Based on an Article entitled "The Conditions of "La illah illa-lah" taken from AL-BASHEER magazine |
The complete statement of the creed of the Muslim is: "Ash-shadu anna Laa elaha illa lah. Ash-shadu anna Muhammadar Rasoolulah." (I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger). Every Muslim has been taught that the key to "Jennah" (Paradise) is the statement in Arabic: "Laa illaha illa lah." (There is none worthy of worship except Allah.) Yet too many Muslims simply rely upon this statement and believe that as long as they have made this statement, nothing will harm them. They think they will be granted Paradise because of this mere verbal statement of the Shahadah. There is no question that the mere saying of the shahadah: "I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger" is not sufficient for salvation. In fact, themunafiqeen ( hypocrites) used to make this statement quite often yet Allah describes them as liars and says that they shall abide in the lowest abyss of the Hell-fire. True scholars of Islam are quick to tell us that this testimony of faith is our "Muftah ul Jennah" (Key to Paradise). The famous follower Wahb ibn Munabbih was once asked; "Isn't the statement of "La ilaha illa-lah" the key to Paradise?" He answered; "Yes! But every key has ridges. If you come with the key that has the right ridges, the door will open for you. Yet if you do not have the right ridges the door will not open for you." Think about it. If you try to drive your car with the key to your house will it work? Of course not. So, we see that the statement like a key, must meet certain conditions in order to work. In fact these conditions are what will determine who will benefit from the statement and who will not benefit from saying it, no matter how many times per day they say it. We must work hard to learn, understand and practice these conditions before we run out time and then it would be too late for our shahadah to help us at all. This article has value only if we use it to look at ourselves and make sure we are really meeting these conditions. Then by Allah's Mercy, the doors to Jennah will open for us with our " muftah of Laa elaha illa lah". |
| "Nine Conditions of the Shahadah": The Qur'an and the "Hadeeth" (teachings of Muhammad, peace be upon him) are the ultimate sources for knowledge in Islam. We find contained in them the reality of the conditions necessary for the "shahadah" to work as a "muftah" to the "Jennah" for us. The number might be understood as seven, eight or even nine depending on how you would categorize them or combine them together. Regardless of how we would list them or divide them up, it still remains that we must understand and most important, apply these conditions of our shahadah if we are to enter the Jennah. We listed them here as "nine" in order to give more attention and detail to each and every aspect. However, the scholars who have listed them as seven or eight have not left anything out. They have merely combined several for easier comprehension and memorization. |
| The nine conditions of the shahadah are known as: |
| 1 - Knowledge | 4 - Submission | 7 - Love |
| 2 - Certainty | 5 - Truth | 8 - Denial |
| 3 - Acceptance | 6 - Sincerity | 9 - Adherence |
