The Meaning and Significance of Shahadah
by Khalid Mustafa Abdul Kader/Royal Holloway College/Univ. of London /UK.
A-úthu billáhi minash shaytánir rajeem. Bisilláhir rahmánir raheem.
My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Islam,
In The Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most
Merciful
“ He is Allah, than whom there is no other God, the Knower of the invisible and the visible. He is the Beneficent, the Merciful * He is Allah, than whom there is no God, the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One, Peace, the Keeper of Faith, the Guardian, the Majestic, the Compeller, the Superb. Glorified be Allah from all that they ascribe as partner (unto Him) * He is Allah, the Creator, the Shaper out if naught, the Fashioner. His are the most beautiful names. All that is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Him, and He is the Mighty, the Wise.” 59:22-24
All
praise is due to Allah alone. We praise Him, thank Him, seek His forgiveness and
repent unto Him. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and our
sinful deeds. Whomever Allah guides none can misguide and whomever Allah
misguides, then he has lost life on this earth and in the Hereafter. I bear
witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone without
partners and bear witness that Mohammed is His Servant and Messenger; may
Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, his noble family, his
honourable companions and all that follow his guidance.
Amma
ba’ad:
Allah, The Exalted, states in the Holy Qura’an
(the meaning of which reads);
“ And
remind, for reminding benefits the believers.” 51:55
We
negate the attribute of godliness to all and affirm it to Allah alone: there is
no god but The One God- Allah, Most High. This is the simple but extremely
important concept of Tawheed. It is so important that one third of the Holy
Qura’an is devoted to it. Moreover, it is the very essence of all messages
from the time of Adam, peace be upon him, to our beloved Prophet and Messenger
of Allah Mohammed, peace and blessings be upon him.
“ Not a messenger did We send before you (O Mohammed) without this inspiration by Us to him: that there no god but I; therefore worship and serve Me.” 21:25
The following ayah from Surat Al-Imran says it all (the meaning of which reads):
“ There is no god but He: that is the witness of Allah, His Angels and those endued with knowledge, standing firm in justice. There is no god but He, the Exalted in Power, the Wise.” 3:18
If Allah, the Most High, His Angels and those with knowledge witness to this, those who do not are either ignorant or transgressors. Allah might forgive the former group depending on whether they did seek the knowledge and He knows best but the latter group may not be forgiven for we read in Surat Al-Nisa’a (the meaning of which reads):
“ Allah forgives not (the sin
of) joining other gods with Him but He forgives whom He pleases lesser sins than
this. He who joins other gods with Allah has strayed far, far away (from the
right path) “. 4:16
And in Surat Al-Maaidah, we read (the meaning of which may be translated as follows):
“Whoever joins other gods
with Allah, Allah will forbid him Paradise and Hell Fire will be his abode.
There will, for the wrongdoers, be no help”.
5:72
The Word of Allah is the Truth, the whole Truth, the Pure Truth which falsehood does come into from near or far, from left or right. Yet, Allah, the Exalted in Power, the Wise, invites us to witness the proof, to see for ourselves, learn a lesson remember it well.
“ For We assuredly sent
amongst every people a messenger (with the command): ‘Serve Allah and eschew
evil’. Of the people were some whom Allah guided, and some on whom error
became (inevitably) established. So travel in the lands and see what was the end
of those who denied the Truth.” 16:36
[End
of first khutbah]
In The Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
“By those who set the ranks in battle order * And those who drive away (the wicked) with reproof * And those who read (the Word) for a reminder * Lo! Your Lord is surely One * Lord of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, and Lord of the sun’s risings * 37:1-5
And
all praise is due to Allah alone. Peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of
Allah, his noble family, his honourable
companions and all that follow his Guidance. I bear witness that there is no
deity worthy of worship except Allah and that Mohammed is His servant and
Messenger.
Amma ba’ad:
When Mousa, peace and
blessings be upon the Prophet Mohammed and upon him, asked Allah, The Exalted to
teach him a prayer to recite when remembering Allah, thanking Him or calling
upon Him, Allah, Most High, said to him: “O Moses, say la ilaha illa Allah”.
Mousa
said: “ O Lord, all your servants say these words.”
Allah,
subhanah explained: “ If the seven heavens and all they hold and the seven
earths as well were weighed against this ‘Word’ (meaning la ilaha illa
Allah) the latter would outweigh the former,”
But
let us see what else Allah and His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him,
say about the excellence of this Word.
“Allah
will establish in strength those who believe with the Word that stands firm in
this world and in the Hereafter.” 14:27
We ask
Allah, subhanah, to make stand firm by the blessings of this Word in this life,
at the hour of death and on the Day of the Resurrection, Ameen.
Let us
also remind ourselves of the supplication of Yunus, also known as Thal-Noon (man
of the whale), peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammed and upon him:
“ He cried
through the depths of darkness: ‘ There is no god but You. Glory be to You. I
was indeed of the wrongdoers * So, We answered his prayer and delivered him from
distress. And thus do We deliver
the believers.” 21:87-88
Allah,
The Exalted, promises to deliver the believers from distress if they call upon
Him with similar words.
“La
ilaha illa Anta, Subhanak, inna kunna mina al-dhalimeen. There is no god but
You, Glory be to You, We are indeed of the wrongdoers”
We ask
Allah, Most High, to deliver and the Muslim Ummah from the distress that has
befallen us, indeed You have Power over all things.
And as
would be expected, there are numerous ahadeeth of the Messenger of Allah, peace
and blessings be upon him, about the excellence of “ la ilaha illa Allah”.
“
Whenever a servant recites with heartfelt conviction that there is no god but
Allah, the doors of the heavens are opened for him, so much so that he reaches
The Throne provided he has not committed major sins.”
“
On the Day of Judgment, the people who have affirmed with heartfelt conviction
that there is no one worthy of worship save Allah, will receive the benefit of
my intercession.”
“
Allah, The Almighty declares: ‘ O son of Adam, if you keep calling upon Me and
have hope of My forgiveness, I shall forgive every sin you have committed. O son
of Adam, if you come to Me with your sins that are about the size of the earth
and meet Me in the state that you never did associate partners with Me, I shall
come to you with equal forgiveness.”
And in
the famous and long hadeeth about al-isra’a:
“
And I saw a man of my Ummah come to the gates of Al-Jennah, and they closed as
he approaches. His witness of la ilaha illa Allah comes to him, opens the gates
and lets him in.”
Closing Dua’a