The
Conditions Governing the Statement:
There Is No God But Allah
Collected by
The Servant of Zawiya Qadariya
1426 Hijra
In the name of Allah, the Merciful the Compassionate
The Preface
Praise belongs to Allah who graciously bestowed upon us the blessing of Islam and was content to make it our dīn (way of life). I witness that there is no god but Allah, alone without partner, and that our master Muhammad is His servant and messenger, His sincere and bosom friend, His beloved. Allah sent him with guidance and the dīn of Truth, light, and spiritual counsel at the end of the age of the messengers when there was but little knowledge and misguidance was common among the people. He is the best prophet that Allah sent. O Allah, bless this noble prophet who possessed a vast and perfect character (al-khalaq al-‘ażīm); be pleased, O Allah, with his companions who supported, helped and followed him, surely they are the successful; and grant him abundant peace.
What follows are some of the conditions governing the expression la ilaha illa Allah (there is no god but Allah). I ask Allah to benefit us by what He has taught us; provide us goodness in following (guidance); cause us to taste the sweetness of belief; and enter us into His fortress of protection. Allah, bless and grant abundant peace upon our master Muhammad, his family, and his companions.
The Conditions Governing the Statement
Lā ilaha illa Allah
1. Knowledge (‘ilm): both its negative and positive meanings are known.
2. Certainty (yaqīn): doubt and uncertainty are eliminated by complete knowledge of it.
3. Sincerity (ikhlāş): doubt is banished by sincerity.
4. Truthfulness (şidq): deceit is banished, defending one from hypocrisy.
5. Love (maĥabbah): one has love and joy for this statement and what it indicates.
6. Submitting to being guided by its principles: one performs the required actions sincerely for Allah and to seek His pleasure.
7. Acceptance: refutation is negated.
The Evidence for These Conditions in
the Qur’an and the Sunnah
Knowledge (‘ilm)
From the Qur’an: This condition is indicated when Allah says: “So know that there is no god but Allah” (47:19) and “…except he who bears witness of the truth and they know” (43:86). That is, when they say “there is no god only Allah” they know in their hearts what they express on their tongues.
From the Sunnah: In a sahih hadith, ‘Uthman ibn Afan (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, “Whoever dies, knowing la ilaha illa Allah enters the Garden.”
Certainty (yaqīn)
From the Qur’an: Proof of this condition from the Qur’an is Allah, the Exalted, saying: “The believers are only those who believe in Allah and His messenger then they doubt not and struggle hard with their wealth and their lives in the way of Allah; they are the truthful ones” (49:15). The condition for true belief in Allah and His messenger is that one does not doubt, for that would be hypocrisy.
From the Sunnah: Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) reports in a sahih hadith that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, “Allah will meet any servant (of His) who says ‘I witness that there is no god but Allah (la ilaha illa Allah) and that I am the Messenger of Allah’ without any doubt in what he says, and he will enter the Garden.” And in another version the Messenger of Allah says, “Allah will meet any servant who has no doubt in these words and he will not be veiled from the Garden.” Also from Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) in a long hadith: “Whoever I meet from behind this wall who testifies to la ilaha illa Allah with certainty in his heart, good news of the Garden is his.”
Sincerity (ikhlāş)
From the Qur’an: Proof of this condition from the Qur’an is Allah, the Exalted, saying: “Now, surely sincere obedience is due to Allah (alone)” (39:3). In addition the Glorified and Exalted says: “And they were not enjoined anything except that they should serve Allah, being sincere to Him in obedience, upright” (98:5).
From the Sunnah: In a sahih hadith, Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, “The happiest and most fortunate of men with my intercession (shafā‘ah) is he who says la ilaha illa Allah with sincerity (ikhlāş) from his heart or soul.” And in another sahih hadith, ‘Utban bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, “Surely Allah forbids the fire from harming anyone who says la ilaha illa Allah with the desire to see the face of Allah, Mighty and Majestic.” Al-Nisā’ī has in the section “Day and Night” a hadith from two of the Prophet’s companions in which the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, “Whenever someone says la ilaha illa Allah waĥdahu lā shrīk lah lahu l-mulku wa lahu l-ĥamdu wa huwa ‘ala kulli shay’in qadīr (there is no god but Allah alone without partner; to Him belongs the kingdom and to Him the praise; and He has power over all things) in complete sincerity (ikhlāş) in his heart and truthfulness (şidq) on his tongue Allah rends apart the heavens to see who among the dwellers of the earth has spoken these words and then that person will have the right to ask for whatsoever he wishes before Allah.”
