البـــــوابـــة
FIFTH condition is TRUTHFULNESS, as opposed to hypocrisy and
dishonesty. This means that when we say the shahadah, we are saying it
honestly. We actually mean it. We are not lying when it comes to our
testimony of faith.
The Prophet (peace be upon his) said, "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." (Recorded by al-Bukhari
and Muslim.)
We are all familiar with those who say the testimony of faith yet they
are not saying it honestly. They do not believe in it but they are simply
saying it in order to protect themselves or to get some gain from doing so.
These are the hypocrites. Allah has described them in the opening of the
Quran with the following words, "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 believ, 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 their because they lie" (al-baqara 8-10).
Obviously, the shahadah of thse who become Muslims simply to benefit
from being Musim and not because they believe in Islam will be rejected
by Allah in the Hereafter. They will face a painful punishment due to
their lying.
The SIXTH condition is SINCERITY (or ikhlas). That is, when we make
the sahahadah, we must do so solely for the sak of Allah. We must not do
it for any other reason. And we nust not do it for anyone else's sake. In
this manner, the meaning of sincerity is opposite of Skirk or ascribing
partners with Allah. We became and remainMuslims solely for Allah's sake.
Allah says in the Quran, "Worship Allah, making religion pure for him"
(al-Zumar 2). And Allah also says, "And they are ordained not 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"
(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." (Recorded by Muslim).
This is something that we should think about. But especially those
of us who grew up in Muslim families and were born Muslim. We should make
it very claer to ourselves that we are Muslims only for the sake of Allah.
We are not Muslims for the sake of our parents, friends, family or
community. It must be claer in our minds that we are Muslims for the sake
of Allah first, last and only.
One of the signs that we are Muslims for the sake of Allah is that we
do whatever Allah asks of us, regardless of what anybody else desires or
wants from us. That is, in the same way that we are Muslims solely for the
sake of Allah, all of our acctions are done for the sake of Allah.
However, sometimes one begins to wonder whether this condition is met
by some people. Some people from the Muslim world practice Islam to the
extent that it is pleasing to their families. If there is anything in
Islam that their families do not like- although their families are Muslim
and therefore they actually should like all of Islam- then they do not
practice that aspect of Islam. One common example of that nature is mixing
between men and women. Sometimes a brother, here in the U.S., will not
mix with women and his wife will remain separate from the men. Yet, when
they return to their homes, because this is not pleasing to their families
who want to mix between men and women, they easily, simply and happily
compromise their religion for the sake of their parents. These people
must sincerely ask themselves why they are Muslims. Are they Muslims for
the sake of their parents and therefore whatever thei parents like they
will do and whatever their parents do not like they won't do? Or are they
Muslims for the sake of Allah and therefore whatever Allah dislike they
will not do and whatever Allah is pleased with they do?
_______________________________________________________________________
THE CONDITIONS OF La ilaha illa-llah..........PART IV
[The Prerequisites of the Declaration of Faith]
Br. Jamaal al-Din Zarabozo wrote:
The SEVENTH condition is LOVE. That is, the believer loves this
shahadah, he loves in accordance with the shahadah, he loves tha
implications and requirements of the shahadah and he loves those who act
and strive for the sake of this shahadah. This is a necessary condition of
the shahadah. If a person makes the shahadah but does not love the shahadah
and what it stands for, then, in fact, his faith is not complete. It is not
the faith of a true believer. And if he loves something more that this
shahadah or if he loves something more than Allah, then he has negated his
shahadah. The true believer, the one meeting the conditions of the shahadah
puts no one whatsoever as an equal to Allah in his love.
Allah says in the Quran, "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" (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"
(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..."
(Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.).
This is one of the most important aspects of Islam yet, for some reason,
it is missing from the lives of many Muslims. They act in Islam as if Islam
were a chore instead of doing things out of the love of Allah. When Allah
orders us to do something, like bear witness to the faith, we should realize
that that thing is plaesing to Allah and, therefore, out of our love for
Allah, we should be very pleased to do the acts that are pleasing to Allah.
But, as I said, this feeling is missing from many, many Muslims today.
The EIGHT condition of the shahadah is that the person who makes the
shahadah must DENY EVERY OTHER OBJECT OF WORSHIP. Although that is claer in
the words of the testimony of faith, it does not seem clear to everyone who
makes that testimony. Therefore, I am mentioning it explicity here.
In Surah al-Baqara, Allah clearly reminds us of this important aspect
of the shahadah, the shahadah is not merely an affirmation but it is both
and affirmation and a negation. Allah states, "And he who rejects false
deities and believes in Allah has grasped a firm handhold which will never
break" (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."
(Recrded by Muslim.)
