Shahadah
The shahadah[1] means “testification” or “witnessing” in Arabic. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Islam is based on five things: Testification that there is nothing worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and messenger, establishing the prayer, giving zakah, fasting Ramadan, and pilgrimage to the House” in some narrations the wording is: “That a person worships Allah and disbelieves in other than Him” yet another narration states: “That the person declares the oneness of Allah.”[2]
The definition of Islam is to have belief and compliance internally with everything that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ came with and expressing it outwardly. One way to do this is by pronouncing “There is nothing worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and messenger” i.e., the shahadah. Although not restricted to this method, the shahadah is an outward sign of the individual’s belief, content, compliance, and submission to Islam.
In short, we can say that what is termed as the first pillar of Islam means to believe in Islam with all of its articles of faith and practices and express it openly. By doing this, a person becomes a Muslim.
The shahadah consists of two parts:
- Affirming the existence of the divine and the oneness of God.
- Affirming prophethood.
The first part also has two sub-parts: Negation and affirmation. In the negation, the pronouncer declares that there is no god or deity that that is worshipped in reality or that deserves to be worshipped. In the second part, the pronouncer makes an exception to the claim by affirming that Allah, the only one true existing God of the heavens and the earth, deserves to be worshipped.
In the second part of the shahadah, the individual affirms the nature of prophethood, which is Allah’s choosing of individual human role models as divinely inspired guides to deliver his message to people, in particular, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
These two parts are manifested to us in the form of the two divinely-revealed sources of scripture, the first being the Quran, the beginningless speech of Allah; the second being the Hadith or “Sunnah”, which is the recorded speech, actions, and tacit approvals of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. These two provide a sempiternal source and basis of guidance for all Muslims in their spiritual and practical lives.
[1] For more guidance around the shahadah and how it should be conducted with someone who expresses a wish to enter Islam, please see: https://bbsi.org.uk/portfolio/working-with-muslim-converts/
[2] Muslim, 19-21.