Islam,

There is no question that the mere saying of, "I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is His servant and messenger," is not sufficient for salvation. In fact, the hypocrites used to make this statement quite often yet Allah describes them as liars and says that they shall abide in the lowest abyss of the Hell-fire.

As many scholars state , though, this statement or testimony is the key to Paradise. The famous Follower Wahb ibn Munabbih was once asked, "Isn't the statement of La ilaha illa-llah the key to Paradise?" He answered, "Yes, but every key has ridges. If you come with the key that has the right ridges, the door will open for you. Yet if you do not have the right ridges the door will not open for you." That is, it is saying [while meeting] certain conditions. These conditions are what will differentiate the person who will benefit from his making of that statement from the one who will not benefit from that statement, no matter how many times a day he may have made that statements.

If we study the verses of the Quran and the Hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), we will find that the conditions of the shahadah are seven, eight or nine in number depending on how we look at them. It is important that all of us make sure that we are meeting these conditions in our own lives and in our own testimony of faith. We must do our best to satisfy these conditions before it is too late and our testimony will be no avail whatsoever. It is not simply for the sake of teaching these conditions. Indeed, there is no benefit to that. But it is, instead, for all of us to look to ourselves and to make sure that we are actually meeting these conditions so that, by Allah's mercy, the doors to Paradise will be open for us by our key of La ilaha illa-llah.

The first of these conditions is knowledge. That is, one must have the basic and general knowledge of what is meant by the shahadah. One must understand what the shahadah is affirming and what the shahadah is denying. Allah says in the Quran, "So know, [O Muhammad], that there is no deity except Allah and ask forgiveness for your sin"(Qur'an, Muhammad 19). Similarly, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said,"Whoever dies knowing that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah shall enter Paradise." (Recorded by Muslim.)

In fact, the shahadah itself is a testimony. When one testifies to something, one must know what it is that he is testifying concerning. Obviously, a testimony about something that one does not have any knowledge about is absolutely unacceptable. Allah says in the Quran, "And those they invoke besides Him do not possess [power of] intercession; but only those who testify to the truth [can benefit], and they know."(Qur'an, al-Zukhruf 86).

Now this condition probably sounds obvious. If someone said to you, "There is no God except Allah," and then said that what he meant by Allah was Jesus, you would immediately tell him that this shahadah is nonsense. Yet can you imagine that there is a Muslim country in the world that until recently used to have a yearly week-long celebration to "the gods of the Sea"! All along they call themselves Muslims and they make shahadah numerous times a day. This clearly shows that they have no idea what the meaning of their shahadah is. Do you think that this kind of shahadah will open the doors to Paradise for them?

Today, there are many Muslims who wonder why we should not accept secularism. They think that there is nothing wrong with secularism! Many of these Muslims pray five times a day and utter the shahadah repeatedly. Yet they see nothing wrong with accepting a Lawgiver other than Allah? What kind of shahadah are these people making?

All of us do our best to learn at least the basics of Islamic beliefs. The basics of what shahadah means. In this way, Allah willing, we will be making the correct shahadah. We will be witnessing to the truth as we are supposed to be witnesses to it.

The second condition of the shahadah is certainty (or al-yaqeen). This is the opposite of doubt and uncertainty. In Islam, in fact, any kind of doubt is equivalent to Kufr or disbelief. We must, in our hearts, be absolutely certain of the truth of the shahadah. Our hearts must not be wavering in any way when we testify to the truth of, "There is none worthy of worship except Allah."

Allah describes the believers in the Quran as those who have belief in Allah and then their hearts waver not. Allah says, "The (true) believers are those only who believe in Allah and His messenger and afterward doubt not, but strive with their wealth and their lives for the cause of Allah. Such are the sincere" (Qur'an, al-Hujurat 15). Similarly, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "No one meets Allah with the testimony that there is none worthy of worship but Allah and I am the Messenger of Allah, and he has no doubt about hat statement, except that he will enter Paradise."(Recorded by Muslim)

Indeed, Allah describes the hypocrites as those people whose hearts are wavering. For example, Allah says, "They alone seek leave of thee (not to participate in jihad) who believe not in Allah and the Last Day and whose hearts feel doubt, so in their doubt they waver " (Qur'an, al-Tauba 45).

