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The correct Shahada (Testimony) . 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 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 except 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 for the following reasons: FIRST First and foremost, because it is the only Testimony authorised by God in the Quran. "God bears witness that there is no god except He, and so do the angels and those who possess knowledge. Truthfully and equitably, there is no god but He, the Almighty, Most Wise." 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. To add any words or names to the Testimony given by God, is like saying that the Testimony given to us by God is incomplete, or that God forgot the second half of the Testimony!!! Needless to say, God NEVER forgets ……. !!! SECOND 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 alone, do not associate ANYTHING with Him." 4:36 "Say (O Muhammad), "I am no more than a human like you, being inspired that your God is One God. Those who hope to meet their Lord shall work righteousness, and never associate ANYBODY with the worship of their Lord." 18:110 Note the words: "do not associate ANYTHING" and in another other verse we read: "do not associate ANYBODY" ........ this is to emphasis that we should not put the name of ANYTHING nor ANYBODY next to the name of God. THIRD According to the Quranic definition (2:285), the concept of Al-Iman (Belief/Faith) comprises belief in the following items: 1- God 2- His Angels 3- His Scripture 4- His messengers Belief in all four items is required for a person to be a believer, however there is no testiment required of the believer except for the first of these items (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 rejected him as a true messenger of God, and thus they say that they testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God to proclaime their acceptance of him, as opposed to the Jews and Christians who rejected him. This argument is clearly flawed. It is clear that the Jews and Christians also reject the Quran as being the true word of God, hence and 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 and placing his name alongside God's name in everything. Indeed, God invites us to believe in the Quran, believe in Muhammad, and also believe in all the angels, Scripture and 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. The reason for that is that the articles of belief (Belief in God, the angesl, scripture and messengers) are matters for the heart. However, the uttering of the Testimony is an ACT OF WORSHIP, and and since all our religious practices and worship must be dedicated to God alone (6:162), thus the Testimony must ipso facto be dedicated to the name of God alone. When we look at the five pillars of Islam, we note that the Testimony always comes first. After the Testimony comes the Salat, the Zakat, the Hajj and Fasting Ramadan. Each one of these pillars is an ACT of WORSHIP. Together they constitute the pillars of the religion of Islam. When we do our fasting for example, who do we fast for? God or Muhammad? It is for God alone. When we observe the Salat who do we worship God or Muhammad? When we do our Hajj who do we dedicate it for? And similarly, when we give Zakat who do we do it for? for God or for Muhammad? Consequently, the Testimony, being the first and most important Act of Worship, should also be for the name of God alone. This is in accordance with God's command: "Say, "My Contact Prayers (Salat), my worship practices, my life and my death, are all devoted absolutely to God alone, the Lord of the universe. "He has no partner. This is what I am commanded to believe, and I am the first to submit." 6:162-163 Also in the following verse we are told to dedicate all our religion (Shahada, Salat, Hajj …etc) to God alone: "We sent down to you this scripture, truthfully; you shall worship God, devoting your religion to Him alone. Absolutely, the religion shall be devoted to God alone. Those who set up idols beside Him say, "We idolize them only to bring us closer to God; for they are in a better position!" GOD will judge them regarding their disputes. God does not guide such liars, disbelievers." 39:2-3 We note that the words "religion shall be devoted to God alone" are repeated twice. It is also interesting that all those who praise the name of Muhammad day and night 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 idols beside Him say, "We idolize them only to bring us closer to God; for they are in a better position!" 39:3 In reply to this claim, God says: "God does not guide such liars, disbelievers" 39:3 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 sent down to him from his Lord, and so did the believers. They believe in God, His angels, His scripture, and His messengers: "We make no distinction among any of His messengers." They say, "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 (O Muhammad), "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 profound 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 idol worship of Muhammad have rejected God's words in the Quran, such as: "Say (O Muhammad), "I AM NOT DIFFERENT FROM OTHER MESSENGERS" and: "Say (O Muhammad), "I AM NO MORE THAN A HUMAN LIKE YOU …" 18:110 If they are just uttering the name of Muhammad in order to testify to his messengership (as they claim) why don't they ever say: "There is no god but Allah and Moses is His messenger" !! Moses too was the messenger of God, why do they not testify to that? A small advice here to the reader : NEVER go into a masjid and say these words …… 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" in the middle of the verse? 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". Could it be that God is telling us that the Testimony He prescribed for us does NOT include these words? For surely if God said (God bears witness that you are His messenger) then this would have constituted an integral part of the Testimony. The fact that God declines from saying 'bear witness that you are His messenger' and instead says '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 its 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 shrink with aversion. But when others are mentioned beside Him, they become satisfied." 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. . back to 'PILLARS' main page . |
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