Although this condition sholud be obious to everyone who says the words
of shahadah, you can still find Muslims who say the shahadah and then make
acts of worship for beings or things other than Allah. You will find them
going to the graveyards and worshipping those in the graves. They will
perform acts of worship, not for the sake of Allah, but for the sake of the
dead "saints" in the grave. What kind of shahadah have these people made? Do
you realy think that their shahadah will mean anything on the Day of Judgment
as long as they believe that acts of worship may be done for other
than Allah?
The NINTH condition of the shahadah is that the Muslim ADHERS to the
shahadah until he dies. This is must if the shahadah is to mean anything
for you in the Hereafter. You ca not rest on your laurels of what you amy
have done in the past. No, indeed, the shahadah must be your banner until
your death. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, " 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 Muslims) In another
hadith, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "By the One whom there is no
other God, one of you does the actions of Paradise until there is just a
handspan between him and Paradise and then the book [preordainment] overtakes
him and he does tha actions of the people of Hell and he enters into it"
(Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.)
And Allah says in the Quran, "O believers, observe your duty to Allah
with right observance, and die not save as Muslims [surrendering yourselves
to Allah]" (ali-Imran 102).
Dear brothers and sisters, these are the conditions of the shahadah.
These are the aspects of the shahadah that each and every one of us should
look to in ourselves and ask ourselves, "Is my shahadah meeting those
requirements? Am I saying it sincerely, honestly and out of love for Allah?
Am I saying it based on what it really means? Am I denying all other false
objects of worship?..."
These questions we should ask ourselve now before we meet Allah. Allah
willing, we shall ask ourselves these questions now and we shall find that
we have all the right answers for them. Or, if we find we have some
deficiency, we shall work to remove that deficiency. Such that, by Allah's
mercy, in the Hereafter, our shahadah will be the key to Paradise for us and
the gates of Paradise will swing wide open for us and we will be able to live
forever in the bounties of Paradise, with Allah being pleased with us.
Again, it is not simply a matter of knowing these conditions. Indeed,one
can meet many Muslims who have these conditions memorized, yet when one looks
to their deeds and behavior, one can see that these conditions have no effect
on them. This means, in fact, no matter how well he konws and can rattle off
these conditions, he, in fact, is not fulfilling tham. In the Hereafter,
his knowledge of these conditions will be of no avail to him. Indeed, his
knowledge will be a proof against hin as he clearly knows what the conditions
are that he mut satisfy yet he has shown that he is not willing to satisfy
them in his life.
dishonesty. This means that when we say the shahadah, we are saying it
honestly. We actually mean it. We are not lying when it comes to our
testimony of faith.
The Prophet (peace be upon his) said, "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." (Recorded by al-Bukhari
and Muslim.)
We are all familiar with those who say the testimony of faith yet they
are not saying it honestly. They do not believe in it but they are simply
saying it in order to protect themselves or to get some gain from doing so.
These are the hypocrites. Allah has described them in the opening of the
Quran with the following words, "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 believ, 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 their because they lie" (al-baqara 8-10).
Obviously, the shahadah of thse who become Muslims simply to benefit
from being Musim and not because they believe in Islam will be rejected
by Allah in the Hereafter. They will face a painful punishment due to
their lying.
The SIXTH condition is SINCERITY (or ikhlas). That is, when we make
the sahahadah, we must do so solely for the sak of Allah. We must not do
it for any other reason. And we nust not do it for anyone else's sake. In
this manner, the meaning of sincerity is opposite of Skirk or ascribing
partners with Allah. We became and remainMuslims solely for Allah's sake.
Allah says in the Quran, "Worship Allah, making religion pure for him"
(al-Zumar 2). And Allah also says, "And they are ordained not 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"
(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." (Recorded by Muslim).
This is something that we should think about. But especially those
of us who grew up in Muslim families and were born Muslim. We should make
it very claer to ourselves that we are Muslims only for the sake of Allah.
We are not Muslims for the sake of our parents, friends, family or
community. It must be claer in our minds that we are Muslims for the sake
of Allah first, last and only.
One of the signs that we are Muslims for the sake of Allah is that we
do whatever Allah asks of us, regardless of what anybody else desires or
wants from us. That is, in the same way that we are Muslims solely for the
sake of Allah, all of our acctions are done for the sake of Allah.
However, sometimes one begins to wonder whether this condition is met
by some people. Some people from the Muslim world practice Islam to the
extent that it is pleasing to their families. If there is anything in
Islam that their families do not like- although their families are Muslim
and therefore they actually should like all of Islam- then they do not
practice that aspect of Islam. One common example of that nature is mixing
between men and women. Sometimes a brother, here in the U.S., will not
mix with women and his wife will remain separate from the men. Yet, when
they return to their homes, because this is not pleasing to their families
who want to mix between men and women, they easily, simply and happily
compromise their religion for the sake of their parents. These people
must sincerely ask themselves why they are Muslims. Are they Muslims for
the sake of their parents and therefore whatever thei parents like they
will do and whatever their parents do not like they won't do? Or are they
Muslims for the sake of Allah and therefore whatever Allah dislike they
will not do and whatever Allah is pleased with they do?
