The Prerequisites of
the Declaration of Faith
by Jamaal al-Din Zarabozo
Contents
Every Muslim knows that the key to Paradise is the statement,
"There is none worthy of worship except Allah."
Yet too many Muslims simply rely upon this statement and believe
that as long as they have made this statement, nothing will harm
them. They think will be granted Paradise because of this mere
verbal statement of the Shahadah.
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 is His servant and messenger,"
is not sufficient for salvation. In fact, the hypocrites used to
make this statement quite often yet Allah 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 ibn Munabbih
was once asked, "Isn't the statement of la ilaha illa-llah
the key to Paradise?" 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, it is
saying [while meeting] 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 statements.
Before discussing the conditions of the Shahadah, there is
one more point that I feel compelled to make. That is, some
people have a tendency to take one hadith or one verse and then
based on that one text, they will make some conclusion that, for
example, whoever simply says, "There is no God except
Allah," will enter Paradise. But, actually, we should
all realize that all of the Quran and Hadith 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 hadith and see what the true Islamic position is of
that question. The same is true for the conditions of the
shahadah.
If we study the verses of the Quran and the Hadith of the
Prophet (peace be upon him), we will find that the conditions of
the shahadah are seven, eight or nine in number 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 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 to Paradise will be open for us by our
key of la ilaha illa-llah.
The first of these conditions is
knowledge. That is , one must have the basic and
general knowledge of what is meant by the shahadah. One must
understand what the shahadah is affirming and what the shahadah
is denying. Allah says in the Quran, "So know that there
is no God save Allah, and ask forgiveness for your sin" (Qur'an,
Muhammad 19). Similarly, the Prophet (peace be upon
him) said, "Whoever dies knowing that there is no one
worthy of worship except Allah shall enter Paradise." (Recorded
by Muslim.)
In fact, the shahadah itself is a testimony. When one
testifies to something, one must know what it is that he is
testifying concerning. Obviously, a testimony about something
that one does not have any knowledge about is absolutely
unacceptable. Allah says in the Quran, "Save him who
bears witness unto the truth knowingly" (Qur'an, 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 shahadah 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 shahadah numerous times a day. This clearly shows
that they have no idea what the meaning of their shahadah is. Do
you think that this kind of shahadah will open the doors to
Paradise 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 pray five times a day and
utter the shahadah repeatedly. Yet they see nothing wrong with
accepting a Lawgiver other than Allah? What kind of shahadah are
these people making?
All of us do our best to learn at least the basics of Islamic
beliefs. The basics of what shahadah means. In this way, Allah
willing, we will be making the correct shahadah. We will be
witnessing to the truth as we are supposed to be witnesses to
it.
The second condition of the shahadah is
certainty (or al-yaqeen). 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 shahadah. 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 describes the believers in the Quran as those who have
belief in Allah and then their hearts waver not. Allah 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" (Qur'an, al-Hujurat 15). Similarly, the
Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) 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 hat statement, except that he will enter Paradise."
(Recorded by Muslim.)
Indeed, Allah describes the hypocrites as those people whose
hearts are wavering. For example, Allah says, "They
alone seek leave of thee (not to participate in jihad) who
believe not in Allah and the Last Day and whose hearts feel
doubt, so in their doubt they waver" (Qur'an, al-Tauba 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. It
is through sound knowledge of the Quran and the sunnah that most
of these doubts will be removed. By study and understanding, one
will attain certainty. And as one studies and learns more, his
certainty will be made firmer and firmer.
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 hadith literature.
For example, some Muslims even claim that hadith were not
recorded until at least 200 years after the death of the Prophet
(peace be upon him). Indeed, there are Muslims who seem to have
a great deal of doubt about hadith and are very quick to reject
hadith on that basis. But, in fact, if one actually takes the
time to study the history and preservation of hadith, one will
immediately recognize that all those claims and charges against
the hadith are not based on anything scientific whatsoever. They
are nothing but false claims that come from Satan and which
Muslims with poor understanding and knowledge have allowed to
creep into their hearts.
Let me make one last point about this condition of certainty.
As I alluded to earlier, doubts and misconceptions are very
dangerous for a person's faith. Doubt and wavering are
tantamount to apostasy in Islam, as I mentioned earlier. Hence,
every Muslim should do best to safeguard himself from such
doubts and remain away from the sources of doubts- especially if
they are not well grounded in the Islamic sciences and do not
have the the knowledge to refute such doubts and misconceptions.
