Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, is independent of all creation. The obedience of His servants does not increase His dominion, nor does their disobedience diminish it in any way. He has no need for the praise of any of His creation.
Allah تعالى says:
﴿O mankind, you are those in need of Allah, while Allah is the Free of need, the Praiseworthy.﴾
[Fāṭir: 15]
Allah تعالى said in the sacred hadith:
“O My servants, you will never be able to harm Me so as to harm Me, nor will you ever be able to benefit Me so as to benefit Me. O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you, and the humans among you and the jinn among you, were all upon the most righteous heart of a single man among you, that would not increase My dominion in anything.”
Narrated by Muslim (2577).
Thus, the servants’ praise of Allah does not return to Him as a need or benefit. Rather, its fruits and benefits return to the servants themselves.
It is authentically reported that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“No one loves praise more than Allah; for this reason, He praised Himself. And no one is more protective of His honor than Allah; for this reason, He prohibited immoral acts.”
Narrated by al-Bukhari (4634) and Muslim (2760).
This means that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, loves to be praised and commended because He is worthy of all praise and commendation, and because He possesses all attributes of perfection, majesty, and beauty.
Allah’s praise of Himself is not like a human being praising himself in search of status or to compensate for a deficiency. Exalted is Allah far above that. Rather, it is a declaration of His perfection and an explanation of what He deserves of praise and commendation.
One of the great wisdoms behind Allah’s command to His servants to praise and glorify Him is that the benefit returns to them in this world and the Hereafter.
Imam al-Nawawi رحمه الله said in his explanation of the hadith:
“The reality of this is a benefit for the servants, because they praise Him, Glorified is He, and He rewards them, so they benefit. He is independent of all creation; their praise does not benefit Him, nor does their abandoning it harm Him.”
When a servant praises Allah and comes to know His Names and Attributes, his faith, love, veneration, and glorification of Him increase. He recognizes Allah’s blessings upon him, and consequently increases in gratitude and obedience.
One of the greatest fruits of praising and glorifying Allah is that the servant comes to know his Lord through it.
When a Muslim says:
Al-ḥamdu lillāhi Rabbil-ʿālamīn — Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds
he acknowledges that Allah is the Lord of all worlds, that all blessings come from Him, and that He alone is deserving of all praise.
When the servant learns about Allah’s Beautiful Names and Lofty Attributes, he knows that He is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise, the Most Merciful, the Most Forgiving, the All-Powerful, the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing, and other Names of perfection.
This knowledge is the foundation of correct worship. A servant cannot properly glorify Allah until he knows His greatness and perfection.
When a person realizes that all the blessings he possesses are from Allah, he praises Allah for them and attributes the فضل to Him, rather than becoming impressed with himself.
But when a person attributes blessings to himself and considers himself independent in possessing them, this may lead him to arrogance and transgression.
This is what happened to Qarun when he said to his people:
﴿He said, “I was only given it because of knowledge I have.”﴾
[Al-Qaṣaṣ: 78]
He attributed what he possessed to himself and did not acknowledge Allah’s فضل upon him, and this was among the causes of his transgression.
Allah تعالى says:
﴿That Home of the Hereafter We assign to those who do not desire exaltation upon the earth or corruption. And the good outcome is for the righteous.﴾
[Al-Qaṣaṣ: 83]
The more a servant knows his Lord through His Names and Attributes, the more he recognizes his own weakness, need, and poverty before Allah.
The servant is dependent upon his Lord for everything, while Allah is independent of him and of all His creation.
Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله explained that poverty before Allah is of two types, one of the greatest of which is voluntary poverty. It arises from the servant’s knowledge of his Lord and his knowledge of himself. When the servant recognizes his Lord’s greatness and perfection and recognizes his own weakness and poverty, he submits to Allah and humbles himself before Him. This is among the greatest causes of happiness and success.
When a Muslim says during his prayer:
“Allah hears those who praise Him.”
the meaning is that Allah تعالى hears the praise of the one who praises Him, responds to him, and rewards him for it.
Then the servant says:
“Our Lord, and to You belongs all praise.”
By doing so, he expresses his acknowledgment that all forms of praise belong to Allah تعالى, and that He alone deserves praise for His blessings, perfection, and kindness.
Praise is not because Allah needs the praise of His servants. Rather, Allah deserves praise, while the servants need to worship Him and praise Him.
If it is said: If Allah is independent of the praise of His servants, why did He command them to praise and glorify Him?
The answer is that Allah is likewise independent of their prayers, fasting, Hajj, and all their other deeds. Yet He legislated these acts of worship for them because of great wisdoms whose benefits return to them.
Allah does not command His servants because He needs their worship. Rather, He commands them with what contains their well-being, happiness, and success.
Therefore, the believer should approach Allah’s commands with faith, submission, and certainty, and should understand that every divine legislation has wisdom behind it—known to some and unknown to others.
Allah is independent of His creation and of their praise and commendation, yet He is deserving of praise and glorification because of His perfection, greatness, majesty, and blessings.
Allah’s praise of Himself in the Qur’an is not due to any need or deficiency. Rather, it is an expression of His perfection and an introduction to His servants of what He deserves of praise and commendation.
Likewise, His command that His servants praise Him benefits them, as it increases their knowledge of their Lord, their faith in Him, their gratitude for His blessings, and their veneration of Him, while keeping them away from arrogance and self-admiration.
Thus, every praise by which the servants praise their Lord does not increase Allah in perfection—for He is already perfect—but it increases the servant in faith, closeness, obedience, and success.
And Allah knows best.