• The First Condition: Knowledge (Ilm)
• The Second Condition: Certainty
(Yaqin)
• The Third Condition: Acceptance
(Qabul)
• The Fourth Condition: Submission
(Inqiyad)
• The Fifth Condition: Truthfulness
(Sidq)
• The Sixth Condition: Sincerity
(Ikhlas)
• The Seventh Condition: Love
(Mahabbah)
• The Eighth Condition: Denial of All
Other Deities
• The Ninth
Condition: Adherence until Death
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 they 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 Allah 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,
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 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 realise
that all of the Qur'an 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 Qur'an and the hadith of
the Prophet, upon whom be peace, 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 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 to Paradise will be open for us
by our key of la ilaha illa Allah.
The First Condition: Knowledge (Ilm)
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 Qur'an:
"So know that there is no God save Allah, and ask forgiveness for your sin."
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 concerns. Obviously, a testimony about something that one does
not have any knowledge about is absolutely unacceptable. Allah says in the Qur'an:
"Save him who bears witness unto the truth knowingly."
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 the 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: Certainty (Yaqin)
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 Qur'an 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."
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 waiver."
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 Qur'an 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 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 recognise 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 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
newsgroups and bulletin boards. A lot of nonsense and falsehood are posted on
those newsgroups 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 Qur'an:
"It is only those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear Allah."
The Third Condition: Acceptance (Qabul)
If
a person has knowledge of and certainty in the shahadah, this must
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,
than he 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 shahadah 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 Qur'an:
"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."
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 Qur'an,
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 behaviour is the antithesis of
the behaviour 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: Submission (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 Qur'an:
"Turn unto Him repentant, and surrender unto Him."
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."
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."
Unfortunately,
there are many who 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 or realised 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 recognise that what they did is not correct and it is
inconsistent with their obligation of submitting to Allah, then they have not
violated the soundness of 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: Truthfulness (Sidq)
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 him, 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" [Agreed upon]. 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 Qur'an 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."
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: Sincerity (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 became and remain Muslims solely for Allah's sake. Allah says in the Qur'an:
"Worship Allah, making religion pure for him."
And
Allah also says:
"And they are ordained not 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."
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 all think about, 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 dislikes they will not do and whatever Allah is
pleased with what they do?
The Seventh Condition: Love (Mahabbah)
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 that 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 Qur'an:
"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."
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."
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 ... " [Agreed
upon]. 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 realise
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: Denial of All Other Deities
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-Baqarah, 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."
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 Judgement as long as they believe that acts of worship
may be done for other than Allah?
The Ninth Condition: Adherence until Death
This
is must if the shahadah is to mean anything for you
in the Hereafter. You cannot 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" [Agreed
upon]. And Allah says in the Qur'an:-
"O believers, observe your duty to Allah with right observance, and die not save as Muslims [surrendering yourselves to Allah]."
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 memorised, yet when one looks to their
deeds and behaviour, 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.
