better than what I give those who ask.”

Al-Tirmidhī narrated it and said, “It is a good hadith.” Mālik ibn al-Huwayrith also narrated it, with the wording:

“If remembering Me keeps someone from asking of Me, I will give him better than what I give those who ask.”