"I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger," is not sufficient for salvation. In fact, the hypocrites used to make this statement quite often yet Allah describes them as liars and says that they shall abide in the lowest abyss of the Hell-fire. Realize that all of the Quran and Hadith complement each other and explain one another. To find the correct position on any one question, one must bring together all of the related verses and hadith and see what the true Islamic position is of that question. The same is true for the conditions of the shahadah (statement of belief that encompasses one into Islam). Study the verses of the Quran and the Hadith(traditions of  of the Prophet (peace be upon him)), we will find that the conditions of the shahadah are seven, eight or nine in number depending on how we look at them. It is important that all of us make sure that we are meeting these conditions in our own lives and in our own testimony of faith.
                                                              

The Conditions of La ilaha illa-llah Muhammadur Rasoolallah..........Part II

The first of these conditions is knowledge. Allah says in the Quran,

1. "So know that there is no God save Allah, and ask forgiveness for your sin" (Quran, Muhammad 19).

Similarly, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Whoever dies knowing that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah shall enter Paradise." (Hadith Recorded by Muslim.)
 
"Save him who bears witness unto the truth knowingly" (Quran, al-Zukhruf 86).

The second condition of the shahadah is certainty (or al-yaqeen). This is the opposite of doubt and uncertainty. In Islam, in fact, any kind of doubt is equivalent to Kufr( a disbeliever) or disbelief. Our hearts must not be wavering in any way when we testify to the truth of, "There is none worthy of worship except Allah."
 
2. "The (true) believers are those only who believe in Allah and His messenger and afterward doubt not, but strive with their wealth and their lives for the cause of Allah. Such are the sincere" (Quran, al-Hujurat 15).

Similarly, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "No one meets Allah with the testimony that there is none worthy of worship but Allah and I am the Messenger of Allah, and he has no doubt about hat statement, except that he will enter Paradise." (Hadith Recorded  by Muslim.)
 
"They alone seek leave of thee (not to participate in jihad) who believe not in Allah and the Last Day and whose hearts feel doubt, so in their doubt they waver" (Quran, al-Tauba 45).

Many scholars have stated that the diseases of the heart, or the doubt and suspicions that one allows into one's heart, are more dangerous for a person's faith than lusts and desires.
 
"It is only those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear Allah" (Quran, Fatir 28)

                                                   

The Conditions of La ilaha illa-llah Muhammadur Rasoolallah..........Part III

The third condition of the shahadah is acceptance (or al-qabool).

3. "Do you believe in part of the book and reject part of it? And what is the reward of those who do so save ignominy in the life of the world, and on the Day of Resurrection they will be consigned to the most grievous doom" (Quran, al-Baqara 85).

The fourth condition of shahadah is submission and compliance (or al-inqiyad). This implies the actual physical enactment with our deeds of our shahadah. In fact, this is one of the main meanings of the word Islam itself, "the submission to the will and commands of Allah. This is what Allah commands in the Quran,

4.  "Turn unto Him repentant, and surrender unto Him" (Quran, al-Zumar 54)  "Who is better in religion than he who surrenders his purpose to Allah while doing good" (Quran, al-Nisa 125).

"But nay, by your Lord, they will not truly believe until they make you [the Messenger of Allah] judge of what is in dispute between them and find within themselves no dislike of which you decide, and submit with full submission" (Quran, al-Nisa 65)

The fifth condition is truthfulness, as opposed to hypocrisy and dishonesty. No one bears testimony to there being no one worth of worship save Allah, sincerely from his heart, except that Allah makes the Hell-fire forbidden for him." (Hadith Recorded  by al-Bukhari and Muslim.)

5.  "And of mankind are some who say, 'We believe in Allah and the Last Day,' when they believe not. They think to beguile Allah and those who believe, and they beguile none save themselves, but they perceive not. In their hearts is a disease, and Allah increases their disease. A painful doom is theirs because they lie" (Quran, al-baqara 8-10).

The sixth condition is sincerity (or ikhlas).

6. "Worship Allah, making religion pure for him" (Quran, al-Zumar 2).

And Allah also says,

"And they are ordained nothing else than to serve Allah, keeping religion pure for Him, as men by nature upright and to establish worship and to pay the poor-due. That is true religion" (Quran, al-Bayyinah 5).

And the Prophet (peace be upon him) added, "Allah has forbidden for the Hell-fire anyone who says, 'There is no one worthy of worship except Allah,' and say so desiring the face [and pleasure] of Allah." (Hadith Recorded by Muslim).
                                               

The Conditions of La ilaha illa-llah Muhammadur Rasoolallah..........Part IV

The seventh condition is love.

7. "Yet of mankind are some who take unto themselves (objects of worship which they set as) rivals to Allah, loving them with a love like (that which is due to) Allah only. However, those who believe are stauncher in their love of Allah" (Quran, al-Baqara 165).

And elsewhere Allah says'

"Say: If your fathers, or your sons, or your brethren, or your wives, or your tribe, or the wealth you have acquired, or merchandise for which you fear that there will be no sale, or dwellings you desire are dearer to you than Allah and His messenger and striving in His way: then wait till Allah brings His command to pass. Allah guides not wrongdoing folk" (Quran, al-Tauba 24).
 
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Whoever has three characteristics has tasted the sweetness of faith. [The first of these] is that he loves Allah and His Messenger more than he loves anyone else..." (Hadith Recorded  by al-Bukhari and Muslim.).

The eighth condition of the shahadah is that the person who makes the shahadah must deny every other object of worship.

8. "And he who rejects false deities and believes in Allah has grasped a firm handhold which will never break" (Quran, al-Baqara 256).

Perhaps the Prophet (peace be upon him) made this point even clearer when he said, "Whoever says there is no one worthy of worship except Allah and denies whatever is worshipped besides Allah, then his wealth and blood are protected and his accounting will be with Allah." (Hadith Recorded  by Muslim.)

    The ninth condition of the shahadah is that the Muslim adheres to the shahadah until he dies. A man spends a long time doing the deeds of the people of Paradise and then he ends his deeds with the deeds of the people of the Hell-fire. And a man spends a long time doing the deeds of the people of the Hell-fire and then he ends his deeds with the deeds of the people of Paradise." (Recorded by Muslim)

In another hadith, the Prophet (peace be upon) said there is a handspan between him and Paradise and then the book [preordainment] overtakes him and he does the actions of the people of Hell and he enters into it" (Hadith Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.)
 
9. "O believers, observe your duty to Allah with right observance, and die not save as Muslims [surrendering yourselves to Allah]" (Quran, ali-Imran 102).

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