Hence if a person has an associate or friend, even if he be a
Muslim friend, who is always making him doubt Allah 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 "science".
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 very
knowledgeable of his religion may easily be influenced and
affected by the misconceptions and false arguments that he reads
in those bulletin boards. He should remain away from those
things and get a deeper knowledge of Islam through the authentic
sources of the religion.
Again, the greatest counterforce that can defeat doubts and
misconceptions, after the bounty and guidance of Allah, is sound
knowledge and understanding of the religion. When a person has
that, he will not be affected by the weak arguments put out by
the enemies of Islam and he will be, Allah willing, from among
those described in the Quran, " It is only those who
have knowledge among His slaves that fear Allah" (Qur'an, Fatir 28)
The third condition of the shahadah is
acceptance (or al-qabool). If a person has the
knowledge of and certainty in the shahadah, this must be
followed by acceptance, with the tongue and heart, of whatever
that shahadah implies. Whoever refuses to accept the shahadah
and its implications, even if he knows that it is true and
certain about its truth, is a disbeliever. This refusal to
accept is sometimes due to pride, envy or other reasons. In any
case, the shahadah is not a true shahadah without its
unconditional acceptance.
The scholars all 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 shahadah are.
This also means that he believes in whatever is stated in the
Quran or stated by the Prophet (peace be upon him), without any
right to choose what he wants to believe and what he wants to
reject. Allah says in the Quran, "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" (Qur'an, al-Baqara 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, 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 Quran, they
simply reinterpret the verse according to their liking. If they
do not like what is stated in a hadith, they simply state that
the hadith 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 and His
Messenger (peace be upon him), the true Muslim believes in as
the truth. This goes hand in hand with their testimony of faith.
The fourth condition of shahadah is
submission and compliance (or al-inqiyad). This implies
the actual physical enactment with our deeds of our shahadah. In
fact, this is one of the main meanings of the word Islam itself,
"the submission to the will and commands of Allah. "
This is what Allah commands in the Quran, "Turn unto Him
repentant, and surrender unto Him" (Qur'an, al-Zumar 54).
Allah has praised those who submit to His command by their
actions. Allah says, "Who is better in religion than he
who surrenders his purpose to Allah while doing good" (Qur'an,
al-Nisa 125).
Actually, Allah has clearly made it a condition of faith that
one submits to the command of Allah and His messenger. Allah
says, "But nay, by your Lord, they will not truly
believe until they make you [the Messenger of Allah] judge of
what is in dispute between them and find within themselves no
dislike of which you decide, and submit with full submission"
(Qur'an, al-Nisa 65)
Unfortunately, there are many claim that there is no
relationship between faith and deeds. You can even hear one
Muslim saying about another, "That is the best Muslim I have
ever met." Yet the other person performs scarcely any of
the deeds of Islam whatsoever. This incorrect understanding of
faith has spread throughout the Muslim world.
Indeed, our shahadah or testimony of faith must be
implemented in our hearts, tongues and actions. In our hearts,
we must have love for Allah, fear Allah and hope in Him. With
our tongues we must testify to the shahadah. And with our
actions, we must implement what the testimony of faith requires
from us. Anyone who claims to be a Muslim and yet does no deeds,
either does not understand Islam whatsoever or is bearing
testimony against himself that his testimony of faith is not a
true and correct testimony of faith.
This does not mean that the true believer never commits a
sin. Indeed, true believers do commit sins. But as long as they
recognize that what they did is not correct and it is
inconsistent with their obligation of submitting to Allah, then
they [have not destroyed] their testimony or shahadah. But, do
not forget, they are still sinners.
And what is the minimum of submission that is required from a
person beyond which there can be no claim to faith? For those
scholars who say that the abandonment of prayers is infidelity,
it is the five daily prayers. Whoever does not perform, at
least, the five daily prayers has gone beyond the limit that is
acceptable for lack of deeds. Allah knows best.
The fifth condition is truthfulness,
as opposed to hypocrisy and dishonesty. This means that when we
say the shahadah, we are saying it honestly. We actually mean
it. We are not lying when it comes to our testimony of faith.
The Prophet (peace be upon his) said, "No one bears
testimony to there being no one worth of worship save Allah,
sincerely from his heart, except that Allah makes the Hell-fire
forbidden for him." (Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.)
