In explaining the testimony of faith, Muslim scholars have listed seven conditions of the shahadah, which a Muslim must fulfill so that s/he may be acknowledging the unity of Allah in open and in secret.

These seven are:

(Source: abdurrahman.org)

2, 3, and 4 Unit Prayers Simplified

Asalamu alykum wa rahmatu’Allaahe wa barakaatu. This is a really simple pdf on how to pray 2, 3, or 4 unit prayers. The 2 unit prayer is the Fajr (or voluntary prayers), 3 unit is the Maghrib prayer, and 4 unit include Dhuhr, Asr, and Isha. This is aimed at New Muslims but can be used for all Muslims who maybe confused about some things. It’s really simple and direct.

Two unit prayer

• click here.

Three unit prayer

• click here.

Four unit prayer

• click here.

Back to the basics 007: Salaah

The first thing that a servant will be asked about on the Day of Resurrection will be their Salah. If it is found perfect, it will be recorded as perfect. But if something is lacking, He (Allah) will say (to the angels), ‘See if My Servant has any voluntary Salah to make up for the shortfall in their obligatory Salah.’ Then all the deeds will be reckoned similarly. Hadith Sahih (authentic Hadith).

& in another narration:

“The first thing for which a servant will be held to account is his prayer. If it is correct and sound, all the rest of his actions will be correct and sound, and if it is corrupt then all the rest of his actions will be corrupt.” [Reported by at-Tabaraanee in Al-Awsat and Ad-Diyaa from Anas .It is also in Saheehul-Jaami no. 2570].

 So you’ll be asked about your OBLIGATORY prayers first [the five]. If you were negligent or lacked in those, you will be asked about your voluntary prayers. If you were negligent upon THOSE, all your other deeds will be corrupt. So if you want your good deeds to be deemed as good, make sure your Salah is good.

If you find yourself lacking in one area of prayer, take time to perfect it. If you find yourself not fearful or humble; figure out what you need to do. Whether that is visualizing the Angel of Death awaiting you to finish prayer, envisioning Hellfire behind you or Heaven in front of you…do what it takes to improve on what you’re lacking in. But before you try to fix yourself, figure out WHAT IT IS you need to fix. Get a piece of paper & pen; and write down all the things you can improve. Some suggestions are:

• Reciting Suratul Fatiha better.
• Giving appropriate time for all the prayer positions.
• Knowing what to say at each position.
• Not thinking about anything else except prayer.
• Not getting distracted.
• Reciting while understanding what’s being said.
• Etiquettes of how to sit after you rise from Sujud.
• How to position your arms, your feet, etc.

Whatever it is, write it down; and even if you’re doing everything right, take the time to improve on some things to perfect your prayer.

*Fab Vocab 

• Obligatory prayers; 1. Fajr/Subuh, 2. Duhr, 3. `Asr, 4. Maghrib, 5. Eesha.

Back to the basics 006: Salaah

Yes, finally back to the Back to the Basics posts. Now we’re on to the 2nd pillar: Salaah.

Salah is a pillar of Islam that is ordained for life.

• With the Shahada you say it once and you are immediately a Muslim.
• Zakat[charity] is once a year.
• Fasting [Sawm] is once a year for one month. [not including voluntary fasts]
• Hajj [pilgrimage] is once in a lifetime.

But with Salaah, it’s the pillar that you do every single day for the rest of your life, five times a day. Salaah was actually initially ordained as 50 times a day. 50! But it later on was ordained as 5 times a day but equating as 50 prayers on the scale.

Salaah is a beautiful connection between the Slave and his Lord. For example, look at the relationship between a care taker and a child. The child knows that the role of the child taker is to provide, so the child asks the child taker for whatever he/she needs. When upset, sad, hungry, angry, etc…the child talks to the care taker in hopes of getting what they please. 

The relationship between the slave and his Lord is better than that. One must understand that Allah is the One to go to in any situation. When upset, turn to Allah. When sad, turn to Allah. When hungry, angry, etc., turn to Allah. He is our sole Provider. That goes for Salaah, you go to him 5 times a day for Him blessing you with another day.

