There is no shahada for believers in Allah & the Last Day, there is ALLEGIANCE..

[theNabster]

This topic  was covered before, but it is good to remind as reminders benefit the believers in Allah & the Last Day...

From my @Twitter feeds -

#Hypocrites
When the hypocrites come to you ˹O Prophet˺, they say, "We bear witness that you are certainly the Messenger of God" - and surely God knows that you are His Messenger—but God bears witness that the hypocrites are truly liars - Qur'an 63:1 Al Munafiqun / The Hypocrites

This is why Muslims have a problem in their words of allegiance as they are the same as those the #Hypocrites made while approaching Prophet Muhammad (P) - on faith, how can one bear witness to something they cannot see or prove? I thought long & hard about this, I am no scholar ./.

But surely wording the allegiance to God by using the words of #Hypocrites is a no go for me - the difference between Jews & Muslims is that the latter do not accept Issa son of Mary & Mohamed as Prophets & Qur'an does state that Mohamed is Prophet & Messenger (nabyi & rasul).

The way I now state on faith the allegiance is:
la illaha illa Allah, Mohamed rasula Allah (no shahada/witnessing, but a statement of faith) -

this should also be amended in the call to prayer (adhan)

saying Mohamed Messenger is OK by Qur'an as there are verses that say so, this also separates Jews & Christians from Muslims which is proper.

I also pray that Allah overlooks this mistake made by scholars, clerics & their followers for centuries.

Scholars must come together & correct this mistake that is a stain on Islam & Muslims -

the allegiance should be:
la illaha illa Allah, Mohamed rasula Allah (no shahada/witnessing, but a statement of faith)
or:
la illaha illa Allah, Qur'an kitabu' Allah.

Allah says in Qur'an He does overlook many things from Believers & I hope in His Mercy He overlooks the #Hypocrites' "witness" addition in the statement of allegiance.

May Allah protect me & brothers believers from idolatry & hypocrisy.

Feed starts here -
https://twitter.com/meNabster/status/996118141687263234

Again to reiterate my stand, I do not accept Talmud & Hadiths as binding neither theologically nor juridically.
I have more trust in Torah (despite rewritings) than in Hadiths.

Both Talmud & Hadiths & other traditions gathered through the ages are to be taken with great caution & could serve as starting points for research by scholars who respect Allah's Truth - As per the verse where Allah asks Believers to listen to what is said & follow the best course thereof.

[theNabster]

Salam,

If you are watching the excellent medieval Turkish TV series Resurrection:Ertugrul you will notice they use the shahada & ameen profusely which I disagree with as I said - here are further posts I made on @Twitter:

The big mistake & main reason the Ottoman Empire floundered & was defeated was the stupid decision of not trusting Science & Engineering, even Guttenberg writing press for printing, listening to ignorant scholars who gave edicts they were Satanic not to be used!

Technology, feats in Science & Engineering have made cowards of most of humanity who now fight behind fortresses & inside bunkers, but the best game changer & game breaker is Allah who will make humans' technology work against them, they can't protect against deadly viruses.

In @DirilisDizisi @TRTErtugrul_EN Resurrection:Ertugrul S03E81 they correctly translate in English the words for the allegiance, but not in the Arabic where they use the shahada -
"There is no god but God. Muhammad is the Messenger of God", or replace God by His preferred Arabic name Allah.

Also the extensive use of the word Amen, ameen, which is nowhere to be seen ever in Qur'an, I stopped using it with concern to its relation to the demonic Egyptian god Amun Ra.
As they say the devil is in the detail, & prayers might be invalidated with the use of Amen each time.

Despite these & other few things I have issues with, being a G-d Only Qur'an Believer, the Series is like a practical teaching of Islam illustrating how it enters the heart of Believers & how it expands naturally & organically through compassion & disbursement of righteous justice.

also ref. Topic: Osman ibn Ertugrul, founder of the Ottoman Empire
https://free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9611362

[Abdul-Hadi]

Greetings and Peace, all 

If memory serves, there is an excellent article on the Shahada available.

Historically, the Shahada served to incorporate people into a growing empire. It was successful in that.

AQ 2:131 When his Lord said to him: "Submit," he said: "I submit to the Lord of the worlds."

If a Shahada is a statement of submission, that is pretty clear! And remember:

AQ 4:125 And who is better in the system than the one who submits himself to God, and he is a good doer, and he follows the creed of Abraham in monotheism? And God took Abraham as a friend.

Regarding bearing witness:

AQ 28:44   And you were not on the western slope when We decreed the command to Moses. You were not a witness.

The problems with the traditional Shahada are that (1) it is nowhere in Al Qur'an, which is complete, fully detailed, enough for a believer, etc. (2) It mentions a person, albeit a prophet along with ALLAH; consider AQ 40:12 and AQ 12:106. (3) It distinguishes one prophet, and we are commanded not to make any distinction between prophets; see AQ 2:136, 2:285, 3:84 and 4:152. (4) The traditional Shahada bears witness to something that has not been directly experienced by the "witness" as in AQ 28:44. (5) 63:1 hints that the traditional Shahada is not acceptable. (6) The traditional Shahada is what we found our forebears doing?  AQ 2:170, 5:104, 7:28, 26:24, and 31:21 put the nail in that coffin. (7) Lastly, not only is the traditional Shahada not found in AQ, but there is no requirement for it listed in AQ.

