Have We Lost the True Understanding of the Shahadah?

Bismillah.

Muslims have lost the real worship of Allah because they have turned the Shahadah into a meaningless ritual. They say it often, but they do not implement its meaning into their lives. The Shahadah is a statement about our relationship and connection with Allah. This relationship is based on Allah being recognised as Lord and Master, while submitting to Him as His slaves. The connection between Allah and Muslims is one of worship and obedience. Until and unless, Muslims submit to their Lord as His humble slaves and only worship and obey Him, they will continue to be lost when it comes to the real worship of Allah. 

Furthermore, the Shahadah is a declaration of loyalty to Allah, that Allah is the friend of the believer and Shaytan is the enemy. It also affirms that the believer fears Allah and that He is the only One worthy of worship. Once a believer makes this declaration, they promise to obey Allah’s commandments, and put their trust in Allah.  Trust in Allah is the major theme of the Qur’an; thus, the slave trusts his or her Lord by asking Him for their needs, knowing full well that it is Allah who creates these problems and then rewards them for asking Him for help, guidance and relief. The slave’s life revolves around obeying Allah, trusting Him and then asking Him, which brings him or her closer to Allah.

The Shahadah is a transformational declaration which seeks to change people’s lives. The statement that radically changed the lives of the sahaba, should do the same to us today. The sahaba internalised the Shahadah; thus, they were able to make such a tremendous impact in the world. They were able to do this because they knew that the Hereafter was their goal and that being a true slave of Allah will never lead to humiliation. They sacrificed their wealth, their families and their lives to achieve their goal. They worked tirelessly to surrender to Allah by subduing their desires for the pleasure of Allah. They worked openly and secretly to please Allah; that their secret deeds were better than their public ones. They were Muslims when no-one was looking at them and they were Muslims when dealing with people in public. They did not have different personas for different occasions, they were the same sincere and courageous people when dealing with private matters as they were dealing with the public. The Shahadah must progress from discussion points and zikr into action that proves one’s faith, as without action there is no evidence of one’s submission to Allah.

The role of the Quran in the Islamic religious tradition

Bismillah.

Muslims are a diverse group of believers who all unite under the belief that the Quran is their holy writ and that it was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by God. Muslims have always united under this belief while they have differed in the interpretation of the what the text actually means and how it applies today. As such the Quran for Muslims is a living text which affects their daily lives and is part and parcel of their way of life. This can be seen from the artistic depictions of Quranic verses to taxi-drivers listening to its recitation as they go about their business. For the Muslim the Quran is their link with the divine.

The role of the Quran in Islamic religious tradition is central, there is no other text that is comparable to it, nor is there any text like it linguistically in the Arabic language. The Prophethood of Muhammad started with its revelation and it ended when all of it was revealed. Muhammad was the guide, the teacher, and the interpreter of the holy book. It defined his role, explained his functions and even corrected his mistakes so as to teach Muslims morals through his life. 

The Quran does not claim to be the first revealed book from God but reaffirms the history of revelations before it of the Torah, the Psalms and the Gospel. It also acknowledges the Hebrew prophets of old – Joseph, Moses, Aaron, Elias, Zechariah and many others, including Jesus. The Quran speaks of a brotherhood of prophets and a community of believers, always emphasising the oneness of God and the Day of Judgement. A belief that Jews, Christians and Muslims all share. It uses the term, ‘People of the Book’ to describe Jews and Christians in particular and tells Muslims that they also worship the same God.

As Muslims believe the Quran to be beyond space and time, the holy text is interpreted and reinterpreted in every age by scholars who look at the Quran with fresh eyes in the light of their own times to see how it can be applied. The process of interpretation has taken many dimensions from ethical, spiritual, legal, lingual, moral, historical and contextual. This has ensured that a vast diversity of interpretations is always happening to the text and that scholars and laypeople alike engage with the holy book for answers and guidance in their lives. The Quran, its reading and interpretation is the true example of diversity within Islam and goes directly against the idea of Muslims and Islam being monolithic and not being part of a vast intellectual tradition.