Allaah subhana wa tala states in the Qur’an 51:56

“ And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.”

That proves the importance of worshiping Allaah. & the best way to worship Him is through Salaah.

When you are occupying your days with salaah, you have less time to commit evil acts. Salaah also increases one’s remembrance of Allaah, expedites ones sins, and raises one’s degree and level of belief in Allaah. 

Where I got some of this information.

Fab vocab

• Salaah; Prayer
• Ordained; Order or make something official.
• Shahada; testimony of Faith
• Subhana wa ta’ala : Praise be to Allah , Exalted be He.
• Expedites; make an action//process accomplished quickly.
• There are 5 prayers a day. There are many voluntary prayers that go with prayers & for other situations.

I haven’t done back to the basics in a while. I haven’t forgotten. I just want to make sure I have tawheed completely covered before I move on to Salaah [Prayer] . Bear with me, they’ll be up in the upcoming days inshaa’Allah.

Back to the basics 005: Tawheed

Having Faith in Allah is to also have Faith in His beautiful Names & Attributes. All those that are documented in His Holy Book & affirmed by His Messenger [alayhi asalam]. This is all done without tahreef [distorting the wording/meaning], tateel [denying the Attributes], takyeef [asking how], or tamtheel [resembling Allah to any of His creation]. 

It’s obligatory to leave the Names & Attributes of Allah as they came, without asking how or resembling Allah to any of his creation. There is no other like Allah, so how can one compare Him to the creation? When Allah states that He is all Hearer and Seeing, one should not imagine him to hear as we hear to see as we see. He is beyond all that. 

Again, here is a list of the 99 names of Allah. Familiarize yourself with them and call upon Him with them. 

Fab Vocab

*Tahreef: Distrting the wording/meaning [of Allah’s names]

*Tateel: Denying the Attributes of Allah. For example: Denying His Mercy.

*Takyeef: Asking How. For example: How is Allah Merciful? There is no answer, we can’t question the Creator as to why He is the way He is. He just is. 

*Tamtheel: Resembling Allah to any of His creations. For example: Saying Allah eats and drinks as we eat & drink. Allah is beyond all that. 

Source

Back to the basics 004: Tawheed

Now that there is a general understanding of Tawheed and its manifest importance in the deen, we can get a bit more specific as to the types of Tawheed there are. Here are some verses from the Qur’an and a hadith regarding Tawheed:

“Surely, the religion (i.e worship) of Allah) is for Allah alone.” Zumar:3

“& they were commanded not, except that they should worship Allah, making the Religion (worship) purely for Him alone, and to establish the prayer and give Zakaah.” Bayyinah:5

Abu Huraira RadiAllaahu anhu reported that the Prophet alayhi asalam said: Eman has more than 70 (more than 60) branches. The highest of them is saying: ‘There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah.’ and the lowest of them is to remove a harmful object from the road. & modesty is a part of eman.”

Remember that Tawheed is the concept that all the Prophets called for, commanded, and encouraged. It is the belief of singling out Allah in Lordship, Sincerely worshiping Him, and affirming His names and attributes. Those are categorized as the following:

1. Tawheed ar-Rububiyah (Singling out Allah in Lordship)
2. Tawheed al-Uluhiyyah (Sincerely Worshiping Allah)
3. Tawheed al Asmaa wal Sifaat (Affirming His Names & Attributes)

• Tawheed ar-Rububiyah is singling out Allah in His actions. That means that He alone is the Creator of all creation. He alone provides everything. Nothing occurs without His permission. He has no partners, and so on and so on. It should be noted that Rububiyyah is a word that comes from the root of Rabb which means Lord. Therefore the Tawheed ar-Rububiyah is affirming in the Lordship of Allah (and His Oneness in being the Lord).