May the Almighty see fit to guide all seekers



~Abdul-Hadi

[tlihawa]

Salamunalaykum,
Regarding the shahada, I suggest to follow Quran teachings,

6:19   Say: "Which is the greatest testimony <shahadatan>?" Say: "God is witness between me and you, and He has inspired to me this Qur'an that I may warn you with it and whoever it reaches. Do you truly witness that with God are other gods?" Say: "I do not bear witness!" Say: "He is only One god, and I am innocent of what you have set up!"

This is the greatest testimony <shahadatan> according to Quran, so no need for us to invent another shahada.

Regarding Muhammad's apostleship, Allah is enough as a witness, not us, not the people.

4:79   Any good that befalls you is due to God, and any evil that befalls you is due to yourself. We have sent you as a messenger to the people and God is enough as a witness.

The disbelievers will say,

13:43   And those who reject say: "You are not a messenger." Say: "God is enough as a witness between me and you; the One who has the knowledge of the Book."

And the hypocrites will say,

63:1   When the hypocrites come to you they say: "We bear witness that you are the messenger of God." And God knows that you are His messenger, and God bears witness that the hypocrites are liars.


There was a time when the prophet was surrounded by hypocrites, and unfortunately the prophet did not know who they were.

9:101   And from among the Arabs around you are hypocrites, and from among the people of the city, they persist in hypocrisy. You do not know them, but We know them. We will punish them twice, then they will be returned to a great punishment.

It was these hypocrites who change the words of the Prophet according to their wishes,

4:81   And they say: "Obedience" but when they come out from being with you a group of them prepares for other than what you have said, and God records what they planned. So turn away from them and put your trust in God. God is enough for your trust.

because the prophet did not know who the hypocrites were, so Allah revealed their characteristics, their sayings,

9:64   The hypocrites fear that a chapter will be sent down which will expose what is in their hearts. Say: "Mock, for God will bring out what you fear."

And Allah then sent down Surah Al Munafiqun, to reveal who they were. Allah didn't mention their names, but He revealed what they will do, and what they will say, for example,

63:1   When the hypocrites come to you they say: "We bear witness that you are the messenger of God." And God knows that you are His messenger, and God bears witness that the hypocrites are liars.

From 6:19, Regarding Muhammad's apostleship, we know that God is enough for the witness, not the people. They changed the 6:19 to their own words as described in 63:1.

And then the Prophet became aware of who was a hypocrite just by looking at the way they made their shahada which was not in accordance with 6:19.

And as we know that this shahada was then passed on to many generations after it. With this we can distinguish between the teachings of the Qur'an and which are the teachings of the hypocrites.

Peace

[theNabster]

Salam
Agreed with both posts above.

Still what would be the best statement of allegiance?

Some say la illaha illa Allah is enough, others add Mohamed rasul allah -
I have no problem with either as either can be referenced several times in Qur'an.

Stating that Mohammad is Messenger is not discrimination against other Messengers,
it just qualifies further that the person accepts him as Messenger which discriminates one from being a Yahud or Nassarah who both today do not accept Mohamed as Messenger,

it is the word shahada/witness that I am firmly opposed to use with matters of the hidden/unseen, one cannot be witness to what one cannot see or prove, etc...

[jkhan]

I reopened this topic to present my comprehensive stance pertaining to the statement "la ilaha illa Alla Mohamed Rasool Allah" or just "la ilaha illa Alla" with the wording that "I bear witness or I testify"...

No way I would make these statements with the wording 'I bear witness" But I will always say "Rabbu Allah / Our Lord is Allah".. if I translate in my understanding.. Our/My Dignitary/Lord/One who commands (Rabb) is the Deity/The God/The Supreme Being..
I wont TESTIFY this but I believe this.. I like to follow 2:285 by using the word BELIEVE.. So rather I would SAY Rabbu Allah and not I would TESTIFY..
Bring a single SHAHADA verse within the Quran where you can testify/witness anything while it is only a faith.. Based on faith we can't testify... But one can indeed TESTIFY in this manner.. for example... One person is comprehensive of the original book Torah or Injeel and suddenly he happens to read the book of the Quran and if he is convinced he can Testify that this Quran is indeed from the same Lord as of the Torah and Injeel.. His testimony is based on two other books.. Testimony should have valid criteria.. You can say .. I believe / I assume / I think / I am sure / I am confident that he is the murderer but you can't say I TESTIFY that he is the murderer without ?

There is no TESTIMONY as "Ashadu anna La ilaha Illa Alla" or with the addition of Mohamed.. all inventions.. But you can SAY la ilaha illa Allah but you can't TESTIFY..