Post by maruf on Jan 12, 2005 2:38:28 GMT -5
The Declaration Of Shahadah
This is the Foundation, or the first pillar, of Islam: The statement which brings a person from the darkness of Jahiliya into the light of Islam; the statement that provides the passport for mankind to enter the realm of Islam.
If understood correctly this statement becomes the basis from which the life of a Muslim emanates. This is the statement which the enemies of Islam do not want the Muslim to understand, and, unfortunately, recently their efforts have been successful. However, the true understanding of this statement is spreading very rapidly. This was the statement which was responsible, at first for the persecution of the earlier Muslims and, later, for the great victory of Islam. However, Muslims today recite these words with no effect.
This small statement is made up of two very small, but very important, parts:
There is no God but Allah
The key in understanding this half is in the words "no god ." God means the One who creates, legislates, has to be obeyed, worshipped , from who you take your life style, to whom you submit your will to, from whom you take all your ideas and concepts about life, and according to whose instruction you live your life and treat others. Thus this part of the statement states that there is nothing that possesses these qualities but Allah (swt).
However, if we give any of these powers to any other entity, then that entity becomes our god and we become Mushriks. Unfortunately, today almost the whole world - including the Muslims, either knowingly or unknowingly - have given some of these attributes to the United States of America or to the U.N., which is the tool of the U.S.
If we just look at what the majority of the Muslims are doing we will realize the unfortunate truth of the preceding statement. If some problem befalls the Muslims (and this is not rare), many Masajids will ask the brothers and sisters attending to write letters or make telephone calls to the White House.
Instead of asking help from Allah (swt) we are conditioned to beg for help from the murderers themselves. The rulers in the Muslim countries look up to their Kafir masters for what they should rule by, what should be taught in school, what kind of lifestyle the people should adopt, and so on.
Let us ask the rulers again: Who is your god - Allah (swt) or the United States of America?
Moreover, the Muslim Ummah is led - or misled - by the fatwas of muftis whom Muslims follow blindly out of awe and respect, even if these fatwas are against Islam or have no evidence from the Quran or Sunnah. For example, there are some scholars of Islam who have made dealing in interest halal, in direct contradiction with several Qatai (definite) ayats. By twisting the words of Allah (swt), such scholars have raised themselves to the status of God, and Muslims, by following such scholars blindly, acknowledge and welcome such a self-proclaimed status.
This worshipping of scholars was explained by Allah (swt) in the following ayah as the very mistake that the Christians and the Jews have made until the present day: ( in translation) "They (the people of the book ) have taken their rabbis and priests as lords other than Allah."
This ayah was explained by the Messenger of Allah (saaw), as reported by Tirmidhi on the authority of Adi bin Hatim who was a Christian before accepting Islam.
Adi who had just accepted Islam, heard the Messenger of Allah (saaw) recite the above ayat. He objected, "They do not worship their priests." The Prophet (saaw) replied, "Whatever their priests and rabbis call permissible, they accept as permissible; whatever they declare as forbidden, they consider as forbidden, and thus they worship them."
"Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah"
This half is the declaration of the acceptance of Muhammad Ibn Abdullah (saaw) as the Messenger of Allah. "Messenger of Allah" means that Muhammad (saaw) is the one who received the final message in the form of revelation or wahi.
Since the final message that was revealed to Muhammed (saaw) abrogated all previous messages, we follow him and only him as our example and guide. We do not follow what any other Messenger did or said. For example, we do not sacrifice an animal on Eid ul Adha because of what Prophet Ibrahim (as) did. Instead we sacrifice because the Message delivered by Muhammad (saaw) carries this order and only because he (saaw) asked us to do so.
If we start following what remains of what other Prophets did, then we will not be following Muhammad (saaw) as the final Messenger of Allah, and we will contradict the statement in the shahadah that confirms Muhammad (saaw) as the Messenger.
