THE MEANING OF LAA
ILLAAHA ILLALLAH
All praises are for
Allah, the originator of the heavens and the earth and whatever that exist
between them. The knower of the number of droplets of rain and the knower of
the number of leaves on each tree that exist. I bear witness that He is the
deity that deserve worship and also bear witness bear that our master Muhammad
(May the peace of Allah be upon home) is the messenger and servant of Allah.
Beloved in Islam, the
kind of believe we have about Allah determines our abode in the hereafter.
Monotheism is the key to Jannah! A wrong belief about Allah will lead one into
doom.The polytheist of makkah believed in Allah but wrongly. Allah mentions in
Surah Zumar verse 2the claim of the polytheist. They took besides Allah other
gods but claimed they only used them as a means to get to Allah. This is a
belief in Allah but a wrong one which didnot benefit them.
We Should also know that
the correct belief about Allah is the first foundation of the acceptance of our
deeds.
Which means our deeds are
deemed as worthless without the correct belief in Allah.What is then the
correct belief? What does it mean to say ‘There
is no deity worthy of worship except Allah?’
We earlier on stated that
this statement is the key to Jannah but every key has ridges and these ridges
are specific for each and every lock or door. The belief in Allah also has
ridges and that is what we call the conditions of laailaahailallah. These
conditions carries the meaning of laailaahailallah. There are seven of them and
they are as follows;
1. Ilm (knowledge)
Knowledge of Allah and
knowledge about the nature, concepts and methodology of
Worship are essential to
the practice as well as the understanding of Islam. The beneficial knowledge is
the one that leads to complete disassociation from false deities and to the
devotion of intentions to Allah alone. Allah, the MosHigh, says “
“And know that none has the right to be
worshipped but Allah and ask forgiveness for your sins, and also for the sin of
believing men and believing women. And Allah knows well your moving about, and
your place of rest in your home”
(Qur’an, soorat Muhammad, 47:19).
The messenger Allah also
said “He who died knowing (fully
well) that there is no true God worthy of being worshipped except Allah entered
al-Jannah (Paradise).”[Collected
by Muslim].
You see in both
statements emphasis is laid on knowledge and not just saying it.
2. Certainty (Al-Yaqeen)
The testimony has to be
made without any suspicion regarding its meaning. Allah, the Exalted, says:
“Only those are the believers who have
believed in Allah and His Messenger and never since doubted” .(Qur’an,
soorat al-Hujuraat, 49:15).
The messenger of Allah
also said ““I bear witness that there is
no true God worthy of being worshipped except Allah, and I am His Messenger.
The slave of Allah who would meet Him without harboring any doubt about his
(testimony) would enter al-Jannah (Paradise).”[Collected
by Muslim]. We learn from these texts that the one who doubts Allah has no
Islam!
3. Sincerity (Al-Ikhlaas)
The intention of
accepting Islam and performing all acts of worship must be purely devoted to
Allah: Say, (O Muhammad): Verily, I am commanded to worship Allah (alone) by
obeying Him and doing religious deeds sincerely for Allah’s sake only and not to show off, and not to
set up rivals with Allah in worship.”(Qur’an, soorat AZ- Zumar, 39:11).
The messenger of Allah
also said ““Allah has forbidden the Fire
upon one who says laailaahailallah seeking by this the Face of Allah.” [An agreed upon hadith]. We shouldn’t be like those who said a statement because
everybody was saying it. Like the hadith the of the Man in his grave who is
asked about the prophet and his response was “
I heard the people saying statement and I said what they said” which means he did for the sake of other
than Allah and his abode will be Jahannam.
May Allah save us from
Jahannam
4. Truthfulness (As-Sidq)
Truthfulness paves the
way for a meaningful understanding of this declaration. It strengthens the
drive of man towards achieving knowledge about his Creator, Allaah. The
hypocrites utter the declaration, but they conceal rejection in their hearts:
“They
said with their tongues what is not in their Hearts.”(Qur’an, soorat al-Fath, 48:11). The heart is like
the king and the limbs are the soldiers. The Prophet said: “Truly there is a piece of flesh in the body
if it became good (reformed) the whole body becomes good but if it gets spoilt
the whole body becomes spoilt.”[Part
of a hadeeth collected by Al-Bukhaaree& Muslim].
The heart which attains
this is called Qalb as- Saleem, Allah said ““The
Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail except him who brings to Allaah
a clean heart.”(Qur’an,
soorat ash-Shu’araa’,
26: 88-89).
5. Love (Al-Mahabah)
The messenger of Allah
said “Whoever possesses (the
following) three qualities will relish the sweetness (delight) of Eemaan
(Faith): The one to whom Allaah and His Messenger becomes dearer than anything
else; that he loves a person for Allaah alone (i.e. to purely seek Allaah and
His Pleasure); that he hates to revert to Kufr (disbelief) after Allaah has
rescued him from it as he hates to be thrown into Hell.”[Collected
by Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim]. "And of mankind are some who take (for
worship) others besides Allaah as rivals (to Allaah). They love them as they
love Allaah. But those who believe love Allaah more (than anything else)."
(Qur'an, soorat al-Baqarah, 2:165). Love necessitates obedience! If we always
fall in our obedience to Allah, then it means our love for him is weak!
6. Compliance (Al-Inqiyaad)
The testimony is
fulfilled by obedience to Allaah by safeguarding against what Allaah forbids: “It is not for a believer, man or woman, when
Allaah and his Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any option
in their decision. And whoever disobeys Allaah and his Messenger, he has indeed
strayed in a plain error.”[Qur’an, soorat al-Ahzaab, 33:36]. The decrees of
Allaah and His Messenger are not subject to human evaluation. The Message is a
Revelation. What it contains is for the benefit of man. Therefore, man’s submission in Islam is for his own good.
And the last condition is
Acceptance
7. Acceptance (al-Qubool)
It is not enough to
recognize the greatness of Islam and that it is the Truth, but this recognition
must be ascertained by humble acceptance and humility. The adherence to the
meaning of this declaration safeguards the believer from false pride, arrogance
and disdainfulness.
The Muslim must realize
that this declaration stands against bigoted and blind imitation and calls for
an acceptance of the teachings of Islam according to the understanding of those
who followed the correct path. They are the companions and those who follow
their footsteps until the day of resurrection. This path is known as the Path
of as-Salafus-Saalih (righteous predecessors).
Allah said ““Truly when it was said to them:
laailaahaillal-laah (None has the right to be worshipped but Allaah), they
puffed themselves up with pride (i.e. denied it).”(Qur’an, soorat as-Saafaat, 37:35).
Beloved in Islam these
conditions move together! Is either you have all of them or you have NONE at
all!
The combination of these
conditions represents the true meaning of LaaIlaahaillallah.
We Should ask ourselves
if we've built up these conditions in our heart and in our actions!
We are carving our own
keys of the hereafter!
If we've found these
qualities in us, then our deeds may be in peril!
Two kinds of doors will
exist in the hereafter! The doors of Jannah and the doors of Jahannam.
If your key does not open
Jannah, it'll open Jahannam!
Let's carve the right
keys by acquiring and putting into actions these conditions into practice.
My last words will be
that, Allah has given us the choice to choose our abodes in the hereafter
depending on our actions. Ask yourself as you sleep today, Have I carved my key to Jannah?
May Allah guide and
protect us.WassalamualaikumWarahmatullah
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