Many scholars have stated that the diseases of the heart, or the doubt and suspicions that one allows into one's heart, are more dangerous for a person's faith than lusts and desires. This is because lusts and desires may be satisfied at some time yet the person still knows them to be wrong and he may control himself and repent and give up that evil deed. On the other hand, the doubts and suspicions may linger in the heart, with no cure, until the person finally leaves Islam entirely or continues to practice Islam while, in fact, in his heart he does not have the true faith.

The greatest cure for these doubts is seeking knowledge. It is through sound knowledge of the Quran and the sunnah that most of these doubts will be removed. By study and understanding, one will attain certainty. And as one studies and learns more, his certainty will be made firmer and firmer.

I will give you just one example on this point. This is related to all of the doubts, suspicions and misconceptions that are circulating about the authenticity of the hadith literature. For example, some Muslims even claim that hadith were not recorded until at least 200 years after the death of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Indeed, there are Muslims who seem to have a great deal of doubt about hadith and are very quick to reject hadith on that basis. But, in fact, if one actually takes the time to study the history and preservation of hadith, one will immediately recognize that all those claims and charges against the hadith are not based on anything scientific whatsoever. They are nothing but false claims that come from Satan and which Muslims with poor understanding and knowledge have allowed to creep into their hearts.

Let me make one last point about this condition of certainty. As I alluded to earlier, doubts and misconceptions are very dangerous for a person's faith. Doubt and wavering are tantamount to apostasy in Islam, as I mentioned earlier. Hence, every Muslim should do best to safeguard himself from such doubts and remain away from the sources of doubts- especially if they are not well grounded in the Islamic sciences and do not have the knowledge to refute such doubts and misconceptions. Hence if a person has an associate or friend, even if he be a Muslim friend, who is always making him doubt Allah or the religion, then he should remain away from that person in order to safeguard his own religion. Many Muslims nowadays study courses on Islam taught by Orient lists and because of their weak backgrounds in Islamic studies, they are influenced by the nonsense that some of these Orient lists are teaching in the name of "science".

Similarly, many brothers and sisters nowadays are spending hours at a time with the computer news groups and bulletin boards. A lot of nonsense and falsehood are posted on those news groups and bulletin boards. Again, the one who is not very knowledgeable of his religion may easily be influenced and affected by the misconceptions and false arguments that he reads in those bulletin boards. He should remain away from those things and get a deeper knowledge of Islam through the authentic sources of the religion.

Again, the greatest counterforce that can defeat doubts and misconceptions, after the bounty and guidance of Allah, is sound knowledge and understanding of the religion. When a person has that, he will not be affected by the weak arguments put out by the enemies of Islam and he will be, Allah willing, from among those described in the Quran, "It is only those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear All ah" (Qur 'an, Fatir 28)

The following account shows the indelible mark that God's Messenger has imprinted on people of every age:

One of Ibn Sina's students told Ibn Sina that his extraordinary understanding and intelligence would cause people to gather around him if he claimed prophethood. Ibn Sina said nothing. When they were travelling together during winter, Ibn Sina woke up one morning at dawn, woke his student, and asked him to fetch some water because he was thirsty. The student procrastinated and made excuses. However much Ibn Sina persisted, the student would not leave his warm bed. At that moment, the cry of the muezzin (caller to prayer) called out from the minaret: "God is the greatest. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God."

Ibn Sina considered this a good opportunity to answer his student, so he said:

You, who averred that people would believe in me if I claimed to be a prophet, look now and see how the command I just gave you, who have been my student for years and have benefited from my lessons, has not had the effect of making you leave your warm bed to fetch me some water. But this muezzin strictly obeys the 400-year-old command of the Prophet. He got up from his warm bed, as he does every morning together with hundreds of thousands of others, climbed up to this great height, and bore witness to God's Unity and His Prophet. Look and see how great the difference is!

The Prophet's name has been pronounced five times a day together with that of God for 1,400 years all over the world.

Theologically speaking, the universality of Prophet Muhammad's message (peace and blessings be upon him) comes from the concept of Allah who is the God of all, not only the God of Muslims.

Allah describes Himself in the first chapter of the Qur'an -which is recited by all Muslims around the world in their five daily Prayers- as "Rabb al-`Alamin" i.e. the Allah of all creation. Whether humans are aware of this fact or not, Allah is the God of all mankind - Muslims, Christians, atheists, etc. - regardless of their differences. Allah is the Creator of everything, with no exception. The Qur'an declares that a gigantic star and an atom are shoulder to shoulder, worshipping Allah; flies and elephants are brothers and sisters; all of creation is here to help us understand the meaning and the mystery of the universe.

