This occasion often attracts more than the two required witnesses and sometimes includes a celebration to welcome the convert into their new faith. Recitation of the Shahada in front of witnesses is also the first and only formal step in conversion to Islam. The five canonical daily prayers each include a recitation of the Shahada. It is whispered by the father into the ear of a newborn child, and it is whispered into the ear of a dying person. Sunnis, Shia Twelvers, as well as Isma’ilis consider it as one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Recitation of the Shahadah is the most common statement of faith for Muslims. Window with the Shahadah, the Muslim profession of faith, carved stucco and coloured glass, Egypt, 1800-80. In a well-known hadith, Muhammad defines Islam as witnessing that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is God’s messenger, giving of alms ( zakat), performing the ritual prayer, fasting during the month of Ramadan, and making a pilgrimage to the Kaaba: the Five Pillars of Islam are inherent in this declaration of faith. The Shahada is a statement of both ritual and worship. ![]() The verse reminds Muslims that they accept not only the prophecy of Muhammad but also the long line of prophets who preceded him. While the first part is seen as a cosmic truth, the second is specific to Islam, as it is understood that members of the older Abrahamic religions do not view Muhammad as one of their prophets. Islam’s monotheistic nature is reflected in the first sentence of the Shahada, which declares belief in the oneness of God and that he is the only entity truly worthy of worship. The second sentence of the Shahada indicates the means by which God has offered guidance to human beings. It appears in these forms about 30 times in the Quran, and never attached with the other parts of the Shahada in Sunni or Shia Islam or “in conjunction with another name”. In the Quran, the first statement of the Shahadah takes the form lā ʾilāha ʾillā llāh twice (37:35, 47:19), and ʾallāhu lā ʾilāha ʾillā huwa (God, there is no deity but Him) much more often. It appears in the shorter form lā ʾilāha ʾillā huwa (There is no deity but Him) in many places. In Shia Islam, the Shahada also has a third part, a phrase concerning Ali, the first Shia Imam and the fourth Rashid caliph of Sunni Islam: وَعَلِيٌّ وَلِيُّ ٱللَّٰهِ ( wa ʿalīyun walīyu llāh, which translates to “Ali is the wali of God”. In Sunni Islam, the Shahada has two parts: lā ʾilāha ʾillā -llāh (There is no deity except God), and muḥammadun rasūlu llāh (Muhammad is the messenger of God), which are sometimes referred to as the first Shahada and the second Shahada. The first statement of the Shahada is also known as the tahlīl. The expression al-šahīd ( ٱلْشَّهِيد, “the Witness”) is used in the Quran as one of the “titles of God”. The Islamic creed is also called, in the dual form, šahādatān ( شَهَادَتَان, literally “two testimonies”). The noun šahādah ( شَهَادَة), from the verbal root šahida ( شَهِدَ) meaning “to observe, witness, testify”, translates as “testimony” in both the everyday and the legal senses. Muhammad is the messenger of God.”-the first, lower-case occurrence of “god” or “deity” is a translation of the Arabic word ilah, while the capitalized second and third occurrences of “God” are translations of the Arabic word Allah, meaning “the God”. In the English translation-”There is no god but God. I bear witness that there is no deity but God, I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God, and I bear witness that Ali is the vicegerent of God. ![]() Shia Islam may include the third testimony of: ![]() I bear witness that there is no deity but God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God. The above two statements are commonly prefaced by the phrase ašhadu ʾan (“I bear witness that”), yielding the full form:
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