The First Pillar Of Islam

The first and greatest pillar is the Testimony: “There is no god that should be worshipped except Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah” . Their meaning will be explained along with the conditions of ” There is no god that should be worshiped except Allah”. Its meaning: ” There is no god ” is a negation of everything that is worshipped besides Allah. ” Except Allah” affirms the worship for Allah alone. The conditions of “There is no god that deserves to be worshiped except Allah ” are:

1- Knowledge, negates ignorance.

2 – Certainty, negates doubt.

3 – Sincerity, negates Shirk.

4 – Truthfulness, negates lying.

5 – Love, negates hate.

6 – Submission, negates leaving it.

7 – Acceptance, negates rejection.

8 – Disbelieving in everything worshiped besides Allah.

Conditions of “La ilaha ila Allah” The conditions of “La ilaha ila Allah” are like the teeth of the key. “La ilaha ila Allah” is the key to Paradise. The key does not open except if it has teeth. Every reward for saying “La ilaha ila Allah” that is in the Qur’an and Hadeeth depends on the presence of these conditions, and they are eight:

1- Knowing its meaning: It does not benefit the one who is ignorant of its meaning. Thus, it is a must for the one who wants to accept Islam to know its meaning. The Prophet –may Allah praise and send him peace – has said: “Whoever dies while s/he knows that ‘no god should be worshipped except Allah’, enters Paradise” (Muslim).

2- Certainty : 100%. If one doubts even 1% in disbelieving in gods other than Allah, then he/she is not a Muslim. If one doubts the disbelief of the Jews and Chri stians who have heard about Islam, they are not Muslim. The Prophet ﷺ has said : “I bear witness that no god should be worshipped but Allah and I am the messenger of Allah; there is no slave who meets Allah with these two without doubting them except they will enter Paradise” (Muslim).

3- Sincerity : It does not benefit the one who shows off with it or worships other than Allah. The Pillars of ” There is n o god that deserves to be worshiped except Allah ” Affirmation: “except Allah” Affirming the worship for Allah alone. (Believing in Allah) Negation: “There is no god…” It negates everything that is worshipped besides Allah (Must disbelieve in them) The Poet says: The Testimony of Sincerity has two pillars, Affirmation and Negation so memorize them.

The Prophet ﷺ has said: “The happiest person with my intercession is the one who says ‘La Ilaha Ila Allah’ sincerely from his heart or his soul”

Bukharee (Bukhari)

4- Truthfulness : It does not benefit the one who says it while lying such as the hypocrites. The Prophet ﷺ has said: ” There is no one who bears witness that ‘La Ilaha Ila Allah and Muhammad is His slave and messenger truthfully from his heart except that Allah will prohibit the Fire for him” (Bukharee and Muslim).

5- Love : One should not love anyone like s/he loves Allah. Moreover, one should love everything and everyone that Allah has ordered to love. The opposite is hate. Thus, from the nullifiers of Islam is to hate something which the Messenger legislated, even if s/he acts upon it.

Allah says: “ Still there are some who take others as Allah’s equal—they love them as they should love Allah…”

Quran (2:165)

6- Submission: It means we must act upon it. If one does not do so, it does not benefit them.

Allah says: ” But no! By your Lord, they will never be ˹true˺ believers until they accept you ˹O Prophet˺ as the judge in their disputes, and find no resistance within themselves against your decision and submit wholeheartedly ”

Quran (4:65)

7- Acceptance: One does not refuse saying it, acting upon it, and believing it. Allah says: “For whenever it was said to the m ˹in the world˺, “There is no god ˹worthy of worship˺ except Allah,” they acted arrogantly and argued,

“Should we really abandon our gods for a mad poet?””

Quran (37:55)

8- Disbelieving: One should not worship anyone or anything besides Allah, because anything worshipped besides Allah is false. No one and nothing deserves to be worshipped besides Allah. Note: It is a must to believe, verbalize, and act upon the testimony of sincerity.