Asalaam
alaikum Warahmatulah Wabarakatuh.
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
Thee (alone) we worship; and Thee (alone) we ask for help. (al-Fatiha 1: 5)
The
most fundamental aspect of Islam is that of Tauhid
- the oneness of Allah (swt). Nothing
else is as important as this one concept. It thus the main theme of
the Quran and this ayah makes
an indirect reference to it.
A
normal Arabic
sentence might be:
"Kataba
Muhammad
al-Darsa"
- Muhammad wrote the lesson.
In
this sentence the first
word is the verb (to write) the
second
one is the doer (Muhammad) and
the last
word is the object (the lesson). So
in normal Arabic sentence structure the verb comes first and then the
object.
But
in the ayah above
the positions of the two are reversed: the object (Iyyaaka
- You) is
mentioned first and then
the verb (Na'budu
- we
worship) second. And there is
profound wisdom in this subtle difference.
In
the normal sentence structure; it is possible to add on more objects
after the first. For example one could say: 'We
worship
the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost.' [notice
that these objects came after the words; 'We Worship...']
But
when the Object is
placed first
before the action/verb, all
attention is payed to that alone
and nothing else. That is why the
translation is given as "Thee
(alone)
do we worship" even though
the word "alone"
is nowhere mentioned in the Arabic of the ayah/verse.
So
even the phrasing of the sentence has an effect on the meaning
and it is here an allusion to the supreme Oneness of Allah, and the
worship of Him alone.