Various Important Aspects of
LAA ILAAHA ILLALLAH

Part-I   
Shaikh Jamaaluddeen   

Every Muslim knows that the key to “Jannah” (Paradise) is the statement of Shahaadah (Declaration), “There is none worthy of worship except Allah”. Yet too many Muslims simply rely upon uttering the words of this statement and believe that as long as they have made this statement, nothing will harm them. They think they will be granted Jannah because of this mere verbal statement of the Shahaadah. There is no question that the mere saying of, “I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam) is His servant and messenger”, will get the bearer of this Shahaadah out of “Jahannum” (Hell) after certain time. But to make this statement with hypocrisy is not valid for salvation. In fact, the hypocrites used to make this statement quite often, yet Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) describes them as liars and says that they shall abide in the lowest abyss of the Hell-fire.

As many scholars state, though, this statement or testimony is the key to Paradise. The famous follower Wahb bin Munabbih was once asked, “Isn’t the statement of ‘Laa ilaaha illAllah’ the key to Jannah?” He answered, “Yes, but every key has ridges. If you come with the key that has the right ridges, the door will open for you. Yet if you do not have the right ridges the door will not open for you.” That is, the statement must meet certain conditions. These conditions are what will differentiate the person who will benefit from his making of that statement from the one who will not benefit from that statement, no matter how many times a day he may have made that statement.

Before discussing the conditions of the Shahaadah, there is one more point that is important to remember. Some people have a tendency to take one Hadeeth (Tradition) of Prophet Mohammed (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam) or one Verse from the holy Book of Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) and then based on that one text, they will make some conclusions. But, actually, one should realize that all of the Quraan and Hadeeth complement each other and explain one another. To find the correct position on any one question, one must bring together all of the related Verses and Hadeeth and see what the true Islamic position is of that question. The same is true for the conditions of the Shahaadah.

If we study the Verses of the Quraan and the Hadeeth of the Prophet (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam), we will find few conditions or aspects of the Shahaadah depending on how we look at them. It is important that all of us make sure that we are meeting these conditions in our own lives and in our own testimony of faith. We must do our best to satisfy these conditions before it is too late and our testimony will be of no avail whatsoever. It is not simply for the sake of teaching these conditions, indeed there is no benefit to that. But it is, instead, for all of us to look to ourselves and to make sure that we are actually meeting these conditions so that, by Allah’s mercy, the doors of Jannah will be open for us by our key of “Laa ilaaha illAllah”.

The first of these conditions is “’Ilm” (Knowledge). That is, one must have the basic and general knowledge of what is meant by the Shahaadah. One must understand what the Shahaadah is affirming and what the Shahaadah is denying. Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) says in the Quraan, “So know that there is no God except Allah, and ask forgiveness for your sin” (Surah Muhammad:19)

Similarly, the Prophet (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam) said, “Whoever dies knowing that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah shall enter Jannah.” (Recorded by Muslim). In fact, the Shahaadah itself is a testimony. When one testifies to something, one must know what it is that he is testifying concerns. Obviously, a testimony about something that one does not have any knowledge about is absolutely unacceptable. Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) says in the Quraan, “Save him who bears witness unto the truth knowingly”. (Surah al-Zukhruf:86)

Now this condition probably sounds obvious; if someone said to you, “There is no God except Allah”, and then said that what he meant by Allah was Jesus, you would immediately tell him that this Shahaadah is nonsense. Yet can you imagine that there is a Muslim country in the world that until recently used to have a yearly week-long celebration to “the Gods of the Sea”!

All along they call themselves Muslims and they make the Shahaadah numerous times a day. This clearly shows that they have no idea what the meaning of their Shahaadah is. Do you think that this kind of Shahaadah will open the doors Of Jannah for them? Today, there are many Muslims who wonder why we should not accept secularism. They think that there is nothing wrong with secularism. Many of these Muslims offer Salaah (prayer) five times a day and utter the Shahaadah repeatedly. Yet they see nothing wrong with accepting a Law-giver other than Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa)? What kind of Shahaadah are these people making?

All of us do our best to learn at least the basics of Islamic beliefs, the basics of what Shahaadah means. In this way, InshaaAllah (God-willing), we will be making the correct Shahaadah. We will be witnessing to the truth as we are supposed to be witnesses to it.

