Islam - Pillars - Al-Shahada

The correct Testimony (Shahada)

The core of the faith is the "Shahada" (Testimony). This very first pillar of Islam is clearly stated in the Quran as it was also revealed to the recipients of previous Scripture. The Testimony of faith in the Torah (Old Testament) reads:

"Hear, O" Israel : the Lord our God, the Lord is One" Deuteronomy 6:4-5

The Testimony given in the Quran affirms the same truth:

"God bears witness that there is no god but He, and so do the angels and those who possess knowledge." 3:18

The correct Testimony has no name in it except the name of God.

First

First and foremost, the only Testimony authorised by God in the Quran is the one in 3:18.

The words "there is no god but God", which in Arabic are (La Ilaha Ila Allah), are the exact words which God Himself utters, also the angels and those who possess knowledge.

The majority of Muslims today are not satisfied with the Shahada given in 3:18 and they add to it the words: "and I bear witness that Muhammad is His messenger".

To add any words or names to the Testimony given by God is in fact to imply that the Testimony given by God in the Quran is incomplete, or that God forgot the second half of the Testimony! Needless to say, God is not forgetful nor does God make misatkes!

We are commanded clearly in the Quran to follow the Quran and nothing else (see: Quran Alone). As a result, all those who utter the shahada which includes the name of the prophet Muhammad are not following the Quran.

Second

Many people are oblivious of the fact that the utterance of the Shahada is indeed an act of worship and not just a statement of fact. Due to this, they say, "We are merely saying that Muhammad is a messenger of God, how can that be wrong when it is a fact?" The answer is that Muhammad is indeed a messenger of God, so the information is not incorrect, however, it is wrong to dedicate any words in our worship to other than God. The shahada as mentioned is an act of worship and not just a statement of fact. Consequently, whenever we testify to the Oneness of God by uttering the Shahada we are performing one of the acts of worship of God. The Quran states very clearly that all our worship practices must be devoted to the name of God alone:

"Say, "My Salat, my worship practices, my life and my death, are all devoted to God, the Lord of the worlds. He has no partner. This is what I was commanded with, and I am the first to submit." 6:162-163

The words "my worship practices" are very clear, they must all be devoted to the name of God alone. The following Quranic verse also confirms this issue:

"Say, "I am no more than a human like you; being inspired to me that your god is but one god. The one who hopes to meet his Lord shall work good deeds and never associates any others while in the act of worshiping his Lord." 18:110

God's Greatness is far beyond human understanding, so much so that we are not to associate anything or anybody with the name of God.

"You shall worship God and do not associate anything with Him." 4:36

Note the words in 4:36: "do not associate anything"

and in 18:110 we have the words: "never associate any others"

These words are very clear, they emphasise that we should never place the name of anything nor anybody next to the name of God, and certainly never utter any name other than the name of God when we are in an act of worship of God.

Also in the following verse we are told to dedicate all our religion (Shahada, Salat, Hajj …etc) to God alone:

"We have brought down to you the book truthfully, so worship God devoting the religion purely to Him. Absolutely, the religion should be devoted purely to God. Those who set up allies beside him, "We only idolize them so that they may bring us closer to God!" God will judge among them regarding that in which they dispute. God does not guide the one who is a liar, a disbeliever." 39:2-3

We note that the message of devoting all the religion to God alone is repeated twice.

It is also interesting that all those who praise the name of Muhammad day and night, they say that they do this because God loves Muhammad so much and therefore this will bring them closer to God! Sadly, by doing so, they demonstrate how they are among those spoken of in the following Quranic wrods:

"Those who set up allies beside Him, "We idolize them so that they may bring us closer to God!" 39:3

In reply to this claim, God says:

"God does not guide the one who is a liar, a disbeliever." 39:3

Third

According to the Quranic definition (2:285), the concept of Al-Iman (Belief/Faith) comprises belief in the following:

1- God

2- The Angels

3- The Scripture

4- The messengers

Belief in all four is required in order to qualify a person to be a believer. However there is no testimony required from the believers except for God. No shahada is required from us to testify that we believe in the angels, or the scripture or the messengers. The only shahada we required to utter is for God.

There are those who try to justify their inclusion of the name of Muhammad in their Testimony by saying that when the Quran was revealed and Muhammad was sent by God, the Jews and Christians rejected him as a true messenger of God, and thus they testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God to proclaim their acceptance of him, as opposed to the Jews and Christians who rejected him.

