—namely, worshipping none but Him, and worshipping Him only through obedience to Him and His Messenger. Whoever is mindful of this when he says,

“There is no god worthy of worship but You,”

is worshipping Allah and relying upon Him, and is complying with His words:

“So worship Him and rely upon Him”;

“Upon Him I rely, and to Him I turn”;

“Remember the name of your Lord, and devote yourself entirely to Him”;

“Lord of the east and the west; there is no god worthy of worship but Him, so take Him as the Disposer of your affairs.”

If what he seeks is forbidden, he incurs sin even if his need is met. If he seeks something permissible without intending to use it to help him obey and worship Allah, he incurs neither sin nor reward. But if he seeks something that will help him obey and worship Allah, intending to use it for that purpose, he earns reward.

This is one of the distinctions between the servant-messenger and his successors, on the one hand, and the prophet-king, on the other. Our Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was given the choice of being a prophet-king or a servant-messenger, and he chose to be a servant-messenger.

The servant-messenger does only what he is commanded to do, so all his actions are worship of Allah. He is wholly a servant, carrying out the commands of the One who sent him. Thus, it is authentically reported from him in Sahīh al-Bukhārī that he said:

“By Allah, I give nothing to anyone, nor do I withhold anything from anyone. I am only a distributor, placing it where I am commanded.”

By saying, “I give nothing to anyone, nor do I withhold,” he did not mean that Allah alone determines this through His decree and governance of creation, for all created beings share this condition: no one gives or withholds except by Allah’s decree and predestination. Rather, he meant that Allah alone directs this through His religious law. That is, I give only to those whom I have been commanded