Dr. Rubina Aslam Khan
In connection with the reception of Ramadan, we will present an article about an article of faith or surah every day. Insha’Allah. Bismillah-ir-Rahmanir-Rahim *”La Ilaha Illa Allah” Meaning, Purpose, Position and Virtue* In Laa’ilah, laaye negation is gender and Allah is its name and khabar is mukhdhuff, i.e., la ilaha haq (there is no god) illal Allah (but Allah) it is an exception from khabar (truth). Allah means the one who has a heart in worship.
That is, be inclined towards Him and turn to Him for gain or harm. This word is a combination of two things, affirmation and negation. Denial of divinity from all beings and confirmation of divinity for Allah. That is, Allah is the true God, and apart from Him, all the gods that the polytheists have made are false. Allaah be true, and He is Allah, and He is Allaah. Translation: This is because the truth belongs to Allah, and those whom they invoke besides Him are false and Verily, Allah is the Exalted, the Great (Surah Al-Hajj, verse 62). This synthesis, in which there is first negation, then affirmation, (there is no god except Allah) is more powerful, effective and more clear to the meaning than the positive synthesis (Allah is God). Because the positive composition confirms the divinity of Allah but does not negate the divinity of Allah except (illal Allah), while the composition of La Ilaha Illa Allah makes divinity special only for Allah and negating the divinity of others. This is the reason that wherever there is a command to worship Allah in the Holy Qur’an, it is also generally denied to worship others. As He said: “And worship Allah, and associate nothing with Him, and be kind to parents and relatives, orphans, the needy, relatives, neighbors, strangers, and be kind to the companions and the travelers and all those who are in your possession, for Allah loves not the arrogant, the boastful, and the bigot. (4:36). Translation: There is no compulsion in the matter of religion; indeed guidance is distinguished from error. So whoever does not believe in Satan and believes in Allah, he has taken hold of a strong circle which will not be broken, and Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. (2:256) “And We sent messengers to every community, so to worship God and avoid idols. So there are some of them whom God has guided, and some on whom error has been proved. So walk on the earth and see what the fate of those who denied. (Sura al-Nahl, verse 36). What is taghut which is commanded to be avoided? Whoever is worshiped or obeyed other than Allah is taghut. It is necessary to worship and obey Allah as well as refrain from the worship of Taghut.
The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said in a hadith: “Whoever says, “There is no god but Allah, and denies all those who are worshiped except Allah, his wealth and life are saved.” (Sahih Muslim) And every prophet gave the same message to his people: “Verily, We sent Nuh to his people, so he said, “O my people, worship Allah, you have no god but He; I fear for you the chastisement of a great day. (Surah Al-Araf, verse 59) That is why when the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to the polytheists of Makkah, “Accept La ilaha illa Allah”, they said: “Has He made many gods only one god? Verily, this is a strange thing?” (Surah saad verse 5). From this, it was found that the polytheists had understood that the confession of this word meant the worship of one God and the negation of the worship of all idols. And they didn’t like that. So they refrained from confessing it. *Requirement and requisite of “La Ilaha Illa Allah”* However, the meaning of “La Ilaha Illa Allah” requires that only one Allah should be worshiped and all other self-proclaimed gods should be rejected. Whether they are in the form of idols or solar and moon.
Be it ahjars and ashjars (trees) or graves in the form of tombs and shrines. The worship of Allah alone will be fulfilled only when all of them are negated. It is in this denial and refusal that monotheism is confirmed. It also refutes those who say, “Don’t deny anyone, just express your position and viewpoint in a positive way. The word “La Ilaha Illa Allah” teaches us that it is not enough to confirm the truth alone, but it is also necessary to deny the falsehood, without which the truth does not come out prominently. For example, the light of the sun is evident only when the darkness of the night takes over. In the darkness of the night, the sun is unable to scatter its radiance. *Status and position of “La Ilaha Illa Allah”* Imam Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “This is the word because of which the heavens and the earth are established, all creation has been created because of it. Therefore, scales will be installed on the day of stay. And registers (deeds) will be kept, the result of this word is the existence of Heaven and Hell. Because of this, the creation of the believer and the disbeliever are divided into two parts, this is the intention of the creation and the reward and the eagle, there will be questions and calculations about it and there will be queries and questions on it On the basis of this, the Qibla was appointed and the nation was established. For this reason, swords came out of the sheaths in the field of jihad.
This is the right of Allah over all the slaves, this word is Islam and the key is Dar-ul-Salam (Paradise). About this, first and last, all human beings will be saved. And no one will dare to speak before Allah until two things are answered from him. (1) Whom did you worship? (2) And what answer did you give to the Prophets? The answer to the first question is the confession and acceptance of “La Ilaha Illa Allah” and accordingly, only His worship and obedience and the answer to the second question is the confession of “Muhammad” and the action accordingly.