This argument is clearly flawed. It is true that the Jews and Christians reject the prophet Muhammad, but they also reject the Quran as being the true word of God. Hence, if these Muslims are sincere in merely wanting to proclaim their belief in what the Jews and Christians have rejected, then they should (by the same logic and motives) utter an additional testimony to say:

"There is no god but God and the Quran is the word of God" …. but do they?

Why aren't any of these Muslims uttering such a testimony to declare their acceptance of the Quran? In reality, their disguised motive is one of idolising Muhammad above all other messengers and placing his name alongside God's name in everything.

Indeed, God invites us to believe in the Quran, to believe in Muhammad, as well as to believe in the angels, the Scripture and all other messengers. As mentioned, God does not command us to testify to any of these. The only Testimony sanctioned by God is dedicated to the name of God Almighty alone.

Fourth

The fourth reason why the correct Testimony must contain the name of God and no one else is the fact that we are commanded in the Quran not to make any distinction between any of God's messengers:

"The messenger has believed in what was brought down to him from his Lord, and so did the believers. They all believe in God, His angels, His scripture, and His messengers: "We do not distinguish between any of His messengers.", and they said, "We hear, and we obey. Forgive us, our Lord. To You is the ultimate destiny." 2:285

Muhammad is indeed the messenger of God , but so is Abraham, Moses, Jesus, David and all the others. We should not make special preference for Muhammad because we are told in the Quran that he is only God's servant and he is not any different from any of the other messengers of God.

"Say, "I am not different from other messengers. I have no idea what will happen to me or to you. I only follow what is revealed to me. I am no more than a clear warner." 46:9

Those who insist on making Muhammad greater than all the other messengers of God and call on him with such preferential titles such as "Sayeduna Muhammad" (Our Lord Muhammad), and "Sayed Al Khalq" (the Lord of all creation) and "Ashraf Al- Mursaleen" (the Most honourable of all the messengers), and "habib Allah" (God's sweetheart!) .... etc, are those who in their blind idolising of Muhammad have rejected God's words in the Quran, such as:

"Say, "I am not different from other messengers"

and:

"Say, "I am no more than a human like you …" 18:110

It is indeed interesting how God places words in the Quran! The words above which confirm that Muhammad was only human like anyone else are followed in the same verse (18:110) by the words: "never associate any others while in the act of worshipping their Lord."

So, if the ones who utter a shahada for Muhammad say they do so in order to testify to his messengership, why do they never say:

"There is no god but Allah and Moses is His messenger" ?

Moses was also a the messenger of God among many others, why do they not testify to any of the other messengers?

A small advice here to the reader: Never go into a masjid and make a testimony for any other messenger! The Muslims there would probably stone you to death!

Fifth

The Quran speaks of another testimony. This other testimony is only spoken by the hypocrites:

"When the hypocrites come to you they say "We bear witness that you are the messenger of God" God knows that you are His messenger and God bears witness that the hypocrites are liars." 63:1

From this verse we note a very significant observation. This observation becomes clear when we examine three important verbs in the verse:

1- The hypocrites saying "we bear witness that you are the messenger of God"

2- "God knows that you are His messenger"

3- "God bears witness that the hypocrites are liars"

We note that the verse starts with the words "bear witness" and ends with the same words, so why does God use the word"knows" when God speaks about Muhammad being a messenger? Why did God not say (God bears witness that you are His messenger)? Since nothing in the Quran is a coincidence, we must indeed be alerted to God's deliberate choice of the word"knows".

It is clear that God is telling us that the Testimony He authorised for us does not include a testimony for Muhammad. Surely if God had said (God bears witness that you are His messenger) then this would have constituted an integral part of the Testimony, and we would have been obliged to utter the same.

The fact that God declines from saying "bear witness that you are His messenger" and instead says "God knows that you are His messenger" confirms that the only lawful Testimony authorised by God is for the name of God alone (3:18), and that all other testimonies are false and are acts of idol worship.

Sixth

We are given in the Quran a great criteria for distinguishing the sincere believers from the hypocrites. In 39:45, we are told that those who do not believe will not be able to proclaim God's name on His own, they must include the name of their idol/s in order to be satisfied:

"When God alone is mentioned, the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter are filled with aversion, but when others are mentioned besides Him, they rejoice." 39:45

The Testimony is one such criteria where true believers are tested in the purity of their faith. The true believers will have no problem uttering the correct Testimony which is given in the Quran (3:18) and which has no name in it except the name of God. On the other hand, the ones who have set up idols besides God, will never be satisfied with the Quranic Testimony on its own. They will not be able to utter the Quranic Shahada without adding to it a further testimony for Muhammad.