In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

The Arabic Word "Ikhlas"; Devotion

Devoting our worship and our religion to God alone is the foundation of Submission. If our worship is not dedicated to God alone, we commit idol worship, the only unforgivable sin. If this practice continues till we die, we end up as losers in the Day of Judgment (4:116.) All our deeds, including the righteous ones, are in vein if we are not devoting our worship to God alone.

Idol Worship Nullifies All Work [39:65] It has been revealed to you, and to those before you that if you ever commit idol worship, all your works will be nullified, and you will be with the losers.

The word "devotion" in the Arabic language (Ikhlaas and all its derivatives) and in the English language indicates the exclusive, dedicated and undivided attention with extreme passion or affection. This strong and beautiful word characterizes the worship and the religion of the true submitters and believers as described by God:

[6:161] Say, "My Lord has guided me in a straight path - the perfect religion of Abraham, monotheism. He never was an idol worshiper."
[6:162] Say, "My Contact Prayers (Salat), my worship practices, my life and my death, are all devoted absolutely to GOD alone, the Lord of the universe.
[6:163] "He has no partner. This is what I am commanded to believe, and I am the first to submit."

Chapter 112 in the Quran is called "Al-Ikhlaas" and it states our proclamation of devotion to the One and the Absolute God the sincere servants believe in and worship:

[112:1] Proclaim, "He is the One and only GOD.
[112:2] "The Absolute GOD.
[112:3] "Never did He beget. Nor was He begotten.
[112:4] "None equals Him."

By studying the Quran and looking up all the verses that has this crucial word "Ikhlaas" and all its derivatives, translated into devote/devotion/devoted to, we learn on the other hand a certain pattern the transgressors always follow. They pretend that they devote their worship and imploring to God alone only when they face hardship, or horrifying experiences. Once the terror is subsided, they go back to Satan and the wicked, idolizing path they have been always adopting by choice. They also try to find excuses when confronted to uphold the truth. God teaches us that the following imploring/devotion and utterances in 10:22 , 29:65 and 37:169 is just the "lip service" of the disbelievers:

[10:22] He is the One who moves you across the land and sea. You get onto the ships, and they sail smoothly in a nice breeze. Then, while rejoicing therein, violent wind blows, and the waves surround them from every side. This is when they implore GOD, sincerely devoting their prayers to Him alone: "If You only save us this time, we will be eternally appreciative."
[10:23] But as soon as He saves them, they transgress on earth, and oppose the truth. O people, your transgression is only to the detriment of your own souls. You remain preoccupied with this worldly life, then to us is your ultimate return, then we inform you of everything you had done.

[29:65] When they ride on a ship, they implore GOD, devoting their prayers to Him. But as soon as He saves them to the shore, they revert to idolatry.

[37:168] "Had we received the correct instructions from our parents,
[37:169] "we would have been worshipers; devoted to GOD alone."
[37:170] But they disbelieved, and they will surely find out.

Furthermore, this pattern of lying is followed all the way till the Day of Judgment when they see the retribution awaiting them. They will implore God alone and ask Him for a reverse pass to come back to life and worship Him alone. God teaches us that this is just mere lying and that as soon as they return, they will go back to the same wicked path of Satan and its constituents:

[6:27] If only you could see them when they face the hellfire! They would say then, "Woe to us. Oh, we wish we could go back, and never reject our Lord's revelations, and join the believers."
[6:28] As a matter of fact, (they only say this because) their secrets have been exposed. If they go back, they will commit exactly the same crimes.* They are liars.

To add more to the awesome mathematical proofs we have in regard of the expression " Allah Wahdah," (God alone in English,) and the word "Wahid," (One in English,) it turns out that the word "Ikhlaas" and its derivatives ( devotion/devote/devoted) is mentioned in the whole Quran 31 times. 12 occurrences out of these 31 is either the utterance of the disbelievers which is again mere lying (in 37:169, 10:22, and 29:65 ) or the word is simply referring to entities other than God ( in 12:80, 38:46, 12:54, 16:66, 2:94, 6:139, 7:32, 33:50, and 38:46.)

The other 19 occurrences are referring to devoting our worship, our imploring, our religion, and ourselves absolutely to God alone as believers and dedicated servants of Him alone:

  1. [2;139] .. To Him alone we are devoted."
  2. [4;146]..and devote their religion absolutely to GOD alone, will be counted with the believers. ...
  3. [7;29] .. You shall devote your worship absolutely to Him alone. ...
  4. [12;24] .. We thus diverted evil and sin away from him, for he was one of our devoted servants.
  5. [15;40] "Except those among Your worshipers who are devoted absolutely to You alone."
  6. [19;51] Mention in the scripture Moses. He was devoted, and he was a messenger prophet.
  7. [37;40] Only GOD's servants who are absolutely devoted to Him alone (will be saved).
  8. [37;74] Only GOD's servants who are absolutely devoted to Him alone (are saved).
  9. [37;128] Only GOD's servants who are absolutely devoted to Him alone (are saved).
  10. [37;160] Only GOD's servants who are devoted to Him alone (are saved).
  11. [38;83] "Except Your worshipers who are devoted absolutely to You alone."
  12. [39;2] .. you shall worship GOD, devoting your religion to Him alone.
  13. [39;3] Absolutely, the religion shall be devoted to GOD alone. ..
  14. [39;11] Say, "I have been commanded to worship GOD, devoting the religion absolutely to Him alone.
  15. [39;14] Say, "GOD is the only One I worship, devoting my religion absolutely to Him alone.
  16. [40;14] Therefore, you shall devote your worship absolutely to GOD ALONE, even if the disbelievers dislike it.
  17. [40;65]...You shall worship Him alone, devoting your religion absolutely to Him alone...
  18. [98;5] All that was asked of them was to worship GOD, devoting the religion absolutely to Him alone, ....

    It is noteworthy that the sincere imploring devoted to God alone in 31:32 is performed by both believers and disbelievers. The incredible precision of words chosen by God almighty in this verse indicates that only SOME will revert after the retribution is subsided while the rest were truly devoting their imploring to God alone.. .This makes the total occurrence of this crucial word "Ikhlaas"/DEVOTION in reference to God alone a perfect 19:

  19. [31;32] When violent waves surround them, they implore GOD, sincerely devoting their prayers to Him alone. But as soon as He saves them to the shore, SOME of them revert. None discards our revelations except those who are betrayers, unappreciative.

Glory be to God, Lord of the universe.

[1:5] You alone we worship; You alone we ask for help.