SHAHADA

Testimony of our Faith

ShahadaA person enters the fold of Islam by simply believing in the heart and declaring with the tongue two fundamental faith statements:

LA ILAHA ILLA ALLAH, MUHAMMAD RASOOL ALLAH    It means: There is no other deity and worthy of worship except Allah, andMohammad is the last messenger of Allah.

Arabic Transliteration Meaning in English

Ash- hadu I testify

an that

la not/ no/ there isn’t

ilaha deity; worthy of worship

illa Except

Allah Allah (Primary name of God)

wa and

Ash-hadu I testify

anna that

Mohammad Mohammad

Rasool- Allah Messenger of Allah

This creed is called “ Shahada” – the declaration or testimony of Faith.

Meaning and Explanation of Shahada: 

First meaning: 

•Rejection and denial of all notion and concepts, which ascribed partner or sharer in Allah’s divinity, Lordship, authority, attributes and worship.

•Acceptance of Allah’s authority and commands.

•Willingness to organize life in accordance with Allah’s guidance.

  

Image or Idol Veneration

Mary and Santo Nino

Shroud of TurinReplica of Sun Worship

Trinity’s Analogous  DepictionHindu and Church Triad

Assyrian Trinity and Christianity

Symbol of Trinity analogous to Satanism and Occultism

Evolution of Trinity in the ChurchVictor Paul Wierwille,: “ Long before the founding of Christianity the idea of a triune god or god-in-three-persons was a common belief in ancient religions. Although many of these religions had many minor deities, they distinctly acknowledged that there was one supreme God who consisted of three persons or essences. The Babylonians used an uquiteral triangle to represent this three-in-one god, now the symbol of the modern three-in-one believers… the Hindu trinity was made up of the gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. The Greek triad was composed of Zeus, Athena and Apollo. These three were said by the pagans to agree in one. One of the largest pagan temples built by the Romans was constructed at Ballbek (now Lebanon) to their trinity of Jupiter, Mercury and Venus. In Babylon, the planet Venus was revered as special and was worshipped as a trinity consisting of Venus, the moon, and the sun. This triad became the Babylonian holy trinity in the fourteenth century before Christ…Although other religions for thousands of years before Christ was born worshipped a triune god, the trinity was not a part of Christian dogma and formal documents of the first three centuries after Christ … So how then did a Trinitarian doctrine come about? It gradually evolved and gained momentum in late first, second and third centuries as pagans, who had converted to Christianity, brought to Christianity some of their pagan beliefs and practices.” (Jesus Christ is not God, 1975 )

Procession ancient and ModernVatican Rome Ancient Egypt

Papal Parade Egyptian Pontiff-King (under a Canopy) borne on Men's ShouldersFrom WILKINSON, vol. vi. Plate 76

Papal Veneration

Assyrian Dagon, with Fish-Head MitreLAYARD's Babylon and Nineveh, p. 343

Fish Shape of Papal Mitre

Dagon Fish God with Mitre

Analogous SymbolTrinitarian

DiagrammaticPagan Symbol

Analogous VenerationMary Crushing Serpent’s Head

Crushing the Serpent Head

An Egyptian Goddess, and Indian Crishna, crushing the Serpent's HeadThe Egyptian goddess if from WILKINSON, vol. vi. Plate 42; Crishna from COLEMAN's Indian Mythology, p. 34.

Analogous Worship of Mother and Child

Mother and Child from Babylon and India

Mother Mary and Child Jesus

Mary and Horus

Mother and Child Depiction   African Mary and Jesus

Hindu Goddess Devaki, with the Infant Crishna at her breastFrom MOOR, plate 59.

Analogous SymbolBiblical Cross Ancient Nations Cross

Fig. 43: The Cruciform T or Tau of Ancient Nations

No. 1: From KITTO's Biblical Cyclopedia, vol. i. p. 495.No. 2: From Sir W. BETHAN's Etruria, vol. i. p. 54.No. 3: From BUNSEN, vol. i. p. 450.Nos. 4 & 5: From STEPHEN's Central America, vol. ii. p. 344, Plate 2.

