A summary of the concepts held by the Ahl al-Sunnah.
The pairing of worship with reliance upon Allah and seeking His aid.
Worship is frequently paired in the texts of the two revelations with reliance upon Allah and seeking His aid.
As in the saying of Allah the Exalted:
“Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help.” (1:5)
And His saying, the Exalted:
"So worship Him and rely upon Him."
This is only because the servant is in need of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic,
In His capacity as the One who is sought, the Beloved, and the Worshipped,
And in His capacity as the One who is petitioned, the One whose aid is sought, and the One upon whom reliance is placed.
Through worship, the divinity of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, is manifested.
Through reliance upon Him and seeking His aid, His Lordship is manifested.
Servitude is not complete except through these two aspects.
Just as seeking aid from Allah applies to all matters,
It applies, a fortiori, to the act of worship itself,
As evidenced by its pairing with worship in the mention within the verse of Al-Fatihah.
For seeking aid from Allah in worship
Strengthens the servant in performing it,
And protects him from vanity regarding his worship,
And from thinking that it is by his own power and strength.
It also prevents him from laziness and negligence in performing it.
Whoever seeks the aid of Allah in his worship, Allah will aid him in it.
And whoever neglects to seek His aid, Allah leaves him to his own self,
Whereupon he is afflicted with weakness and laziness.
In the precedence of worship over seeking aid in the mention within the verse of Surat Al-Fatihah,
There are rhetorical subtleties, the most important of which is:
That worship is the ultimate goal of the servants for which they were created,
While seeking aid is a means toward it,
And the goal takes precedence over the means.