Furthermore, the truth that we are to follow the path of Muhammad (saaw) as our only path is clarified by the ayat:
"and it is not for a believing man or a believing woman to have any choice in their affair when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, and whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has indeed strayed with a manifest straying." (Al-Ahzab: 36)
It is incumbent that, as Muslims, we understand our shahadah as a statement that distinguishes us from all else so that we can stand behind what we say and avoid presenting a two-faced image of Islam. By contradicting Islam in our actions and beliefs, we maintain the status of the Ummah in a state of limbo, and we run the risk of leading ourselves into shirk.
The Sahabah (raa) and the earlier generations of Muslims understood the fundamental pillar of Islam as a unique idea distinct from all other ideas and beliefs of the society at the time. They did not compromise this idea on any grounds, they did not seek to blend this idea with any other or fit this idea into the existing society as a piece in the puzzle, and they did not add or delete anything from this idea. Rather their understanding of the Islamic Creed developed within them a firm conviction that this idea they carried was the Truth, and this conviction manifested itself in their unshakeable determination to carry Islam to the world. Such a mentality was the reason why the Quraish persecuted the Muslims to unlimited extents.
This is the same understanding that the Kufar are still fighting against. This is the understanding which each one of us should have. We should put this understanding in practice and view the affairs of life solely through the lens of Islam. We should, if we declare ourselves Muslims and claim to stand behind what we believe in, take only Allah (swt) as our Lord and nothing else - be it a person, a group of people, an organization, a piece of land, a book , an idea, a philosophy, or even our own whims and desires.
If we take any entity other than Allah (swt) as our god, then we have committed shirk and have become Mushriks in the sight of Allah (swt). Let us forget whatever we have followed in our past and, without feeling ashamed or discouraged, understand the basics of Islam again and apply this understanding in our daily affairs.
Only the correct understanding of Islam and its practical implementation will save us from the unimaginable pain of Hell-fire and lead us into the eternal pleasure of Jannah. In addition, only this understanding and its application will restore the glory of the Muslim Ummah and will enable the Muslims to fulfill their responsibilities as the caretakers of humanity.
This is the Foundation, or the first pillar, of Islam: The statement which brings a person from the darkness of Jahiliya into the light of Islam; the statement that provides the passport for mankind to enter the realm of Islam.
If understood correctly this statement becomes the basis from which the life of a Muslim emanates. This is the statement which the enemies of Islam do not want the Muslim to understand, and, unfortunately, recently their efforts have been successful. However, the true understanding of this statement is spreading very rapidly. This was the statement which was responsible, at first for the persecution of the earlier Muslims and, later, for the great victory of Islam. However, Muslims today recite these words with no effect.
This small statement is made up of two very small, but very important, parts:
There is no God but Allah
The key in understanding this half is in the words "no god ." God means the One who creates, legislates, has to be obeyed, worshipped , from who you take your life style, to whom you submit your will to, from whom you take all your ideas and concepts about life, and according to whose instruction you live your life and treat others. Thus this part of the statement states that there is nothing that possesses these qualities but Allah (swt).
However, if we give any of these powers to any other entity, then that entity becomes our god and we become Mushriks. Unfortunately, today almost the whole world - including the Muslims, either knowingly or unknowingly - have given some of these attributes to the United States of America or to the U.N., which is the tool of the U.S.
If we just look at what the majority of the Muslims are doing we will realize the unfortunate truth of the preceding statement. If some problem befalls the Muslims (and this is not rare), many Masajids will ask the brothers and sisters attending to write letters or make telephone calls to the White House.
Instead of asking help from Allah (swt) we are conditioned to beg for help from the murderers themselves. The rulers in the Muslim countries look up to their Kafir masters for what they should rule by, what should be taught in school, what kind of lifestyle the people should adopt, and so on.
Let us ask the rulers again: Who is your god - Allah (swt) or the United States of America?
