THE MEANING AND CONDITIONS OF “LA ILAAHA ILLA ALLAH .”

“LA ILAAHA ILLA ALLAH , MUHAMMED
RASOOLULLAH”
THE MEANING AND CONDITIONS OF
“LA ILAAHA ILLA ALLAH .”
THE MEANING OF THE TESTIMONY OF FAITH
The testimony (LA ILAAHA ILLA ALLAH ) comprises
two
concepts: Denial and Affirmation.
FIRST:
The testimony of faith denies the attribute of
divinity to anyone
and anything other than Allah - the Exalted. All
those other than
Allah, such as the angels, the Prophets, and the
rest of Mankind,
let alone the idols and the political regimes in the
world, are not
gods and thus don’t deserve to be worshipped.
Therefore, denial
in this respect is not denial of the existence of the
alleged gods,
rather the denial of divinity which is attributed to
them.
SECOND:
The testimony of faith affirms and restricts divinity
to Allah alone.
That is, the slave must believe that Allah is the
only true God,
and accordingly dedicate no act of worship to any,
other than
Allah.
THE MEANING OF MUHAMMED RASOOLULLAH
A confession with your tongue but a heartfelt
belief, “O Allah! I
testify that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is
Your
Messenger.” That means that none has the right to
be followed
after Allah, but the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be
upon him) as
he is the Last of His Messengers. As Allah said:
“Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is not the father
of any man
among you but he is the Messenger of Allah and
the last (end)
of the Prophets and Allah is Ever All Aware of
everything.”
(V.33:40)
“And whatsoever the Messenger Muhammed
(Peace be upon
him) gives you, take it and whatsoever he forbids
you, abstain
from it.” (V.59:7)
And Allah said: “Say (O Muhammed) (to mankind)
‘if you (really)
love Allah, then follow me’.” (V.3:31)
As for the others than Muhammed (Peace be upon
him) their
statements are to be taken or rejected as to
whether these are in
accordance with Allah’s Book (i.e. the Quran) or
with the Sunnah
(legal ways, orders, acts of worship, statements
etc.,) of the
Prophet (Peace be upon him), or not.
CONDITIONS OF “LA ILAAHA ILLA ALLAH”
1. Knowledge, which consists of recognizing Allah
as the only
true God to Whom worship must be dedicated, and
denouncing all gods worshipped beside Allah as
false, and
that they can neither extend benefit nor cause
harm.
2. Certainty that the belief in Allah must be
unblemished with
any doubt.
3. Acceptance: That is, to accept all the conditions
of the
declaration.
4. Submission: That is, to fulfill its conditions
submissively
and willingly being content with Allah as the Rabb
(only
Lord) and Muhammad (Peace be upon him) as His
last
Prophet and Messenger.
5. Truthfulness: That is, to fulfill its requirements
truthfully.
6. Sincerity: That is, to be sincere in worshiping
Allah,
dedicating all acts of worship to Him alone.
7. The love of Allah - the Exalted, and the love of
His
Messenger Muhammad (Peace be upon him), and
the love
of Allah’s devotees and the people of His
obedience, which
means love of all Muslims
Finally it should be borne in mind that Allah must
be
obeyed, by following His commands and refraining
from His
prohibitions. Obedience to Allah must be
associated with loving
Him, fearing His punishment, and hoping for His
reward, seeking
His forgiveness and adhering to the teachings of
His Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH) - the last of Allah’s
Messengers. The
Shari’ah (the laws and religious rites) of
Muhammad (PBUH)
abrogates all other preceding laws and religious
rites and this
comprises the best of every preceding Shari’ah.
(From the book " 33 Lessons for every Muslim.
Compiled By
Abdul Aziz Saleh Al-Shomar.)