The Prerequisites of the Declaration of Faith

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Br. Jamaal al-Din Zarabozo wrote:
Every Muslim knows that the key to Paradise is the statment, "There is none
worthy of worship except Allah." Yet too many Muslims simply rely upon this
statment and believe that as long as they have made this statment, nothing will
harm them. They think will be granted Paradise because of this mere verbal
statment 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 statment 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 statment or testimony is the key Paradise.
The famous Follower Wahb ibn Munabbih was once asked, " Isn't the statment 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 must meet certain conditions. These conditions
are what will differentiate the person who will benefit from his making of that
statment from the one who will not benefit from that statment, no matter how
many times a day he may have made that statments.

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 postion is of that question. The same is true for the
conditions of the shahadah.

THE CONDITIONS OF La ilaha illa-llah..........PART II

Br. Jamaal al-Din Zarabozo wrote:

The FIRST of these condition is KNOWLEDGE. That is , one must have the
basic and general knowledge of what is meant by the shahadah. One must
understand what tha 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" (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" (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 laern 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 heart 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" (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" (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' 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 theough 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 cirulating 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 presevation 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 claim 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 associte 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 tought by Orientalists and because of
their weak backgroungs 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 hoursat 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 knowldgeable 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" (Fatir 28)

THE CONDITIONS OF La ilaha illa-llah..........PART III

Br. Jamaal al-Din Zarabozo wrote:

The THIRD condition of the shahadah is ACCEPTANCE (or al-qabool). I a
person has the knowledge of and certainty in the shahdah, this must followed by
acceptance, with the tounge 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 somtimes 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 ageneral 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 lifeof the world, and on the Day of Resurrection they will be
consigned to the most grievous doom" (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 form 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 believe in as the truth. This
goes hand in hand with their testimony of faith.

The FOURTH conditionof 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 meaning 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 unot Him" (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 purposeto Allah while
doing good" (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" (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 or realized in
our hearts, tounges 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 waht the testimony of faith requires from us.
Anyone who claim 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 violated the soudness 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 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 believ, 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 their because they lie" (al-baqara 8-10).
Obviously, the shahadah of thse who become Muslims simply to benefit from being Musim 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 sahahadah, we must do so solely for the sak of Allah. We must not do it for any other reason. And we nust not do it for anyone else's sake. In this manner, the meaning of sincerity is opposite of Skirk or ascribing partners with Allah. We became and remainMuslims solely for Allah's sake.
Allah says in the Quran, "Worship Allah, making religion pure for him" (al-Zumar 2). 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" (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 claer 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 claer 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 acctions 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 thei 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 CONDITIONS OF La ilaha illa-llah..........PART IV
Br. Jamaal al-Din Zarabozo wrote:
The SEVENTH condition is LOVE. That is, the believer loves this shahadah, he loves in accordance with the shahadah, he loves tha 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 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" (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"
(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 plaesing 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 EIGHT condition of the shahadah is that the person who makes the shahadah must DENY EVERY OTHER OBJECT OF WORSHIP. Although that is claer in the words of the testimony of faith, it does not seem clear to everyone who makes that testimony. Therefore, I am mentioning it explicity 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" (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." (Recrded by Muslim.)
Although this condition sholud be obious 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 realy 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 ADHERS to the shahadah until he dies. This is must if the shahadah is to mean anything for you in the Hereafter. You ca not rest on your laurels of what you amy 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 Muslims) 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 tha 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]" (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 ourselve 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 konws and can rattle off these conditions, he, in fact, is not fulfilling tham. In the Hereafter, his knowledge of these conditions will be of no avail to him. Indeed, his knowledge will be a proof against hin as he clearly knows what the conditions are that he mut satisfy yet he has shown that he is not willing to satisfy them in his life

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