We are all familiar with those who say the testimony of faith
yet they are not saying it honestly. They do not believe in it
but they are simply saying it in order to protect themselves or
to get some gain from doing so. These are the hypocrites. Allah
has described them in the opening of the Quran with the
following words, "And of mankind are some who say, 'We
believe in Allah and the Last Day,' when they believe not. They
think to beguile Allah and those who believe, and they beguile
none save themselves, but they perceive not. In their hearts is
a disease, and Allah increases their disease. A painful doom is
theirs because they lie" (Qur'an, al-baqara 8-10).
Obviously, the shahadah of those who become Muslims simply to
benefit from being Muslim and not because they believe in Islam
will be rejected by Allah in the Hereafter. They will face a
painful punishment due to their lying.
The sixth condition is sincerity
(or ikhlas). That is, when we make the shahadah, we must do so
solely for the sake of Allah. We must not do it for any other
reason. And we must not do it for anyone else's sake. In this
manner, the meaning of sincerity is opposite of Shirk or
ascribing partners with Allah. We become and remain Muslims
solely for Allah's sake. Allah says in the Quran,
"Worship Allah, making religion pure for him" (Qur'an, al-Zumar 2). And Allah also says, "And they are ordained
nothing else than to serve Allah, keeping religion pure for Him,
as men by nature upright and to establish worship and to pay the
poor-due. That is true religion" (Qur'an, al-Bayyinah 5). And the Prophet (peace be upon him) added,
"Allah has forbidden for the Hell-fire anyone who says, 'There
is no one worthy of worship except Allah,' and say so desiring
the face [and pleasure] of Allah." (Recorded by Muslim).
This is something that we should think about. But especially
those of us who grew up in Muslim families and were born Muslim.
We should make it very clear to ourselves that we are Muslims
only for the sake of Allah. We are not Muslims for the sake of
our parents, friends, family or community. It must be clear in
our minds that we are Muslims for the sake of Allah first, last
and only.
One of the signs that we are Muslims for the sake of Allah is
that we do whatever Allah asks of us, regardless of what anybody
else desires or wants from us. That is, in the same way that we
are Muslims solely for the sake of Allah, all of our actions are
done for the sake of Allah.
However, sometimes one begins to wonder whether this
condition is met by some people. Some people from the Muslim
world practice Islam to the extent that it is pleasing to their
families. If there is anything in Islam that their families do
not like- although their families are Muslim and therefore they
actually should like all of Islam- then they do not practice
that aspect of Islam. One common example of that nature is
mixing between men and women. Sometimes a brother, here in the
U.S., will not mix with women and his wife will remain separate
from the men. Yet, when they return to their homes, because this
is not pleasing to their families who want to mix between men
and women, they easily, simply and happily compromise their
religion for the sake of their parents. These people must
sincerely ask themselves why they are Muslims. Are they Muslims
for the sake of their parents and therefore whatever their
parents like they will do and whatever their parents do not like
they won't do? Or are they Muslims for the sake of Allah and
therefore whatever Allah dislike they will not do and whatever
Allah is pleased with they do?
The seventh condition is love.
That is, the believer loves this shahadah, he loves in
accordance with the shahadah, he loves the implications and
requirements of the shahadah and he loves those who act and
strive for the sake of this shahadah. This is a necessary
condition of the shahadah. If a person makes the shahadah but
does not love the shahadah and what it stands for, then, in
fact, his faith is not complete. It is not the faith of a true
believer. And if he loves something more than this shahadah or
if he loves something more than Allah, then he has negated his
shahadah. The true believer, the one meeting the conditions of
the shahadah puts no one whatsoever as an equal to Allah in his
love.
Allah says in the Quran, "Yet of mankind are some who
take unto themselves (objects of worship which they set as)
rivals to Allah, loving them with a love like (that which is due
to) Allah only. However, those who believe are stauncher in
their love of Allah" (Qur'an, al-Baqara 165). And
elsewhere Allah says' "Say: If your fathers, or your
sons, or your brethren, or your wives, or your tribe, or the
wealth you have acquired, or merchandise for which you fear that
there will be no sale, or dwellings you desire are dearer to you
than Allah and His messenger and striving in His way: then wait
till Allah brings His command to pass. Allah guides not
wrongdoing folk" (Qur'an, al-Tauba 24). The Prophet
(peace be upon him) said, "Whoever has three
characteristics has tasted the sweetness of faith. [The first of
these] is that he loves Allah and His Messenger more than he
loves anyone else..." (Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.).
