Shahadah - Understanding the Testimony of Faith

Bismi-Llah, Al-Rahmani, Al-Rahim. Al-hamdulil-Lahi Rabbi al-'Alamin, wa as-salatu wa as-salam 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala Ahli Bayti, at-tayyibin, at-tahirin. Wa la'natu Allah 'ala ada'im ajma'in.

Today I want to talk about the Shahadatayn, the testimony of Faith. We all come to say this if we are not born Muslim, first for the converts, or even when we get to the age of being baligh, all the responsibilities are on us. We have to know, and understand why we believe in Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. We have to know and understand why we believe in Prophet Muhammad, salla Allahu alayhi wa alih. We have to know and understand why we follow Ahl Al-Bayt, alayhum as-salam.

These are things that we have to know and it can be something that you are just born with your parents. You come from a Muslim family and you said, okay, i am a Muslim. Yes, you are a Muslim by birth, but do you know and understand why you are a Muslim? This is the thing. And for converts, a lot of us, we study the religion and then we make the decision based on the understanding. Okay, we believe in Allah. We acknowledge that Allah exist. We acknowledge that Prophet Muhammad, salla Allahu alayhi wa alih, came as the last Messenger and we accept this Shahadatayn.

This should be something that is done with a confidence, not something that is just you just do it because it is a 'fard', or there's a lot of Muslims, and it is the popular thing to do. It should be done with the confidence and knowledge like we spoke about before.

Seeking knowledge is binding on every Muslim. You have to seek knowledge about Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. You have to seek knowledge about the Prophet. You have to come to these things and have a confidence about these when you take Shahada. So when you take Shahada, this, we should not take it based on what our parents said. Basically, just because your grandmother told you some stories, or your mother or your father told you some stories and you say, okay, my parents were Muslims, so I am a Muslim.

This is not good enough because when we die and we grow to our grave, we will be asked certain questions by the angels. And we have to answer these things, so we can't say, because my mother told me, or my grandmother told me, or my grandfather told me this. This is why I believe in Allah. No, these angels are going to ask you, who is your Lord? Who is your Prophet? And who is your Imam?

And you have to answer these things and have come to the right conclusions within yourself, from your own research and from your own studying, and from you, looking at the narrations and looking at the signs of Allah and coming to the conclusion and the, and you have certainty that there is one God and you have certainty that Prophet Muhammad is, salla Allahu alayhi wa alih, is the last Prophet, and you believe that the Walayah of the Ahl ul-Bayt, alayhum as-salam of the A'immah, and you follow them based on certainty, not just from someone telling you this.

So this Shahadatayn, this has to be something that is done with confidence.

So a mushahida is a witness, and this a witness is someone who has seen something. So in this case, it would mean that you saw the truth of the religion of Islam, and you have chosen to become a Muslim based on this truth that you have seen, of studying and learning knowledge and seeing something is termed as basarah. And Basarah is derived from the word basirah well be basirah is derived from that, and basirah means insight.

So this is intellectual reasoning and insight. It can bring you to the point that you can see things clearly, and it becomes as if it is a reality to you, as if you witness something, you actually witnessed it. So it is like you have actually seen the truth. It was right before you. It is so clear that it is the truth that you have seen it. And to attain this level of certitude, we have to seek knowledge and we have to know Ahl ul-Bayt, alayhum as-salam, what they have told us about Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, and what they have taught us about Islam.

And we have to come to this conviction of believing in Shahadatayn with the certainty of faith. And this stems from seeking knowledge as we see that the Messenger of Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa alih, said: seeking knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim and know that Allah loves those who seek knowledge. This is in Al-Kafi volume one hadith 35.

And also Imam Baqr , alayhi as-salam, says to learn knowledge: try to learn knowledge because learning it is a good action, and study itself is a worship. Study is a worship. When we are studying, when we are reading books, when we are learning, we are, it is as a worship because it is bringing us closer to the ma'rifa of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala and the ma'rifa and knowing the religion. This, we are studying the religion to gain closeness to Allah, Subhana wa Ta'ala.

The Prophet also said: ya Ali, the sleep of the knowledgeable one is better than the rituals of the ignorant worshipper. Ya Ali two raka'hs of the knowledgeable is better than 1000 raka' of those who do not know, of the ignorant worshipper. So it shows the status of having knowledge. And we have to have this knowledge with with certainty.

And we also see that within Ziyarah, when we go for Ziyarah to visit the shrines of Ahl ul-Bayt, it says that you come to the Ziyarah with the recognition of the Imam and knowing his position. So you have to have a knowledge about who this person is, and what status they hold, for you Ziyarah to be accepted. And all this stems from having knowledge.

And having knowledge, we have to take the time, and study, and put energy, and put effort, and it is something that requires consistency. We have to we have to continue to do this over and over. It is not something that you do one time and it is done. We always have to keep and continue seeking knowledge.

So Imam Sadiq, alayhi as-salam, says: it is necessary for you to have a good understanding of the religion. Do not be like the Bedouins who on the Day of Judgement when Allah will not look to those who do not gain a good understanding of the religion, and none of their deeds will be cleansed. This is an al-Kafi volume one, hadith 41.

Imam Kadhim, alayhi as-salam, says that he found all of the knowledge of people in four things. And i am going to end with this. First, that you know your Lord, you have ma'rifah of Allah. Secondly, that you know, you know to what factors He made use of in creating you. You know where your origin came from, and how you were created. Thirdly, you know that as to what He wants from you and intends from you. Fourthly, that you learn what will expel you from your religion.

So inshaAllah, we can all learn these things and apply these lessons in our life. And inshaAllah, may Allah grant us to obtain the knowledge and become closer to Allah and to know why we accepted this Shahadatayn, and why we are Muslims, and why we believe in Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. Why we believe in the Prophet Muhammad and the Ahl ul-Bayt, alayhum as-salam.

And may Allah grant us this position and this closeness to Him, InshaAllah. Allahumma salli ala Muhammad wa Aali Muhammad wa 'ajjal farajahum, wa la'an ada'ahum.