_______________________________________________________________________
THE CONDITIONS OF La ilaha illa-llah..........PART IV
[The Prerequisites of the Declaration of Faith]
Br. Jamaal al-Din Zarabozo wrote:
The SEVENTH condition is LOVE. That is, the believer loves this
shahadah, he loves in accordance with the shahadah, he loves tha
implications and requirements of the shahadah and he loves those who act
and strive for the sake of this shahadah. This is a necessary condition of
the shahadah. If a person makes the shahadah but does not love the shahadah
and what it stands for, then, in fact, his faith is not complete. It is not
the faith of a true believer. And if he loves something more that this
shahadah or if he loves something more than Allah, then he has negated his
shahadah. The true believer, the one meeting the conditions of the shahadah
puts no one whatsoever as an equal to Allah in his love.
Allah says in the Quran, "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" (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"
(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..."
(Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.).
This is one of the most important aspects of Islam yet, for some reason,
it is missing from the lives of many Muslims. They act in Islam as if Islam
were a chore instead of doing things out of the love of Allah. When Allah
orders us to do something, like bear witness to the faith, we should realize
that that thing is plaesing to Allah and, therefore, out of our love for
Allah, we should be very pleased to do the acts that are pleasing to Allah.
But, as I said, this feeling is missing from many, many Muslims today.
The EIGHT condition of the shahadah is that the person who makes the
shahadah must DENY EVERY OTHER OBJECT OF WORSHIP. Although that is claer in
the words of the testimony of faith, it does not seem clear to everyone who
makes that testimony. Therefore, I am mentioning it explicity here.
In Surah al-Baqara, Allah clearly reminds us of this important aspect
of the shahadah, the shahadah is not merely an affirmation but it is both
and affirmation and a negation. Allah states, "And he who rejects false
deities and believes in Allah has grasped a firm handhold which will never
break" (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."
(Recrded by Muslim.)
Although this condition sholud be obious to everyone who says the words
of shahadah, you can still find Muslims who say the shahadah and then make
acts of worship for beings or things other than Allah. You will find them
going to the graveyards and worshipping those in the graves. They will
perform acts of worship, not for the sake of Allah, but for the sake of the
dead "saints" in the grave. What kind of shahadah have these people made? Do
you realy think that their shahadah will mean anything on the Day of Judgment
as long as they believe that acts of worship may be done for other
than Allah?
The NINTH condition of the shahadah is that the Muslim ADHERS to the
shahadah until he dies. This is must if the shahadah is to mean anything
for you in the Hereafter. You ca not rest on your laurels of what you amy
have done in the past. No, indeed, the shahadah must be your banner until
your death. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, " 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 Muslims) In another
hadith, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "By the One whom there is no
other God, one of you does the actions of Paradise until there is just a
handspan between him and Paradise and then the book [preordainment] overtakes
him and he does tha actions of the people of Hell and he enters into it"
(Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.)
And Allah says in the Quran, "O believers, observe your duty to Allah
with right observance, and die not save as Muslims [surrendering yourselves
to Allah]" (ali-Imran 102).
Dear brothers and sisters, these are the conditions of the shahadah.
These are the aspects of the shahadah that each and every one of us should
look to in ourselves and ask ourselves, "Is my shahadah meeting those
requirements? Am I saying it sincerely, honestly and out of love for Allah?
Am I saying it based on what it really means? Am I denying all other false
objects of worship?..."
These questions we should ask ourselve now before we meet Allah. Allah
willing, we shall ask ourselves these questions now and we shall find that
we have all the right answers for them. Or, if we find we have some
deficiency, we shall work to remove that deficiency. Such that, by Allah's
mercy, in the Hereafter, our shahadah will be the key to Paradise for us and
the gates of Paradise will swing wide open for us and we will be able to live
forever in the bounties of Paradise, with Allah being pleased with us.
Again, it is not simply a matter of knowing these conditions. Indeed,one
can meet many Muslims who have these conditions memorized, yet when one looks
to their deeds and behavior, one can see that these conditions have no effect
on them. This means, in fact, no matter how well he konws and can rattle off
these conditions, he, in fact, is not fulfilling tham. In the Hereafter,
his knowledge of these conditions will be of no avail to him. Indeed, his
knowledge will be a proof against hin as he clearly knows what the conditions
are that he mut satisfy yet he has shown that he is not willing to satisfy
them in his life.
