Surah Ghafir (40) — Ayah 60

Your Lord has said: "Call upon Me; I will respond to you. Surely those who are too proud to worship Me [78] will soon enter Hell, humiliated [79]."

[78] Supplication and worship are one and the same thing; rather, supplication is the essence of worship. From this verse, it is clearly understood that supplication, or calling upon someone for the fulfillment of needs and the removal of difficulties, and worship are synonymous terms. In the first part of this verse, Allah the Exalted says that you should call upon Me, I will respond to your call, and in the second part, He says that those who are arrogant regarding My worship. This is clear evidence from this verse that supplication and worship are the same thing. Then, this meaning is also supported by authentic hadiths. The Prophet ﷺ said: «الدعاء هو العبادة» (i.e., calling upon is the very essence of worship), and on another occasion, he said: «الدعاء مخ العبادة» (i.e., supplication is the essence or core of worship) [ترمذي، ابواب التفسير زير آيت هذا]

How is supplication worship?

Now we will see how supplication is worship. A person supplicates when the apparent means for attaining something or for the removal of some calamity are absent. And the one whom he calls upon, he does so with the understanding that wherever that being is, it hears his call. Along with this, he also believes that this being has such control over hidden means that it can remove his difficulty or fulfill his need. Thus, the being who is called upon must be All-Knowing of the unseen, as well as All-Hearing and All-Seeing. And this attribute can belong to none other than Allah the Exalted. Secondly, unless one accepts that this being has control over the means of the universe, supplicating to it would be a futile act. In other words, to attribute the exclusive attributes of Allah the Exalted to any other being is to consider it equal to or a partner with Allah, and this is the very essence of shirk (associating partners with Allah). And whoever grants such a status of divinity to any being other than Allah, then he himself descends to the position of servitude before it; thus, the being called upon becomes his deity, and the supplicant becomes the worshipper, and his supplication becomes actual worship. Allah is pleased when asked and displeased when not asked, and this is the very characteristic of worship. It should be clear that a person supplicates to Allah, and sometimes it is accepted, sometimes not, and sometimes it is accepted after a long time. There are certain etiquettes, certain causes, and certain hindrances, the details of which are mentioned in the hadiths. Here, the only point to be impressed upon the mind is that even if the supplication is not accepted, it still has great benefit, because supplication in itself is worship. And the time spent in supplicating is as if it was spent in worship. Therefore, we are commanded to keep supplicating to Allah, to keep asking. Whether He accepts or not, or accepts after a delay, all is subject to Allah the Exalted's wisdom. The second thing that is understood from this verse is that asking from Allah and continuing to ask is the very demand of servitude. And the person who does not ask from Allah, this is a sign of denial of worship or arrogance. In other words, Allah the Exalted is pleased when asked and displeased when not asked, and all of this is included in the meaning of the word worship.

[79] This will be the punishment for their arrogance. On the Day of Resurrection, they will be severely beaten and, with humiliation and disgrace, will be thrown into Hell.