The Testimony of Faith (Al-Shahadah)
By: Mike Blessing
Muslims have always maintained that the testimony of faith, the "shahaadah" is dual and is the basis of the Muslim's faith. By dual they mean that it consists of two parts:
1- "Ash-hadu Ann Laa Ilaaha Ill-Allah" , (translated as: "I bear witness that there is no god but GOD") being the first part, or simply the first testimony and,
2- "Wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadun "Abduhu wa Rassoulluhu", (translated as, "And I bear witness that Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger") being the second part, or simply the second testimony.
Thus they always refer to "ash-shahaadatayn" (the two testimonies of faith)! This, of course, is alien to the Islam revealed and sanctioned by God in the Quran.
We shall, God willing, demonstrate in this essay that this doctrine of "ash-shahaadatayn" is in clear violation to the teachings of the Quran.
This research is based on the fact that the Quran is complete and fully detailed (6:114). Nothing is left out of the book (6:38).
Contrary to popular belief, the Quran does give us the testimony of faith, the "shahaadah"; thus at chapter 3, Aali Imraan, verse 18, God says, in part:
"God bears witness that there is no god but He, as do the angels, and those possessed of knowledge. Upholding justice; there is no god but HIM, the Almighty, the Fount of Wisdom (Al-Hakeem)".
This testimony of faith is the only one found in the Quran and God Himself bears witness to it. Since the Quran is complete and fully detailed, there is no need for a second testimony of faith; God has perfected our religion for us and has approved it as is. There is no mention at all of the "second" of the two testimonies. Where then did it come from? Did God neglect to tell us about it? Absolutely not! God neither forgets nor neglects.
The so-called second testimony of faith, shahaadah, is a statement of fact. No one can deny it and still be a believer. Denying the fact that Muhammad was indeed a prophet would put one squarely outside the definition of the believer given us by God at chapter 2, Al-Baqarah, verse 285, which states, in part:
"The Messenger has believed in what was sent down upon him from his Lord and so have the believers. Each has believed in God and HIS Angels and His Scriptures and His Messengers, "We do not make distinction amongst HIS Messengers!" And they said, "We heard and we obeyed! Grant us Your forgiveness, our Lord, and unto You is the final destiny."
This second testimony of faith is always uttered by the overwhelming majority of Muslims any time the first one is said. This constitutes discrimination on their part in favor of Muhammad, for people never say, upon hearing the first testimony, " Wa ash-hadu anna Musa (or Salih, or "Eesa) "Abduhu wa Rassoulluhu", only "Muhammad".
Those who utter this testimony deny that this is discrimination in favor of Muhammad and argue that there is nothing wrong with that, since it is a fact that he is the Messenger of God and that he brought us the Quran; he is our special messenger. And they add, God Himself favors him over all His messengers and the proof is that He addresses him alone as "Yaa ay-yuhan-nabiy", translated literally as, "O you, the one who is the Prophet", or simply "O Prophet". This form of address, they assert, is most respectful and enhances Muhammad"s stature to the most favored of God"s prophets (if not all His creations), especially as it was used in the Quran to address only him. They also argue that God knows our intentions and thus even if we err by including the prophet in the testimony of faith, God will forgive us for He knows that our intentions are sincere.
Not surprisingly, these are the very same people who see nothing wrong with referring to Muhammad as "ashraf-ul-mursaleen", translated as "the most honorable of the emissaries (messengers)", or as "say-yid-ul khalq", an expression implying superiority over the entirety of humanity. Despite these labels they deny baldly that this constitutes discrimination in his favor. In fact this is, regardless of their intellectually dishonest claims, manifest discrimination! No distinction means just that, no distinction!
Moreover, when the name of Muhammad is consistently coupled with God"s name, this constitutes a clear distinction between Muhammad and other messengers by excluding them. Yes, indeed Muhammad did bring us the Quran, but it is not a boon from him. The Quran is enlightenment and mercy from Our Lord to us; Muhammad was honored with being made the conduit, the messenger, the delivery man, God entrusted with delivering It to us. God chooses only the best among His servants as messengers, those who would be up to the heavy task, those possessed of moral excellence, intelligence, determination and steadfastness.
The Muslims back up their claims, not from the Quran, but from the Hadeeth; the Quran is devoid of such contradictory nonsense. The Hadeeth is replete with these self-serving, self-aggrandizing statements falsely attributed to the Prophet.
I do not quite see the logic in claiming that when God addresses Muhammad by "Yaa ay-yuhan-nabiy", that this elevates him to the status of the most favored of His messengers; this is a non sequitur. God addresses Moses by his name, and it is impossible to conclude that that form of address does not enhance his stature given the unprecedented and unique terms of endearment that God applies to Moses. And of all the messengers God spoke only to Moses. This fact alone could arguably make Moses the most favored, but in these matters, it is best not to presume and to leave them up to God.
It should also be remembered that God, in using that phrase, is addressing the recipient of the Quran, the Prophet Muhammad, directly and in his lifetime. The term "prophet" in the Quran is always used to address or refer to Muhammad during his lifetime. Additionally this phrase could not have been used with the other messengers since they are not being addressed directly in the Quran - only Muhammad is - for they were all dead. God may well have used that same form of address with other messengers in their scriptures.