Moreover, the Muslim Ummah is led - or misled - by the fatwas of muftis whom Muslims follow blindly out of awe and respect, even if these fatwas are against Islam or have no evidence from the Quran or Sunnah. For example, there are some scholars of Islam who have made dealing in interest halal, in direct contradiction with several Qatai (definite) ayats. By twisting the words of Allah (swt), such scholars have raised themselves to the status of God, and Muslims, by following such scholars blindly, acknowledge and welcome such a self-proclaimed status.
This worshipping of scholars was explained by Allah (swt) in the following ayah as the very mistake that the Christians and the Jews have made until the present day: ( in translation) "They (the people of the book ) have taken their rabbis and priests as lords other than Allah."
This ayah was explained by the Messenger of Allah (saaw), as reported by Tirmidhi on the authority of Adi bin Hatim who was a Christian before accepting Islam.
Adi who had just accepted Islam, heard the Messenger of Allah (saaw) recite the above ayat. He objected, "They do not worship their priests." The Prophet (saaw) replied, "Whatever their priests and rabbis call permissible, they accept as permissible; whatever they declare as forbidden, they consider as forbidden, and thus they worship them."
"Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah"
This half is the declaration of the acceptance of Muhammad Ibn Abdullah (saaw) as the Messenger of Allah. "Messenger of Allah" means that Muhammad (saaw) is the one who received the final message in the form of revelation or wahi.
Since the final message that was revealed to Muhammed (saaw) abrogated all previous messages, we follow him and only him as our example and guide. We do not follow what any other Messenger did or said. For example, we do not sacrifice an animal on Eid ul Adha because of what Prophet Ibrahim (as) did. Instead we sacrifice because the Message delivered by Muhammad (saaw) carries this order and only because he (saaw) asked us to do so.
If we start following what remains of what other Prophets did, then we will not be following Muhammad (saaw) as the final Messenger of Allah, and we will contradict the statement in the shahadah that confirms Muhammad (saaw) as the Messenger.
Furthermore, the truth that we are to follow the path of Muhammad (saaw) as our only path is clarified by the ayat:
"and it is not for a believing man or a believing woman to have any choice in their affair when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, and whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has indeed strayed with a manifest straying." (Al-Ahzab: 36)
It is incumbent that, as Muslims, we understand our shahadah as a statement that distinguishes us from all else so that we can stand behind what we say and avoid presenting a two-faced image of Islam. By contradicting Islam in our actions and beliefs, we maintain the status of the Ummah in a state of limbo, and we run the risk of leading ourselves into shirk.
The Sahabah (raa) and the earlier generations of Muslims understood the fundamental pillar of Islam as a unique idea distinct from all other ideas and beliefs of the society at the time. They did not compromise this idea on any grounds, they did not seek to blend this idea with any other or fit this idea into the existing society as a piece in the puzzle, and they did not add or delete anything from this idea. Rather their understanding of the Islamic Creed developed within them a firm conviction that this idea they carried was the Truth, and this conviction manifested itself in their unshakeable determination to carry Islam to the world. Such a mentality was the reason why the Quraish persecuted the Muslims to unlimited extents.
This is the same understanding that the Kufar are still fighting against. This is the understanding which each one of us should have. We should put this understanding in practice and view the affairs of life solely through the lens of Islam. We should, if we declare ourselves Muslims and claim to stand behind what we believe in, take only Allah (swt) as our Lord and nothing else - be it a person, a group of people, an organization, a piece of land, a book , an idea, a philosophy, or even our own whims and desires.
If we take any entity other than Allah (swt) as our god, then we have committed shirk and have become Mushriks in the sight of Allah (swt). Let us forget whatever we have followed in our past and, without feeling ashamed or discouraged, understand the basics of Islam again and apply this understanding in our daily affairs.
Only the correct understanding of Islam and its practical implementation will save us from the unimaginable pain of Hell-fire and lead us into the eternal pleasure of Jannah. In addition, only this understanding and its application will restore the glory of the Muslim Ummah and will enable the Muslims to fulfill their responsibilities as the caretakers of humanity.