# Shahadah

<mark style="color:red;">**TLDR: Sunnis have unlawfully associated the name of the prophet to their Shahadah which should be dedicated to God Alone.**</mark>&#x20;

The Shahada ( الشَّهَادَة ) is the proclamation that every human is required to make and uphold to be redeemed back to God’s kingdom.

> \[7:172] Recall that your Lord summoned all the descendants of Adam, and had them bear witness for themselves: “Am I not your Lord?” They all said, “Yes. We bear witness.” Thus, you cannot say on the Day of Resurrection, “We were not aware of this.”\
> \[7:173] Nor can you say, "It was our parents who practiced idolatry, and we simply followed in their footsteps. Will You punish us because of what others have innovated?"
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> وَإِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِنۢ بَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ قَالُوا۟ بَلَىٰ شَهِدْنَآ أَن تَقُولُوا۟ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَـٰذَا غَـٰفِلِينَ\
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> أَوْ تَقُولُوٓا۟ إِنَّمَآ أَشْرَكَ ءَابَآؤُنَا مِن قَبْلُ وَكُنَّا ذُرِّيَّةً مِّنۢ بَعْدِهِمْ أَفَتُهْلِكُنَا بِمَا فَعَلَ ٱلْمُبْطِلُونَ

The Quran informs us that the Shahada of God, the angels, and the knowledgeable is simply that there is no god except God:

> \[3:18] GOD bears witness that **there is no god except He**, and so do the angels and those who possess knowledge. Truthfully and equitably, He is the absolute god; **there is no god but He**, the Almighty, Most Wise.
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> شَهِدَ ٱللَّهُ أَنَّهُۥ **لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ** وَٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةُ وَأُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلْعِلْمِ قَآئِمًۢا بِٱلْقِسْطِ **لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ** ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ

The Quran informs us that this is the Shahada of the prophet, in the Sura titled by his name, Muhammad.

> \[47:19] You shall know that: “**There is no other god beside GOD**,” and ask forgiveness of your sins and the sins of all believing men and women. GOD is fully aware of your decisions and your ultimate destiny.
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> فَٱعْلَمْ أَنَّهُۥ **لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ** وَٱسْتَغْفِرْ لِذَنۢبِكَ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنَـٰتِ وَٱللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مُتَقَلَّبَكُمْ وَمَثْوَىٰكُمْ

This Shahada appears in various forms \~50 times in the Quran.

Despite this clearly repeated Shahada, most Muslims insist on including the name of the prophet beside God in this statement. Ironically, this dual shahada that the Muslims have innovated occurs only once in the Quran: in Sura 63, The Hypocrites (Al-Munaafeqoon), which is the Shahada of the hypocrites.

> \[63:1] When the hypocrites come to you they say, **“We bear witness that you are the messenger of GOD.”** GOD knows that you are His messenger, and GOD bears witness that the hypocrites are liars.
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> إِذَا جَآءَكَ ٱلْمُنَـٰفِقُونَ قَالُوا۟ **نَشْهَدُ إِنَّكَ لَرَسُولُ ٱللَّهِ** وَٱللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ إِنَّكَ لَرَسُولُهُۥ وَٱللَّهُ يَشْهَدُ إِنَّ ٱلْمُنَـٰفِقِينَ لَكَـٰذِبُونَ

By adding the messenger beside God in the Shahada, not only are they distinguishing between God’s messengers, which worshipers of God alone are prohibited from doing (2:136, 2:285, 3:84, 4:150-152), but it also shows that they are not content with the mention of God alone.

> \[37:35] When they were told, “**Lã Elãha Ella Allãh \[There is no other god beside GOD],**” they turned arrogant.
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> إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوٓا۟ إِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ **لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ** يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ

<figure><img src="https://1083369858-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FvaXvvVNaymRT8f8I3We2%2Fuploads%2FcAdPVnIjL16aXnDpdLAb%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=70afc7b8-388a-47a5-8038-5ef646000aec" alt="" width="563"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

By insisting on adding another name beside God, it shows that they are associating another entity with God as part of the foundation of their religion.

> \[4:36] **You shall worship GOD alone—do not associate anything with Him.** You shall regard the parents, the relatives, the orphans, the poor, the related neighbor, the unrelated neighbor, the close associate, the traveling alien, and your servants. GOD does not like the arrogant show-offs.
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> **وَٱعْبُدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَلَا تُشْرِكُوا۟ بِهِۦ شَيْـًٔا** وَبِٱلْوَٰلِدَيْنِ إِحْسَـٰنًا وَبِذِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ وَٱلْيَتَـٰمَىٰ وَٱلْمَسَـٰكِينِ وَٱلْجَارِ ذِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ وَٱلْجَارِ ٱلْجُنُبِ وَٱلصَّاحِبِ بِٱلْجَنۢبِ وَٱبْنِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ وَمَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَـٰنُكُمْ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ مَن كَانَ مُخْتَالًا فَخُورًا

As believers in God alone, we must be content with mentioning God alone and not include any other names in this foundational pillar of our faith.

> \[39:45] When GOD ALONE is mentioned, the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter shrink with aversion. But when others are mentioned beside Him, they become satisfied.
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> وَإِذَا ذُكِرَ ٱللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ ٱشْمَأَزَّتْ قُلُوبُ ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ وَإِذَا ذُكِرَ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن دُونِهِۦٓ إِذَا هُمْ يَسْتَبْشِرُونَ

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Additional Reading:

{% embed url="https://qurantalk.gitbook.io/shahada" %}

{% embed url="https://qurantalkblog.com/2024/01/02/shahada-in-quran-la-ilaha-illa-allah/" %}

{% embed url="https://qurantalkblog.com/2023/08/15/shahada-to-shahadatan/" %}

{% embed url="https://qurantalkblog.com/2022/10/02/shahadah-and-bearing-witness/" %}

{% embed url="https://qurantalkblog.com/2021/10/06/the-false-shahdaha/" %}

{% embed url="https://qurantalkblog.com/2024/02/08/shema-shahadah/" %}
