Kalimatush-Shahadah
Kalimatush-Shahadah is the statement of belief in Allah as the only one to be worshipped and in Muhammad (S.A.W) as the Messenger of Allah. With it, a person is admitted into Islam. The expression of Kalimatus Shahadah is:
Translation:
I bear witness that there is no one that should be worshipped except Allah; and I bear witness that Muhammad is a servant of Allah and His Messenger. Kalimatush-Shahadah is the centre of al-lmaan (Belief) in Islam. This must be at the back of every Muslim’s mind in whatever he or she does.
Implications of Kalimatush-Shahadah
Kalimatush-Shahadah is a proclamation which emphasises two main points, namely the belief in the oneness of Allah, and in Muhammad as a Messenger of Allah. This has a number of implications on the attitude and behaviour of a Muslim in virtually all his or her actions. Some of them are stated as follows:
1. Allah, the Creator of the Universe and of all that is in it, is the only one that deserves to be worshiped. This is the essence of the injunction with which Allah set numerous messengers to mankind from the beginning of creation to the time the idea of sending messengers was declared ‘closed’ with the conclusion of revelation to Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) as stated in Quran 5:3:
Translation:
This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.
2. The Prophets and Messengers of Allah among mankind are many. Some names of other prophets and messengers are Nuh, Ibrahim, Ya’qub, Ismail, Musa and ‘isa (Peace be on them all). Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) was the last of the messengers that Allah sent to mankind and as belief in Allah is not complete without belief in Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), as His Messenger. However, the Prophet (S.A.W) and other messengers that came before him were human beings, and not gods. They did not have any qualities that could make them as powerful as Allah. Also, neither the Prophet (S.A.W) nor any of the messengers before him can be worshiped or regarded as god, or as deity.
3. Allah sent the message of His oneness through Angels created by Him to selected prophets and messengers among human beings. The angels too, though different from human beings in many ways, are also not gods and should not be held as high as God. The names of some angels of Allah are Jibril, Mika’il, Asra’il and Israfil. Some of them have specific assignments given to them by Allah. For example, the Qur’an was revealed to the Prophet through angel Jibril. The Jinns are also created by Allah. They are neither human beings nor angels but are in a world of their own. They too are neither to be worshiped nor be regarded as having the power to do or undo, or influence human life in a manner similar to what Allah alone can do.
4. Messengers were sent with Revealed Books (Scriptures), which contain the injunctions of Allah, duties of mankind in this life, which is mainly to worship Allah, do good deeds and avoid bad deeds because he or she will be accountable to Allah on the Day of Resurrection. The scripture, which Allah sent to Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) is the Qur’än. Other scriptures, such as the Tawrah, Injil and Zabur were sent to Prophets Musa, Isa and Dä ‘ud, respectively.
5. In His divine wisdom, Allah does not necessarily judge his creations while they are still living on earth. Yawm al-Äkhir is the Day of Resurrection when everybody will account for whatever he or she did while on earth, and will be rewarded with Al-Jannah if he was obedient to Allah and worshipped Him sincerely, or punished with Hell-fire if he disobeyed the injunctions of Allah. For example, the rich are rich, not necessarily because he is obedient to Allah or is the poor man poor simply because he is disobedient to Allah or has offended Him.
6. Since Allah is the creator of the universe and all that is in heaven and on earth, He has the prior knowledge of everything that happens to human beings. This is known as Qadar. By this concept of Qadar, He, the Creator, has destined the course of actions that a human being would take and the sequence of what would happen to him or her in the lifetime. These courses of action and occurrences may be part of Allah’s design of testing the human appreciation of the might of Allah.
The Articles of Faith in Islam
Consequently, the six points explained above constitute the Articles of Faith (al- ‘Iman) in Islam. They are:
1. The belief that Allah exists.
2. The belief that Allah sent specific messengers to mankind.
3. The belief that angels are special creatures of Allah.
4. The belief that there are Revealed Books which contain injunctions of Allah.
5. The belief in the certainty of the Day of Resurrection for accountability (Yawmul Akhir).
6. The belief that there is Predestination (Qadar), whetherf it is good or bad.