THE FIRST PRINCIPLE

So if it is said to you: 'Who is your Lord?' Then say: 'My Lord is Allaah, who has nurtured me and all of creation with His favours and blessings, He is the one whom I worship, and there is no other whom I worship besides Him.' The proof is the Saying of Allaah, the Most High:

'All praise is for Allaah, the Lord of all creation.' [Soorah al-Faatihah (1):1]

Everything besides Allaah is a created being and I am one of the creation.

So if it is said to you: 'How did you arrive at this knowledge of your Lord?' Then say: 'Through His signs and those things which he has created; and from his signs are the night and the day, the sun and the moon; and from that which He has created are the seven heavens, and the seven earths, and all those from within them, and whatever is between them.' The proof is the Saying of Allaah, the Most High:

'And from His signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. Do not prostrate to the sun, nor the moon, but prostrate to Allaah who created them, if you truly worship Him.' [Soorah Fussilat (41):37]

And His, the Most High's Saying:

'Your Lord is Allaah who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then ascended upon the Throne. He causes the night to cover the day which follows with haste; and the sun, the moon and the stars are sub-servient and subject to His command. Certainly creation and commandment are His alone. Exalted is Allaah the Lord of all creation.' [Soorah al-A'raaf (7):54]

The Lord is the one who is worshipped, and the proof is the Saying of Allaah, the Most High,

'O mankind, single out your Lord with all worship; He who created you and all those who came before you, so that you may be of those who seek to avoid Allaah's anger and punishment, those whom Allaah is pleased with. He who has made the earth a resting place for you and has made the sky a canopy, and sent down rain from the sky, and brought out with it crops and fruits from the earth as provision for you. So do not set up rivals with Allaah in your worship whilst you know that you have no Lord besides Him.' [Soorah al-Baqarah (2):21-22]

Ibn Katheer, rahimahullaah, said:

'The creator of these things is the One Who deserves to be worshipped.' [1]

All the types of worship which Allaah commanded - like Islaam (submission and obedience to Allaah), eemaan (true Faith comprising belief of the heart, speech of the tongue and action of the limbs), and ihsaan (perfection of worship), and from that is invocation/supplication (du'aa), reverential fear (khawf), hope and longing (rajaa), trust and reliance (tawakkul), fervent desire (radhbah), dread (rahbah), reverence and humility (khushoo'), awe (khashyah), turning repentantly (inaabah), appealing for aid and assistance (isti'aanah), seeking refuge (isti'aadhah), seeking deliverance and rescue (istighaathah), sacrificing (dhabh), vows (nadhr) and the rest of the types of worship commanded by Allaah, all of them are to be done exclusively for Allaah, the Most High. The proof for this is the Saying of Him, the Most High:

'And the places of Prayer are for Allaah alone, so do not invoke anyone along with Allaah.' [Soorah al-Jinn (72):18]

Anyone who directs any part of that to anything besides Allaah, then he is a mushrik (associationist), an unbeliever (kaafir), and the proof is the Saying of Him, the Most High,

'And whoever worships along with Allaah any other object of worship has no proof for that; his reckoning will be with his Lord. Indeed the unbelievers will never prosper.' [Soorah al-Mu'minoon (23):117]

In the hadeeth there occurs:

'Invocation is the core of worship.' [2]

And the evidence for this is the Saying of Allaah, the Most High:

'Your Lord says: O people, invoke Me and supplicate to Me making your worship sincerely for Me alone, and I will answer you, and pardon you and have mercy upon you. Indeed those who disdain to worship Me alone will enter Hell-Fire in disgrace.' [Soorah Ghaafir (40):60]

The evidence for reverential fear (khawf) is the Saying of Allaah, the Most High:

'So do not fear them, but fear Me and beware of disobeying Me, if you are truly Believers.' [Soorah Aal-'Imraan (3):175]

The evidence for hope and longing (ar-rajaa) is the Saying of Allaah the Most High:

'So whoever hopes to see his Lord and be rewarded by Him, then let him make his worship correct and purely and sincerely for Him; and let him not make any share of it for anyone other than Him.' [Soorah al-Kahf (18):110]

The evidence for trust and reliance (at-tawakkul) is the Saying of Allaah, the Most High,

'And place your reliance and trust in Allaah if you are true Believers.' [Soorah al-Maa'idah (5):23]

And He said:

'And whoever places his reliance and trust in Allaah then He will suffice him.' [Soorah at-Talaaq (65):3]

The evidence for the fervent desire (ar-raghbah), dread (ar-rahbah) and reverence and humility (al-khushoo') is the Saying of Allaah, the Most High:

'They used to hasten to acts of devotion and obedience to Allaah, and they used to worship Allaah upon love and desire, and upon fear, and were reverent and humble before Allaah.' [Soorah al-Anbiyaa' (21):90]

The evidence for awe/dread (al-khashyah) is the Saying of Allaah, the Most High:

'So do not have awe of them, but have awe of Me.' [Soorah al-Baqarah (2):150]

The evidence for turning repentantly (al-inaabah) is the Saying of Allaah, the Most High:

'So turn, O you people, repentantly and obediently to your Lord, and submit obediently to Him.' [Soorah az-Zumar (39):54]

The evidence for appealing for aid and assistance (al-isti'aanah) is the Saying of Allaah, the Most High:

'O Allaah, You alone we worship, and to You alone we appeal for aid.' [Soorah al-Faatihah (1):5]

And in the hadeeth there occurs:

'If you seek help, then seek the help of Allaah.' [Reported by at-Tirmidhee and declared Saheeh by Shaykh al-Albaanee in al-Mishkaat (no. 5302)]

The evidence for seeking refuge (al-isti'aadhah) is the Saying of Allaah, the Most High:

'Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the dawn.' [Soorah al-Falaq (113):1]

And:

'Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of mankind.' [Soorah an-Naas (114):1]

The evidence for seeking deliverance and rescue (al-istighaathah) is the Saying of Allaah, the Most High:

'When you sought aid and deliverance of your Lord and He responded to you.' [Soorah al-Anfaal (8):9]

The evidence for sacrificing (adh-Dhabh) is the Saying of Allaah, the Most High:

'Say (O Muhammad sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam): Indeed my Prayer, my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are all purely and solely for Allaah, Lord of all creation. There is no share of any of that for other than him.' [Soorah al-An'aam (6):162-163]

Also the Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) said:

'Allaah has cursed anyone who sacrifices for other than Allaah.' [Reported by Muslim (Eng. transl. 3/1093-1094/no. 4876)]

The evidence for vows (an-nadhr) is the Saying of Allaah, the Most High:

'They fulfil their vows and they fear a day whose evil is widespread.' [Soorah al-Insaan (76):7]