Nowhere does the Quran say that God prefers Muhammad to all his other messengers. There are verses in the Quran that speak of God preferring messengers or prophets to others. Thus in chapter 2, Al-Baqarah, verse 253, God speaks of some of the messenger He has favored over others. He refers to Moses by inference but mentions Jesus by name and says that He granted him the clear signs and that He supported him with the Holy Spirit. The other verse dealing with God's preferring or favoring prophets to others is in chapter 17, Al-Israa", verse 55. Here God states that He favors some prophets over others and that He granted David - mentioning him by name - the Psalms. There is no mention of Muhammad anywhere near the preference verses. Does this mean that God favors Jesus or David to all others? Whatever the answer may be, it is safest to leave this matter up to God; we simply do not have enough information or wisdom to know the answer! Our clear instructions from our Lord are not to discriminate among His messengers and we should obey them and be most thankful.
From a different angle, Muhammad's name is mentioned in the Quran only four times while Moses" name is mentioned more than one hundred and thirty times and Abraham's more than forty times. God spoke to Moses, and took Abraham as His friend, very special distinctions and great honors. Does this mean that God prefers Abraham and Moses to Muhammad? We do not know, but what we do know is that there is no evidence in the Quran to indicate that God prefers Muhammad to all other messengers. These false statements come from the hadeeth or from deliberate misinterpretations of the Quran. It is the worst blasphemy to invent lies upon lies and attribute them to God and His Messenger!
The essence of this matter is that God is free to prefer whomever He will of His servants, but we are given clear instructions in 2:285, that we are not to make distinction among the messengers.
The title given to Muhammad of "Say-yidul-khalq" (the master of all creation) has no basis in the Quran whatsoever yet sadly the majority of the Muslims accept this myth without looking carefully into its implications.
They also attribute to him, inter alia, infallibility and knowledge of the future (ghayb) in spite of the fact that such claims fly in the face of many verses in the Quran, including those verses where God reproaches Muhammad for major misjudgments. Chapter 33, Al-Ahzaab, verse 37 is only one of no less than six incidents.
In actual fact the only messenger who has no sin attributed to him in the Quran is Jesus whom God refers to, in chapter 19, Maryam, verse 19, as a "Ghulaaman Zakiy-yan" roughly translated as a "Pure boy-child". Jesus was without sin simply because God supported him at all time with the Holy Spirit (17:55). How then can he err when the Holy Spirit was his constant companion?
All these fabricated claims, made for Muhammad, are firmly exposed in the Quran in chapter 46, Al-Ahqaaf, verse 9, we read, in part:
"Say, I am no different from the other messengers! And I am not aware of what will happen to me or to you. I follow only what is revealed to me ........"
This second testimony of faith is now so deeply entrenched in the so-called Five Pillars of Islam that it has become a sine qua non; a Muslim who does not utter it is considered to have apostatized. This borders on idol worship, "shirk". Chapter 42, Ash-Shoura, verse 21, states:
"Or do they have partners who lay down for them, of the religion, what God has not authorized?"
This means that to consider any matter to be part of the religion, when God has not specifically sanctioned it as religion, is idol worship pure and simple, because such matter is authorized not by God but by the partner. The "partner" is any idol they claim to be God's partner in His Dominion. He is ultimately Iblees, for he is the one who leads them astray.
We have demonstrated that the purveyors of the second testimony do discriminate. From this we safely conclude that they are squarely in the camp of the non-believers. Chapter 2, verse 285 tells us that the believers do not discriminate among the messengers. In fact, the believers affirm that they do not discriminate; how then are we to describe those who do discriminate? Logically then, they are simply not believers! Those who say that there is no harm in the second testimony of faith should take these words very seriously and should carefully and honestly examine their views.
A second conclusion is that the purveyors of the second testimony hold the Prophet Muhammad in higher esteem than that conferred upon him by God. What they are saying, in effect, is, "God, we are not quite satisfied with the honor You have bestowed upon Your servant Muhammad, we will go one better!"
A third conclusion is that they so consistently connect Muhammad's name with God's Name that the two have become more or less an indivisible partnership. Indeed Muhammad seems to have become "The Second of Two!"
All of this comes from a misguided love for Muhammad. Can the Muslims love Muhammad more than the Christians love Jesus? It may well be! In fact, according to the "hadeeth" they are required to, as we shall soon see. And with the same sad result!
The Christians claim that Jesus is the son of God, and that he is God incarnate as a member of the Holy Trinity, "The Third of Three" as the Quran refers to it, in spite of the fact that absolutely nowhere in the Gospels does he make that claim for himself nor, for that matter, is there any mention of the Trinity. In fact he always refers to himself as the "Son of Man" or the servant of God.
Where do these claims come from? A misguided love for Christ! And we all know who is the instigator behind this misguided love! Yes, it is Satan again who is adamant in his attempt to divert the human being from the love of God, and so he invites them to love others as they should love only God. He is also the instigator of all the well known Christian seemingly innocent calls to "Love Jesus" and "Let Jesus into your life". However, the Gospels teach that we are to love God with all our heart and all our might.