The second condition of the Shahaadah is “Yaqeen” (Firm Belief or Certainty). This is the opposite of doubt and uncertainty. In Islam, in fact, any kind of doubt is equivalent to Kufr or disbelief. We must, in our hearts, be absolutely certain of the truth of the Shahaadah. Our hearts must not be wavering in any way when we testify to the truth of, “There is none worthy of worship except Allah”. Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) describes the believers in the Quraan as those who have belief in Allah and then their hearts waver not. Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) says, “the (true) believers are those only who believe in Allah and His Messenger and afterward doubt not, but strive with their wealth and their lives for the cause of Allah. Such are the sincere.” (Surah al-Hujuraat:15)

Similarly, Allah’s Messenger (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam) said, “No one meets Allah with the testimony that there is none worthy of worship but Allah and I am the Messenger of Allah, and he has no doubt about that statement, except that he will enter Paradise.” (Recorded by Muslim.)

Indeed, Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) describes the hypocrites as those people whose hearts are wavering. For example, Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) says, “They alone seek leave of thee (not to participate in Jihad) who believe not in Allah and the Day of Aakhirah and whose hearts feel doubt, so in their doubt they waver.” (Surah al-Taubah:45)

Many scholars have stated that the diseases of the heart, or the doubt and suspicions that one allows into one’s heart, are more dangerous for a person’s faith than lusts and desires. This is because lusts and desires may be satisfied at some time yet the person still knows them to be wrong and he may control himself and repent and give up that evil deed. On the other hand, the doubts and suspicions may linger in the heart, with no cure, until the person finally leaves Islam entirely or continues to practice Islam while, in fact, in his heart he does not have the true faith. The greatest cure for these doubts is seeking knowledge of the Quraan and the Sunnah in the company of any learned and pious Shaikh. I will give you just one example on this point; this is related to all of the doubts, suspicions and misconceptions that are circulating about the authenticity of the Hadeeth literature. For example, some Muslims even claim that Hadeeth were not recorded until at least 200 years after the departure of the Prophet (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam) from this mortal world. Indeed, there are Muslims who seem to have a great deal of doubt about Hadeeth and very quick to reject Hadeeth on that basis. But, in fact, if one actually takes the time to learn the history and preservation of Hadeeth from authentic scholars and asks the bounty and guidance from Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa), one will immediately recognize that all those claims and charges against the Hadeeth are not based on anything scientific whatsoever. They are nothing but false claims that come from Shaitaan (Satan) and which Muslims with poor Imaan have allowed to creep into their hearts. Hence, every Muslim should do best to safeguard himself from such doubts and remain away from the sources of doubts. So, if a person has an associate or friend, even if he be a Muslim friend, who is always making him doubt Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) or the religion, then he should remain away from that person in order to safeguard his own religion. Many Muslims nowadays study courses on Islam taught by Orientalists and because of their weak backgrounds in Islamic studies, they are influenced by the nonsense that some of these Orientalists are teaching in the name of Islam. Similarly, many brothers and sisters nowadays are spending hours at a time with the computer news groups and bulletin boards. A lot of nonsense and falsehood are posted on those news groups and bulletin boards. Again, the one who is not firm believer and very knowledgeable of his religion may easily be influenced and affected by the misconceptions and false arguments that he reads in those bulletin boards.

The third condition of the Shahaadah is “Qabool” (Acceptance). If a person has knowledge of and certainty in the Shahaadah, this must be followed by acceptance, with the tongue and heart, of whatever that Shahaadah implies. Whoever refuses to accept the Shahaadah and its implications, even if he knows that it is true and certain about its truth, than he is a disbeliever. This refusal to accept is sometimes due to pride, envy or other reasons. In any case, the Shahaadah is not a true Shahaadah without its unconditional acceptance. The scholars talk about this condition as a general condition in the way that I have just stated. However, there is also a more detailed aspect that we must all be aware of. The believer accepts whatever the implications of the Shahaadah are. This also means that he believes in whatever is stated in the Quraan or stated by the Prophet (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam), without any right to choose what he wants to believe and what he wants to reject. Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) says in the Quraan, “Do you believe in part of the book and reject part of it? And what is the reward of those who do so save ignominy in the life of the world, and on the Day of Resurrection they will be consigned to the most grievous doom” (Surah al-Baqarah:85)

This is one aspect that the Muslims must be aware of. Although it is not the same as the complete refusal to accept the truth, by rejecting part of the truth that has come from Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa), one also negates his testimony of faith. Unfortunately, many Muslims are doing this nowadays in various ways. Although not all of these forms may necessarily be considered apostasy, they are still very dangerous. For example, if they do not like what is stated in a Verse in the Quraan, they simply reinterpret the Verse according to their liking. If they do not like what is stated in a Hadeeth, they simply state that the Hadeeth must not be authentic although they are not scholars in that area. This kind of behavior is the antithesis of the behavior of the true Muslims. Whatever comes from Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) and His Messenger (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam), the true Muslim believes in as the truth. This goes hand in hand with their testimony of faith1
 

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