(Zaad al-Ma’ad, 1/34) This word distinguishes between disbelief and Islam. Whoever confesses “La Ilaha Illa Allah”, he is a Muslim and he who does not confess it is a kaafir, and whoever is a Muslim, his life and property are respected, and the one who is a kafir, his life and property are invalid, i.e. both his things are lawful for the Muslims at the time of battle. Allah created human beings and jinns for the sake of this word. As in the Qur’an: Meaning: And I have created jinn and man only for my worship. (Surah Zariyat verse 56). And “La Ilaha Illa Allah” is the heading and title of this purpose of creation. This is the purpose sending of all the messengers and the first word. “And We have not sent before you a Messenger to whom We have not revealed that there is no god but Me, so worship Me.”(surah Al-Anbia verse 25). This shows the importance of this word in religion and in human life. This is the first duty of the slaves, so this is the foundation on which all actions are built. *Virtue of “La Ilaha Illa Allah”* The virtue of this word is evident from the following hadiths: In a hadith, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: The best mention zikr is “La Ilaha Illa Allah” and the best dua is “Alhamdulillah”.
(Jami al-Tirmidhi) In another hadith: The best supplication is the prayer of the Day of ‘Arafah, and the best thing that I and the prophets said before me is “La ilaha illa Allah”. He is alone has no partner, to Him is the kingdom, and to Him is praise, and He has been power over all things. (Jami al-Tirmidhi) The third hadeeth, which deals with the calculation on the Day of Resurrection, also confirms the merits of this word. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will save one of my ummati. Allah will open ninety-nine registers and place them in front of him. Then Allah will say, “Do you deny any of the things mentioned in it, or do you think my protectors have wronged you?” Why not, we have a good deed of yours, surely there will be no injustice to you today.
Then a piece of paper will be taken out on which it will be written. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. Allah will say: “Both are weighed, so behold, the Ummati will say: “O my Lord, what is the status of this piece in front of these registers?” So all the registers will be placed in one side of the scales and a piece of paper with the word shahadat will be placed in the other. But the piece of paper will be heavier and the registers will be lighter. Nothing can be heavier than the name of Allah. (Tirmidhi) In another hadith, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Noah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) bequeathed two things to his son, one of which was that I command you to do “La Ilaha illa Allah”. Then he explained the following virtues:
“If the seven heavens and the seven earths are placed in one fold and ‘La Ilaha illa Allah’ in the other, then this other side will become heavier because of this word, and if the seven heavens and the seven earths are one closed circle, then ‘La Ilaha Illa Allah’ will break them. (Musnad Ahmad 2/170, Series of Hadiths al-Sahih al-Libani, 1/259, h134) From the above hadiths, the virtue of the word “La Ilaha Illa Allah” is clear. *Conditions for “La Ilaha Illa Allah” to be beneficial* Every action has certain manners and conditions, unless they are kept in mind, that action is not fruitful and beneficial. Similarly, “La Ilaha Illa Allah” has great merit, but there are some conditions for its benefit in this world and the Hereafter. Unless those conditions are fulfilled, it will not get the virtues and benefits mentioned in the Holy Qur’an and Hadith. These terms are as follows: 1) The reader should be aware of its meaning and its positive and negative meaning so that he can follow its requirements. 2) The reader should be sure, he should not be in doubt. 3) He should be sincere, that is, he should do everything for the pleasure of Allah, and he should not involve or make partner anyone else with Him. 4) In his confession and affirmation, he should be truthful and understand his requirements. Like the hypocrites, it should not be expressed only by tongue, nor by ignorance, it should deviate from its requirements. *The Benefits and Blessings of “La Ilaha Illa Allah”* When all the believers of “La Ilaha Illa Allah” fully understand its meaning and meaning and implement its requirements, then they are all worshippers and admirers of one God. This unity of faith and action is the greatest fruit and benefit of monotheism. With this, all Muslims will be united in the same line, like the grains of tasbeeh, and will be each other’s arms and supports against the enemy.
As Allaah says in the Qur’an to the Muslims: Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): Translation: And hold fast to the rope of Allah together, and do not be divided, and remember the mercy of Allah when you were enemies to one another, and He made you rejoice in your hearts, and you became brothers by His mercy, and you had reached the edge of the pit of fire, so He saved you from it. Thus Allah revealed His signs to you. He speaks openly so that you may be guided (Surah Al-Imran, verse 103). It is not possible to follow this command of the Holy Qur’an without adopting monotheism. When the Companions (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon them) adopted this belief in the true sense, they became one, while at first they were divided, they became brothers, while at first they were enemies of each other, they became merciful to each other, while at first they were thirsty for each other’s blood. Allaah said about their mutual love and affection: Translation: And He put in their hearts all that is in the earth, if You had expended all that is in the earth, You could not have put in their hearts, but Allah has put affection in them. Verily He is Affectionate and Wise. (Surah Al-Anfaal verse 63). How did Allah bring this affection through this belief in monotheism? It enabled them to adopt this faith and this word of monotheism became a source of their unity and mutual affection. In the Holy Qur’an, Allah mentions this at another place like this: Translation: And hold fast to the rope of Allah together, and do not be divided, and remember the mercy of Allah when you were enemies to one another, and He made you rejoice in your hearts, and you became brothers by His mercy, and you had reached the edge of the pit of fire, so He saved you from it. Thus Allah revealed His signs to you. He speaks openly so that you may be guided (Surah Al-Imran, verse 103). In another place, Allah testified to their mutual affection and kindness as follows:
Translation: Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and those who are with him are severe towards the disbelievers, merciful to one another, and you will see them bowing down and prostrating, seeking Allah’s bounty and His pleasure. Their identity is a sign of prostration in their faces. This is the quality mentioned in Torah and their quality is mentioned in Bible like a field which took out her needle, then strengthened it, then became fat, then stood on her trunk, pleasing the peasants so that Allah might make the disbelievers angry because of them. [Allah promised salvation and great reward among believers in them and the good doers. (Surah Fateh verse 29).
