and the Messiah and Ezra. Allah said:
“Those whom you invoke fear Allah, hope in Him, and seek nearness to Him, just as you yourselves fear Him, hope in Him, and seek nearness to Him.”
Allah Most High said:
“When harm befalls you at sea, all those you invoke vanish from your thoughts except Him.”
And He said:
“Who responds to the distressed when they call upon Him, removes their suffering, and makes you successors on earth? Is there another god besides Allah?”
And He said:
“Those who do not invoke another god besides Allah, do not kill the soul Allah has forbidden except by right, and do not commit adultery.”
The Quran speaks extensively of affirming Allah’s oneness and devoting religion sincerely to Him by worshipping Him and seeking His help. Indeed, this is the heart of faith and the beginning and end of Islam. As the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
“I have been commanded to fight people until they testify that none is worthy of worship but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.”
And he said:
“I know a declaration which no one utters at the time of death without his soul finding comfort in it.”
And he said:
“Whoever’s last words are ‘None is worthy of worship but Allah’ is assured of Paradise.”
This is the heart of religion and faith; all other deeds are like its limbs. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
“Deeds are judged only by intentions, and each person will have only what they intended. Whoever migrates to Allah and His Messenger, their migration is to Allah and His Messenger. Whoever migrates for some worldly gain or to marry a woman, their migration is to whatever they migrated for.”
He thereby made clear that intention is an act of the heart and the foundation of deeds. Devoting religion sincerely to Allah, worshipping Allah alone, and following the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, in what he brought constitute the testimony that none is worthy of worship but Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.
For this reason, we objected to Shaykh Yahyā al-Sarsarī’s appeals to the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, for relief in his poems praising him, such as his words:
“To you I appeal for relief; your help I seek, and your rescue I implore.”
And other expressions of this kind.