This is one of the most important aspects of Islam yet, for
some reason, it is missing from the lives of many Muslims. They
act in Islam as if Islam were a chore instead of doing things
out of the love of Allah. When Allah orders us to do something,
like bear witness to the faith, we should realize that that
thing is pleasing to Allah and, therefore, out of our love for
Allah, we should be very pleased to do the acts that are
pleasing to Allah. But, as I said, this feeling is missing from
many, many Muslims today.
The eighth condition of the shahadah is that
the person who makes the shahadah must deny every other
object of worship. Although that is clear in the words
of the testimony of faith, it does not seem clear to everyone
who makes that testimony. Therefore, I am mentioning it
explicitly here.
In Surah al-Baqara, Allah clearly reminds us of this
important aspect of the shahadah, the shahadah is not merely an
affirmation but it is both and affirmation and a negation. Allah
states, "And he who rejects false deities and believes
in Allah has grasped a firm handhold which will never break"
(Qur'an, al-Baqara 256). Perhaps the Prophet (peace be
upon him) made this point even clearer when he said,
"Whoever says there is no one worthy of worship except Allah and
denies whatever is worshipped besides Allah, then his wealth and
blood are protected and his accounting will be with Allah."
(Recorded by Muslim.)
Although this condition should be obvious to everyone who
says the words of shahadah, you can still find Muslims who say
the shahadah and then make acts of worship for beings or things
other than Allah. You will find them going to the graveyards and
worshipping those in the graves. They will perform acts of
worship, not for the sake of Allah, but for the sake of the dead
"saints" in the grave. What kind of shahadah have these people
made? Do you really think that their shahadah will mean anything
on the Day of Judgment as long as they believe that acts of
worship may be done for other than Allah?
The ninth condition of the shahadah is that
the Muslim adheres to the shahadah until he
dies. This is must if the shahadah is to mean anything for you
in the Hereafter. You can not rest on your laurels of what you
may have done in the past. No, indeed, the shahadah must be your
banner until your death. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said,
" A man spends a long time doing the deeds of the people of
Paradise and then he ends his deeds with the deeds of the people
of the Hell-fire. And a man spends a long time doing the deeds
of the people of the Hell-fire and then he ends his deeds with
the deeds of the people of Paradise." (Recorded by Muslim)
In another hadith, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said,
"By the One whom there is no other God, one of you does the
actions of Paradise until there is just a handspan between him
and Paradise and then the book [preordainment] overtakes him and
he does the actions of the people of Hell and he enters into it"
(Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.)
And Allah says in the Quran, "O believers, observe
your duty to Allah with right observance, and die not save as
Muslims [surrendering yourselves to Allah]" (Qur'an, ali-Imran 102).
Dear brothers and sisters, these are the conditions of the
shahadah. These are the aspects of the shahadah that each and
every one of us should look to in ourselves and ask ourselves,
"Is my shahadah meeting those requirements? Am I saying it
sincerely, honestly and out of love for Allah? Am I saying it
based on what it really means? Am I denying all other false
objects of worship?..."
These questions we should ask ourselves now before we meet
Allah. Allah willing, we shall ask ourselves these questions now
and we shall find that we have all the right answers for them.
Or, if we find we have some deficiency, we shall work to remove
that deficiency. Such that, by Allah's mercy, in the Hereafter,
our shahadah will be the key to Paradise for us and the gates of
Paradise will swing wide open for us and we will be able to live
forever in the bounties of Paradise, with Allah being pleased
with us.
Again, it is not simply a matter of knowing these conditions.
Indeed,one can meet many Muslims who have these conditions
memorized, yet when one looks to their deeds and behavior, one
can see that these conditions have no effect on them. This
means, in fact, no matter how well he knows and can rattle off
these conditions, he, in fact, is not fulfilling them. In the
Hereafter, his knowledge of these conditions will be of no avail
to him. Indeed, his knowledge will be a proof against him as he
clearly knows what the conditions are that he must satisfy yet
he has shown that he is not willing to satisfy them in his life.
This article appeared in two parts in AL-BASHEER magazine
(Vol.7, No.5 January-February, 1994).
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