"You shall love and worship the Lord your God, and him only you shall serve" (Luke 4:8)
The Muslims should take this piece of advice to heart. Our love should be directed solely to Our Lord, Who created us and to Whom we owe everything, including the Light that He sent down upon Muhammad!
This call for the love of God is strongly emphasized in the Quran as well in 2:165:
"Yet, some people set up idols to rival God, and love them as if they are God. Those who believe love God the most"
In contrast, we find that both Bukhary and Muslim have a "hadeeth" which is attributed to the Prophet and which says:
"None of you believes until I am dearer to him than his father, his son and all mankind"
The reader is invited to compare the content of this hadeeth to the content and message of 2:165, quoted above.
This "hadeeth" is of the self-serving kind we spoke of earlier, and it violates a whole slew of verses in the Quran. I shall address these violations, God willing, in another essay. But the point we wish to make here is that you cannot love a person more than your father, your son and the whole of humanity without actually worshiping or at least idolizing him! It goes against the many verses, where Muhammad is told that his livelihood, sustenance and reward are up to God, he himself must not demand a wage for what he does. It also violates chapter 3, Aali-"Imraan, verse 79, where we are told that:
"It was never for a human being, once God blesses him with the Book, wisdom and prophethood, to say to the people, "Worship me instead of God!" but, "Be godly (rabaaniy-yeen, that is, totally and absolutely devoted to God), in accordance with the Book you used to preach, and in accordance with what you used to study!"
The presumption that God will excuse us our errors because our intentions are pure, is not a valid one, at least not in this context. God indeed knows our intentions, and will act upon them in certain instances. This is true in cases of unfulfilled good intentions or honest mistakes that are not deliberately committed. However, when the Quran is clear on a certain matter, and yet some still reject it and follow other teachings, this cannot be a case of a forgivable honest error not deliberately committed. For this is a clear case of rejecting the Quran and following other teachings instead. This is clearly an act of idol worship even though it is sincerely believed to be a righteous testimony by those who utter it. One cannot expect God to forgive on the basis of that intention.
In fact, an act of idol worship, let alone one deliberately persisted in, is simply not forgivable; God tells us unequivocally so at chapter 4, An-Nisaa", verse 48, in part,
"God does not forgive that partners be ascribed to Him, but He will forgive lesser offenses for whom He will ....."
And again, in almost the same terms, at verse 116 of the same chapter. And since God did not qualify His statements, the question of intent becomes irrelevant.
It must therefore be stressed that good intentions, where idol worship is concerned are useless and will not save the perpetrator on the Day of Reckoning. On that day, the idol worshipers will deny in vain that they ever committed idol worship, the words of the Quran testify to this truth in 6:22-24:
"On the day when We summon them all, We will ask the idol worshipers, "Where are the idols you set up?" Their disastrous response will be, "By God our Lord, we were not idol worshipers." Note how they lied to themselves, and how the idols they had invented have abandoned them"
It is perfectly plausible that, in his day, the Prophet Muhammad might have insisted (like any genuine messenger) that he be recognized as the Messenger of God. But, by the same token, the messenger of God would never alter, amend, add to or delete from the testimony of faith that is given in the Quran in favor of himself.
The Prophet knew fully well that the Quran is fully detailed and complete; he would not dare add to or delete from it, for such would be contrary to chapter 10, Younus, verse 15, where he is commanded - in response to those who want him to bring another Quran or amend this one - to say, in part:
"Say, "It is not for me to change It of my own volition. I only follow what is revealed to me! I fear, if I disobey my Lord, the retribution of an awesome Day!"
The purveyors of the second testimony invariably become incensed when it is not uttered as a complement to the first testimony. It has happened to me several times! Upon hearing the first testimony I uttered the words, "Alone - No partner has He!" My interlocutor immediately took umbrage and accused me of apostasy no less! He, of course, expected me to utter the second testimony, but was taken aback by my response. This man"s reaction brought to mind chapter 39, Az-Zumar, verse 45 which states:
"If God Alone is mentioned, the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter shrink with aversion, and if those beneath (min dounihi) Him are mentioned, there they go, rejoicing!"
This verse fit my interlocutor from head to toe. In my retort to the first testimony, I mentioned God alone. He was offended and accused me of apostasy. Had I uttered the second testimony, thereby making mention of those beneath God, he would have considered me a good man and not accused me of apostasy and rejoiced at my answer. How blind can one be?
In conclusion, we feel that we have, with the help of Almighty God, presented sufficient evidence to convince any fair minded, unbiased person, beyond reasonable doubt, of the truth of this matter. The second testimony of Faith is nothing but unsubstantiated claims openly discriminating in favor of the Prophet Muhammad and that uttering it, as a testimony of faith, is contrary to the teachings of the Quran. Our arguments all come from within the Quran; we have not resorted to any external source for evidence.
God Alone is indeed sufficient for these, His humble servants.
Praise be to God.