Why Muslims don’t have mutual affection these days. The main reason for this is the deviation from the principles of “La Ilaha Illa Allah” and lack of unity of faith. However, Allah strongly condemned this discrimination. Allah addressed His Prophet and said: Translation: Those who have taken (many) paths in their religion and have become many sects, you have nothing to do with them, their work has been handed over to Allah, then He will tell them what they have been doing. (Surah Al-Anaam verse 159). For such discrimination and division makers, Allah said: Translation: Then they divided their religion among themselves, and each group rejoiced over the piece they had( Surah al-Muminun, verse 53). This distinction in religion or distinction in the word of God arises as a result of the deviation from the Divinity and Unity of One God. Thus, before this verse, Allah said: “And verily, this is one party of yours, and I am your Lord, so fear Me.” (Surah Mominun verse 52). It was found that the basis of unity of ummah is unity of faith i.e. fearing Allah alone and worshiping and obeying Him.
When all are worshippers of the same Lord and obedient to the same Lord, then this unity of faith will lead to unity in every aspect of life. Their way of worship will be the same, their morals and character will be the same, their standards of halal and haraam (lawful and prohibited) will be the same, their enemy will be one, that is, the only one who refuses to worship and obey Allah and is a fan of other gods. In this way, the human society will be filled with the winds of peace and brotherhood and will be free from mutual oppression. This mutual agreement and unity will also shake the enemy and this collective power, with the support and help of Allah, is the basis for honor and glory in the world is the foundation to attain authority and power. As Allah said: Translation: Allah has promised those of you who believe and do righteous deeds that He will grant them the kingdom of the land as He bestowed upon those before them, and he will strengthen the religion which He has chosen for them, and will certainly change their fears in peace, provided they worship Me and do not associate anyone with Me.
And whoever is ungrateful after that, they will be hypocrites( Surah Al-Noor, verse 55). Allaah fulfilled his promise in the middle ages of Islam. Because the Muslims of that period fulfilled this condition, they also adopted a life of faith and righteous deeds and arranged only the worship of Allah, they uprooted all the manifestations of shirk. In return, Allah bestowed upon them the happiness and achievements of this world and the Hereafter. Today, if Muslims want to achieve the greatness and achievement of their time, then the same prescription for this is chemistry which was used by the Companions and Followers. A life of faith and action, and the practice of monotheism and its obligations. May Allah bless us with the power to act. *It is not enough to read the word of God with mere tongue but it is also necessary to act to fulfill its requirements.* It has become clear from the previous discussions that merely saying “La Ilaha Illa Allah” does not make any sense. Unless the speaker understands its meaning and its requirements.
Until then, he does not benefit in this world nor can it be expected in the Hereafter. But some people find it misleading from the apparent words of some hadiths that it is enough to read “La Ilaha Illa Allah” from the tongue. For example, a hadith has been narrated earlier which means that “to the extent of a person’s sight, only the registers of his evils will be registered and in comparison, a slip will be of the testimony of “La Ilaha Illa Allah”. So this slip will be heavy on all the registers. Thus, in some hadiths, the fire of Hell is forbidden for anyone who recites “La Ilaha Illa Allah”. These traditions are correct in their place, but these traditions are only for those who sincerely get rid of disbelief and shirk, but with repentance they die, they do not get a chance to act. But since their repentance was pure, they had accepted the oneness of Allah from the bottom of their hearts, If their hearts were filled with the love of Allah and their hearts were deeply disturbed by disbelief and shirk and disobedience of Allah, then their perfect faith and sincerity, love of God and determination of renunciation will become the place of action and Allah will admit them into Paradise through this word. However, those who get the opportunity after reciting this word to clarify and prove this truth through their actions, but they will fail to prove their truth by following its requirements, then it will not be enough for such people to say “La Ilaha Illa Allah” with mere tongue. This is also proved by other traditions.
As it is mentioned in the hadith that at one stage those who say “La Ilaha Illa Allah” will be expelled from Hell. Similarly, it is also mentioned in the hadith that “Allah will forbid the fire of Hell for such people in their places of prostration” as if their whole body would burn and rot in Hell, but the limbs would be safe. In the same way, there is a difference between the two types of traditions and there is no difference between them, and the intellect also recognizes the difference between the two types of people. It is as if this position is correct both in terms of reason and imitation. Which is explained in the above lines. Therefore, if the Muslims today truly follow the word of Allah…Laa ilaha illallah.. wholeheartedly, then only they can attain the glory that the Companions did. By the grace of Allah Almighty.
