Adaptation and Translation by Abul Aamaal Misbaah Olagunju
And know, that Ibaadah is of two types:
Ibaadah Kawniyyah (Cosmic form of worship): It is the universal submission to the command of Allah the exalted, and this form of worship extensively involves all creations with non exempted from it. Due to His statement, the exalted:
إِنْ كُلُّ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ إِلَّا آتِي الرَّحْمَٰنِ عَبْدًا
"There is none in the heavens and the earth but comes unto the Most Beneficent (Allah) as a slave" - Mar'yam: 93
And that is inclusive of the believer and the kaafir, likewise the pious and the corrupt.
Ibaadah Shar'eeyah (Legislative form of worship): It is the submission to the legislated commands of Allah, and this is specific to whoever obeys Allah the exalted and follows what the Prophet —Allah raise his rank and grant him peace—, came with. An example is in the statement of Allah:
وَعِبَادُ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الَّذِينَ يَمْشُونَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ هَوْنًا وَإِذَا خَاطَبَهُمُ الْجَاهِلُونَ قَالُوا سَلَامًا
"And the slaves of the Most Beneficent (Allah) are those who walk on the earth in humility and sedateness" - Al-Furqaan: 63
As for the first type (Ibaadah Kawniyyah) man does not get praised for it because it is not his doing however, he is praised for what occurs from him in forms of thankfulness in times of ease and patience over affliction, this is in contrast to the second type (Ibaadah Shar'eeyah), he is appreciated for it.
Conceptualizing more kinds of Ibaadah Shar'eeyah (Legislative form of worship)
Ad-Du'aa - Supplication, Invocation, Prayer, Call
وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ
And your Lord said: "Invoke Me, [i.e. believe in My Oneness (Islamic Monotheism)] (and ask Me for anything) I will respond to your (invocation). Verily! Those who scorn My worship [i.e. do not invoke Me, and do not believe in My Oneness, (Islamic Monotheism)] they will surely enter Hell in humiliation!" - Ghaafir: 60
Ad-Du'aa, that which is mas'alah (in form of request), and that which is ibaadah (in form of worship as in salah) are both from the rights of Allah in Uluuhiyyah, and they are to be directed to Him alone.
Tawheed in your Du'aa is that you obey Allah and invoke Him alone as He commanded whenever in need, as He is the one free of all needs, generous and able to grant your request, and supplicate to Him in anticipation of His rewards and fearing His punishment.
Shirk in this aspect of worship is that you call on any other than Allah along with Him, dead or alive, living or non-living, who are unable to grant your request because they are incapable or absent and unreachable, and also your devotion towards deities who are incapable of rewarding you for your worship.
Al-Isti'aanah - Seeking Aid, Help, or Assistance; Al-Istighāthah - Calling for Relief in distress, Calling for Rescue from danger
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
"You (alone) we worship and with you alone we seek help" - Al-Faatihah: 5
وَإِنْ يَمْسَسْكَ اللَّهُ بِضُرٍّ فَلَا كَاشِفَ لَهُ إِلَّا هُوَ
"And if Allah touches you with hardship non can relieve you of it except Him" - Al-An'am: 17
Al-Isti'ānah and Al-Istighāthah, all forms of it, other than seeking aid or relief with others in their presence regarding that which is within their capacities, are also from the rights due to Allah alone.
Tawheed in Istihānah and Istighāthah is that you affirm for Allah alone, the ability to aid in weakness and relieve in distress. Such that you turn only to Him for help in helplessness and clamour only to Him in hardship.
Shirk (Polytheism) in these aspects of worship is that you hold other than Allah equipped and able to aid you in the affairs they are logically incapable, and to call on to other than Him in absentia for rescue when in danger. And your seeking aid in evil, or rescue from the huduud (legislated punishments) is not permissible
Instances of these are numerous: your prayers to your dead for aid in your worldly affairs, your calling on to your Shaykh for rescue in fright, your seeking relief with the angels and the jinns during hardship, as well as your seeking assistance in sinning.
And who is more astray than those who call upon that which can never respond till the day of resurrection? The true believer knows that hardship is from the procurement of the injustice he did his soul and that non relieves from it except the One who touched him with it (Allah), so he seeks it with Him and turn only to Him for help, the oft-Forgiving, most Beneficent.
Al-Isti'ādhah - Taking Refuge, Seeking Harbour, Haven, Sanctuary
فٱستعذ بالله إنه هو السميع البسير
Then seek refuge in Allah, He is the All-Hearer All-Seer
Al-Isti'ādhah, all forms of it, are also from the aspects of Uluuhiyyah (worship) due to Allah alone, and employing means in this is not nullified except when faith is connected to it.
Tawheed in Isti'ādhah is that you acknowledge that there is no haven away from Allah and affirm for Him alone, the ability to avert the evils created with His creations and the ones they perpetrate.
Shirk (polytheism) in this aspect of worship is that you seek sanctuary and feel secure with the created while they are indeed incapable of securing their souls from their very selves if Allah intends for them to self destruct!
Instances where you err in these are: your adoption of charms and amulets to secure yourself and your properties, your seeking of sanctuaries with jinns and sorcerers for your children, your reliance on security detail as guardian angels...
The one who adopts a protector aside Allah has done his soul a great injustice, the believer is wise, so he seeks refuge with the creator who has complete knowledge of His creation; the evils created with them, and those they are capable of perpetrating, Al-Aalim the most Knowledgeable, Al-Muhaymin the Guardian
Adapted from:
Sharhu ath-Thalaathat al-Usuul l-ibn al-Uthaymeen
