The Meaning of “إياك نستعين”

Seeking assistance is general in all matters; we seek our Lord’s help in performing good deeds and refraining from evil. This is an observance of etiquette, for we do not say, “Help us because we worship You,” but rather we mention the means of worship as a form of indirect expression. Likewise, our saying, “وإياك نستعين” is another means, for singling out Allah for worship and seeking assistance is among the greatest means of drawing close to Him. A condition of supplication is that one should exhaust all that is within his capability and then turn to his Lord.
I say: This is the general view of the exegetes regarding the meaning of seeking assistance from Allah. However, what occurs to my mind is that seeking assistance from Allah specifically means seeking assistance through prayer. The evidence for this is what was mentioned concerning the Children of Israel:
﴿ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِ ٱسْتَعِينُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱصْبِرُوٓا۟ ﴾
“Moses said to his people, ‘Seek help through Allah and be patient’” (Surah Al-A‘raf 7:128).
The same command was given to the Children of Israel but with a substitution—seeking help through Allah was replaced with seeking help through prayer:
﴿ وَٱسْتَعِينُوا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِ ۚ ﴾
“And seek help through patience and prayer.” (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:45).
In another verse, it is stated:
﴿ وَأَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَىٰ مُوسَىٰ وَأَخِيهِ أَن تَبَوَّءَا لِقَوْمِكُمَا بِمِصْرَ بُيُوتًۭا وَٱجْعَلُوا۟ بُيُوتَكُمْ قِبْلَةًۭ وَأَقِيمُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ ﴾
“And We inspired Moses and his brother: ‘Settle your people in houses in Egypt and make your houses places of worship and establish prayer.’” (Surah Yunus 10:87).
Thus, their seeking help from Allah was in reality their establishment of prayer. There is no doubt that the greatest means of seeking assistance from Allah is through prayer.
Following the pattern of the Children of Israel, this Ummah was commanded to seek assistance from Allah through the words “وإياك نستعين”. Then, in certain places, this was substituted with seeking help through prayer, as in:
﴿ يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱسْتَعِينُوا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِ ۚ ﴾
“O you who have believed, seek help through patience and prayer.” (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:153).
From the apparent meaning of the Book of Allah, seeking assistance from Him means seeking assistance through prayer. The stories of the prophets, peace be upon them, testify to this meaning. When Zakariya intended to ask his Lord for righteous offspring, he turned to prayer:
﴿ فَنَادَتْهُ ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةُ وَهُوَ قَآئِمٌۭ يُصَلِّى فِى ٱلْمِحْرَابِ ﴾
“So the angels called him while he was standing in prayer in the sanctuary.” (Surah Aal ‘Imran 3:39).
This same meaning is indicated in the stories of Ibrahim, Isma‘il, Ya‘qub, Yusuf, Musa, and Maryam, peace be upon them all.
Our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, whenever he was distressed by a matter, would turn to prayer. Ahmad and Abu Dawud narrated from Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: “Whenever the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was troubled by a matter, he would pray.” Likewise, it is narrated from Suhayb (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “The prophets, whenever they were alarmed, would seek refuge in prayer.”
One might say: Does “إياك نعبد” not already include prayer? If so, does interpreting seeking assistance as prayer result in repetition? I say: Yes, but this repetition falls under the rhetorical device of mentioning the specific after the general, which has many examples in the Qur’an. One such example, similar to this case, is:
﴿ إِنَّنِىٓ أَنَا ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّآ أَنَا۠ فَٱعْبُدْنِى وَأَقِمِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ لِذِكْرِىٓ ﴾
“Indeed, I am Allah. There is no deity except Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance.” (Surah Ta-Ha 20:14).

Here, worship was commanded in general, followed by a specific command to establish prayer.
One of the names of Surah Al-Fatiha is “Surah of Prayer”, which affirms this meaning. Thus, the meaning of “إياك نستعين” is: “We pray to You,” which is a response to His command:
﴿ فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ ﴾
“So pray to your Lord.” (Surah Al-Kawthar 108:2),
and corresponds to the meaning of:
﴿ وَإِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ فَٱرْغَب ﴾
“And to your Lord direct your longing.” (Surah Al-Sharh 94:7).
Many of the righteous predecessors interpreted longing toward Allah as referring to prayer. And Allah knows best.
[Translated by AI]
[Source: https://t.me/DrAkramNadwi/5834]
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