A clarification of the five Pillars of Islam; the first and greatest Pillar is: The Testifications that “there is no deity worthy of Worship except Allah, and that Muhammad ﷺ is the Messenger of Allah”.
[You should know this] as well as the explanation of its meaning and conditions. Its meaning is: ‘There is no deity worthy of worship’ this negates everything which is worshipped besides Allāh. ‘Except Allāh’ this affirms that worship is for Allāh alone, He has no partners.
The conditions of (La ilaha illa Allah) are:
- Ilm (Knowledge) – which negates ignorance.
- Yaqin (Certainty) – which dispels doubts and suspicions.
- Ikhlas (Sincerity) – which negates Shirk (associating partners with Allah).
- Sidq (Truthfulness) – which negates hypocrisy.
- Mahabbah (Love) – which negates hatred.
- Inqiyad (Compliance) – which negates non-compliance [to the commands of Allah].
- Qubul (Acceptance) – which negates repulsion.
- Kufr (Disbelief) – disbelieving in everything which is worshipped other than Allah.
[You should also know] the meaning of the Testifications: “Muhammad Rasulullah”.
It necessitates:
- Accepting the truthfulness of whatever the Prophet informed of.
- Obeying him in what he commanded.
- Abandoning that which he prohibited.
- That you do not worship Allah except with what Allah and His Messenger ﷺ legislated.