Arabia Before the Noble Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)

Before addressing the universality of Prophet Muhammad's (peace and blessings be upon him) message, it is essential to focus our attention to the era when Muhammad's (peace and blessings be upon him) message first emerged: fourteen hundred years ago in pre-Islamic Arabia. Although there were some positive characteristics of Arabs before Islam, such as generosity, courage, and dignity, the feudal system of society was so harsh that the marginalized almost did not have any rights. Slaves were persecuted, women were sold like property, and female infants in many cases were buried alive as part of traditional tribal honor. Wars between tribes broke out uncontrollably. People worshipped idols and made their own gods according to their own desires.

In the midst of such chaos, the holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was born in 571 CE. Throughout his adulthood he was not satisfied with the tribal traditions of his society. He (peace and blessings be upon him) would go into seclusion and meditate for a long time, particularly for the whole month of Ramadan. In the year 610 C.E., he (peace and blessings be upon him) experienced the first revelation which changed him and transformed the world forever. The revelation that came to Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) over a span of twenty-three years, constituted the Holy Scripture of Islam, the Qur'an, which literally means the recitation. In a very short period of time, despite hostile reaction to his message, the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) kindness and tenderness made an impact on the hearts of many in the city of Makkah. He (peace and blessings be upon him) did not consider himself a deity or a part of Allah, rather he (peace and blessings be upon him) saw himself as the servant and Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) who was to convey Allah's message to the world.

The Holy Qur'an speaks of many prophets, like Abraham, Moses, John the Baptist, and Jesus (peace be upon them all). There are chapters in the Noble Qur'an named after some of these prophets. There are also particular verses about the personality of the Prophet of Islam. In one verse, the Qur'an speaks of him as "rahmatan lil al-`Amīn" i.e. "a mercy for realms and worlds". In order to understand the meaning of being merciful to creation, Islamic scholars ask us to think of the oppression that was occurring in the world into which Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was born and the transformation that Muhammad's (peace and blessings be upon him) message made.

Universal Message

Although Prophet Muhammad's (peace and blessings be upon him) message addressed Arabs first, its nearest audience, it was not limited to a particular nation. Many Qur'anic verses transcend locality, region, ethnicity, and nationality by starting with the call, "O Human beings," or "O People." The Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) message brings the idea that everything in creation is a living, chanting, obedient worshipper of Allah, regardless of whether they are humans, animals, or other creatures. In the Qur'an said,

(The seven heavens and the earth, and all beings therein, declare His glory: there is not a thing but celebrates His praise; And yet you understand not how they declare His glory)(Al-Israa’ 17:44)

He invites the reader to enter the world in which the Qur'an was revealed and see the darkness that dominated it. In Arabia, before the Prophet, the meaning of creatures was not recognized. The Qur'anic revelation breathed life into the world of nature and taught that the creatures around us were not dead and meaningless matters. Instead, all of them were praising Allah with great joy through their own languages. The same Islamic scholar invites the audience to ride the vehicle of history and travel to the land of Arabia to see the situation there before and after the emergence of Islam. One should keep in mind that to change a little vice, such as a bad habit, is difficult enough, let alone changing the minds and the hearts of an entire society as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did. Even in our modern world, with a comparison made by this Islamic scholar, if one hundred philosophers with all their knowledge were to go to Arabia and work for one hundred years, they would not be able to make the changes that Muhammad made in twenty-three years. He successfully transformed this wild society into a civilized community and shaped leaders for a new civilization.

Transformation Embodied

If one would like to see the power of transformation that Noble Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) made, one needs only to look at `Umar ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), the second caliph: `Umar before Islam and `Umar after Islam. `Umar himself said that he remembered two things from his pre-Islamic life: one, he would cry for, and the other he would laugh at. He cried that he buried his own daughter alive and he was still hearing her voice calling him. He laughed that he made god out of pressed dates which people ate when they were hungry. The new `Umar became a symbol of justice for the whole world. After Islam, during his caliphate, `Umar is known for the following statement: "If a lamb at the shore of the Euphrates was taken by a wolf, (I am afraid that) Allah would ask me about it." Out of compassion, he would walk among houses at night and see if there was anyone who needed food and he would anonymously feed them. It was the universal message of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) that transformed `Umar into such a high persona of humanity.