Truthfulness (şidq)
From the Qur’an: The proof of this condition is in His words (may He be exalted): “Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, We believe, and not be tried? And certainly We tried those before them, so Allah will certainly know those who are true and He will certainly know the liars” (29:2-3). And He also says: “And there are some people who say: We believe in Allah and the last day; and they are not at all believers. They desire to deceive Allah and those who believe, and they deceive only themselves and they do not perceive. There is a disease in their hearts, so Allah added to their disease and they shall have a painful chastisement because they lied” (2:8-10).
From the Sunnah: Ma‘adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, “No one testifies to ‘there is no god only Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger’ with truthfulness (şidq) from his heart but that Allah forbids the fire from touching him.”
Love (maĥabbah)
From the Qur’an: This condition’s proof is in His words, the Exalted: “And there are some among men who take for themselves objects of worship besides Allah, whom they love as they love Allah, and those who believe are stronger in love for Allah” (2:165). And His saying: “O you who believe! Whoever from among you turns back from his religion, then Allah will bring a people, He shall love them and they shall love Him, lowly before the believers, mighty against the unbelievers, they shall strive hard in Allah’s way and shall not fear the censure of any censurer” (5:54).
From the Sunnah: Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) reports in a sahih hadith that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, “There are three things in which one finds the sweetness of belief (īmān): loving Allah and His Messenger more than anything else; not loving anything except for Allah’s sake; and hating to return to rejection of faith (kufr) after Allah has rescued him from it just as he would hate to be flung into the Fire of Hell.”
Submitting to Guidance (inqiyād)
From the Qur’an: Its proof is in His words, the Exalted, in the following ayats: “And return to your Lord time after time and submit to Him …” (39:54); “And who has a better religion (dīn) than he who submits himself entirely to Allah? And he is the doer of good (to others)” (4:125); and “…whoever submits himself wholly to Allah and he is the doer of good (to others), he indeed has taken hold of the firmest thing upon which one can lay hold” (31:22) that is, the words “lā ilaha illa Allah.” And Allah says: “But no! by your Lord! they do not believe (in reality) until they make you a judge of that which has become a matter of disagreement among them, and then do not find any straitness in their hearts as to what you have decided and submit with entire submission” (4:65).
From the Sunnah: The proof of this condition from the pure Sunnah is from the words of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) who said, “None of you believes until his inclination (hawa) follows what I came with.” This is the completion of submission to guidance (inqiyād) and its objective.
Acceptance (qubūl)
From the Qur’an: This condition’s proof is the Exalted’s saying: “And thus, We did not send before you any warner in a town, but those who led easy lives in it said: Surely we found our fathers on a course, and surely we are followers of their footsteps. (The warner) said: What! even if I bring to you a better guide than that on which you found your fathers? They said: Surely we are unbelievers in that with which you are sent. So We inflicted retribution on them, then see how was the end of the rejecters” (43:23-25). Allah also says in the Qur’an concerning this condition: “And they used to say: What! Shall we indeed give up our gods for the sake of a mad poet?” (37:36).
From the Sunnah: Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) relates in a sahih hadith that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, “The likeness of what Allah has sent me with of guidance and knowledge is as the likeness of abundant rain which falls upon the earth. By accepting the water it becomes pure, and upon it grows abundant herbage and pasturage. Of the earth is the dry, desolate land that accepts (ie., absorbs) the water. By it Allah benefits mankind who drink from it, water the land and till the soil. But there is another type of earth that is without benefit for it does not accept the water nor grow herbage. Thus these two types of lands are like two types of people, one who strives to understand the dīn of Allah as Allah sent it down to me, knowing it and using it, and one who has no interest in it and doesn’t accept the guidance of Allah which I was sent with.”
And the praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds;
There is no power or strength except by Allah.