Rejection and denial of all notion and concepts, which ascribed partner or sharer in Allah’s divinity, Lordship, authority, attributes and worship.

Practice of Occultism

Satanism and Spiritism

Shintoism and other related ancestor worship

Buddhism and mortal deities

Hinduism ‘s Avatars' and Henotheism

Masonry and other related Fraternity

Horoscope and Astrology

Papal  Veneration as Vicar of God

Chinese Horoscope 

Analogous to  Greek deities

Zeus, Theos , Deus or Dios

Self Physical Torment 

Guidance of Life

•Acceptance of Allah’s authority and commands.•Willingness to organize life in accordance with Allah’s guidance.

 

Second meaning:

 Affirming faith in all the Messengers and Prophets of Allah, the last of them is Muhammad (pbuh)

Wise Saying of the Prophet ( Ahadith)

Accepting the true guidance in this world and salvation in the hereafter through obedience of what Allah revealed and inspired utterance of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)Willingness to follow the way shown by the Prophet (pbuh)

 

The Truth of Shahada

Not a one-time event made before an Islamic court of law or declaring it with other reliable witnesses.

Shahada is not a ritual utterance as an entrance to Islam.

Shahada is .............

It is a statement of belief to be contemplated and remembered repeatedly through all the days of his life on this world.It is a covenant of our promise to the Almighty God.On the other hand, a commitment to a total self-surrender to God’s will.Anyone who declares this (Shahada) is a new person and expected to change his thoughts and deeds if contrary to the Islamic way of life or standards and principles.

 

Embrace Islam

Narrated Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri , Allah’s Messenger said,

“ If a person EMBRACE ISLAM sincerely, then ALLAH SHALL FORGIVE ALL HIS PAST SINS, and after that starts the settlement of account: the reward of his good deeds will be ten times to seven hundred times for each good deeds, and an evil deeds will be recorded as it is unless Allah forgives it.”

(Sahih Al-Bukhari 1:40a)

By Accepting Islam, there is A DOUBLE REWARD

The Messenger of Allah wrote a letter to Heracleius, the Emperor of Rome, beginning with,

“ In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, and Most Merciful. from Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah , to Heraclius the Emperor of Rome. Peace Be upon Him who follows the guidance. Thus, to proceed: Verily, I INVITE YOU WITH THE INVITATION OF ISLAM. So ACCEPT ISLAM and you will be safe, and ALLAH WILL GIVE YOU A DOUBLE REWARD.”

(Fath al- Bari 1:42)

How to Perform the ShahadaDeclaration of Faith

Narrated Ubadah, The Prophet said,

" If anyone TESTIFIES that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah Alone (la ilaha illallah), Who has no partners, and that MUHAMMAD IS HIS SLAVE AND HIS MESSENGER , AND THAT JESUS IS ALLAH’S SLAVE AND HIS MESSENGER and His Word which He bestowed on Mary and a spirit (ruh) created by Him, and that Paradise is the truth, and Hell is the truth- Allah will admit him into Paradise with the deeds which he had done even if those deeds were few. "

Ubadah added: " such a person can enter Paradise through any of its eight gates he likes “ ( Sahih Al-Bukhari 4:644)

ISLAM IS SALVATIONBelief in the Oneness of Allah

The Messenger of Allah said,

“ Encourage your dying people to testify to La ilaha illallah, for whoever says it at the time of their death, they will definitely enter Paradise.” The people said, ‘ O Messenger of Allah , what about he who says it while in good health?” He replied, “ This will necessitate his entrance into Paradise even more.” Then he said, “ I swear by He Whom my soul is in His Hand, if the heavens and the earths, and all that is in them, between them and under them, were brought and placed in a balance of a scale, and the testimony of LA ILAHA ILLALLAH (there is no other deity worthy of worship except Allah) was placed on the other side of the scale, the testimony would outweigh all of it.”

(At-Tabari 18:258)