Mercy and compassion constitute the foundation of the Prophet's universal message. In Basmalah -the beginning statement that comes before 113 chapters of the Qur'an- Allah is described as having two attributes, the "Most Merciful and the Most Compassionate." This very statement has become the symbol of Islam. The Qur'anic verse says,

(We sent you not, but as a Mercy for all creatures) (21:107)

Being merciful towards all creation, Muhammad's personal life has become a reflection of this Qur'anic verse. In his relationships with people, he always smiled and no one ever heard a bad word from his mouth. In his family life, he showed the same mercy to his wives and children. His companion Anas ibn Malik, who faithfully served him for 13 years, witnessed this mercy, saying that he never received any reprimand for his service, despite his mistakes.

All People Are Equal

The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)was also very sensitive towards human sufferings. When he (peace and blessings be upon him) heard of a slave being tortured, he (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded one of his Companions to buy that slave's freedom. His famous hadith about the treatment of slaves is a great example of his universal teachings. He (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say, "Your slaves are your brothers and Allah has put them under your command. So whoever has a brother under his command should feed him of what he eats and dress him of what he wears. Do not ask them (slaves) to do things beyond their capacity (power) and if you do so, then help them." (Bukhari)

Slaves demonstrated great love toward Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). On one occasion, he (peace and blessings be upon him) asked Zayd ibn Harithah (may Allah be pleased with him), a slave he (peace and blessings be upon him) freed, if he would like to go back with his father who had come to take him, and Zayd refused, preferring to stay with the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

The Messenger's (peace and blessings be upon him) Farewell Sermon on the plain of `Arafat also has remarkable aspects of the universality of his message. In this sermon, he(peace and blessings be upon him) spoke about women, the relationship between races, and slaves. In fact, because of Muhammad's (peace and blessings be upon him) message, within the span of thirty years after his death it was difficult to find slaves in Arabia. The Qur'anic verse clearly says that,

(O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other. Verily the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you )(Al-Hujurat 49:13)

In his Last Sermon, the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) emphasized this aspect of his message. He said that all humankind is from Adam and Eve: an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab and a non-Arab has no superiority over an Arab. Also, a white person has no superiority over a black one and a black person has no superiority over a white one. Furthermore, of women he stressed that it is true that husbands have certain rights in regard to their women, but their women also have rights over them. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) successfully established a sense of responsibility and conscience in the minds and hearts of his people.

Universal Mercy for Enemies and Animals

The Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) mercy even extended to his enemies—he(peace and blessings be upon him) never sought revenge.

It is reported that in one of the battles some of the Companions went to him, to find a bedouin sitting with him. "Allah's Apostle (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "This (bedouin) took my sword out of its sheath while I was asleep. When I woke up, the naked sword was in his hand and he said to me, 'Who can save you from me?', I replied, 'Allah.'... (Now) here he is (sitting)." Allah's Apostle (peace and blessings be upon him) did not punish him (for that)" (Bukhari). In another authentic narration, that Bedouin –called Ghawrath- was forgiven by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and allowed to return to his tribe. The man told his people, "I am now coming from the presence of the best of men."

The Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) universal message of mercy did not include only human beings, but also animals. `Abdullah ibn Mas`ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said "We were with the Apostle of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)during a journey. He went to ease himself. We saw a bird with her two young ones and we captured her young ones. The bird came and began to spread its wings. The Apostle of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came and said: "Who grieved this for its young ones? Return its young ones to it." He (peace and blessings be upon him) also saw an ant village that we had burnt. He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Who has burnt this?" We replied: “We did”. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It is not proper to punish with fire except the Lord of fire." (Abu Dawud). On another occasion, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) saw a donkey on the road with a brand on its face, and said, "Allah's curse is on him who branded it."(Muslim).

Jabir ibn `Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that a camel came to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), prostrated itself as a sign of respect, and knelt beside him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked about its owner, so a group of young people from the Ansar said they are the owners. He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked them what is wrong with it, they said that they used it for twenty years till it became old, so they decided to slaughter it. He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked them to treat it well till it dies. Moreover, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked Muslims not to over-burden animals by riding on their backs during their talks.

To conclude, the famous Muslim poet, Rumi, wrote:

The light of Muhammad (pbuh) has become distributed in millions of pieces

And has encompassed the whole world.

The Prophet (pbuh) was like the lightening of that light.

When it strikes, all veils of disbelief are torn and

Thousands of monks are influenced by Muhammad (pbuh)and run toward him.

His Words are all pearls from the ocean of reality

Because his heart was united with the ocean of truth.