• Tawheed al-Uloohiyyah is believing that Allah is absolute Perfection with no flaws from any angle. This necessitates all worship should be for Him alone. Glorification, reverence, hope, supplication, repentance, seeking aid, reliance, etc should ONLY be performed for Allah alone. It is the concept of singling out Allah (in Worship) and actions that one performs in order to draw closer to Allah in the manner prescribed by the Shari’ah. For example; supplicating, vowing, sacrificing, hoping, fearing, relying, loving, & turning to Him in repentance. 

This Tawheed (al Uloohiyah) was the main object of the Da’wah of all the Prophets, from Adam alayhi asalam to Mohammad alayhi asalam. Uloohiyyah means ‘worship’ and is derived from ‘ilah’ which means One who is worshiped.

“The Slave cannot be a Muwahhid (one who believes in Tawheed in the correct manner) by affirming Tawheed ar-Rububiyyah alone, until he declares Taweheed al Uluhiyah and establishes it. Otherwise, even the Mushrikeen used to proclaim Allah’s Oneness in Rububiyah, but it didn’t qualify them to enter Islam.”

• Tawheed al Asmaa wal Siffat is having faith in Allah’s names & Attributes. It’s not possible for anyone to worship Allah in a complete way until he has acquired knowledge of the Names and Attributes of Allah the Exalted, in order to Worship Him upon insight. For example, if you’re seeking forgiveness, you aught to use the name of Allah that characterizes His forgiveness “Ghafoor” and call out to Him in that manner. Or if you are in need of Mercy, perhaps you ought to use the name that defines Him as Most Merciful and say “O Raheem, bestow Mercy upon me’ and so on and so on. 

 ’And Allah has Beatiful names, so call upon Him by them” Suratul A’raaf 180.

99 names of Allah

Fab Vocab:

*Tawheed: Oneness in Allah. Includes categories of Tawheed Rububiyah, Uloohiyah, and Asmaa wal Siffat

*Abu Huraira: A companion of the Prophet alayhi asalam.

*Radi’Allaahu anhu: May Allah be pleased with Him (said for the Companions/Wives of the Prophet)

*Eman/Iman: Faith (actions, speech, heart)

*Asmaa: Names

*Siffaat: Attributes

This lovely girl also has a very simple version in case this was too complicated

I know I slacked in the Back to the Basics posts. But I am working on one at this very very very moment. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you’ve been missing out. 

Back to the basics 003: Tawheed

Now that the Shahadah and its conditions are known and understood, it helps to apply those principles with the concept of Tawheed.

Tawheed is the most important component of Islam, without it one can not claim that they are Muslim or that they are followers of Islam. That is because Tawheed {Oneness of Allah} is the essence and epitome of Monotheism, which Islam stands upon.

The word ‘Islam’ is defined as submission to Allah, humbling oneself to Him, worshiping Him, and obeying His commands. How can one submit, humble, worship, and obey Allah’s commands? By incorporating Tawheed. This is the means by which one can become completely devoted and submitted to Allah (may He be Exalted).

It only makes sense that there is ONE Creator and ONE deserving to be served and worshiped. Had there been more than One God, surely there would be competition between the two [or more]. & it’s almost demeaning to state that the Creator has a Creator who may also have a Creator, it takes out the purpose of serving the One true God by acts of worship.

For example, one would have to ask one god for something, and another god for something, and another god for something. In essence, that takes out the fundamentals of the Oneness of God.

The true Muslim, who understands Tawheed, is the one who submits himself to Allah, devotes his deeds solely to Him, and directs his heart to Allah in secret and open, in fear andhope, in sayings, deeds, and in everything.

Tawheed means to worship Allah alone [applying all the conditions of the shahada]. Basically this means that whatever you do, you do it to God alone. You don’t do it to please your friends, you don’t do it to please your teachers, you don’t do it to please anyone. Because if you’re doing it to please others, it takes the sincerity out of your actions. Do everything for Allah, for your Creator.

This was the reason that there were Prophets and Messengers; Tawheed. They were sent to spread the message of God being alone with NO partners. They all came at times where idol worshipping was at its prime, when people worshipped trees, people worshipped the moon, people worshiped OTHER people. 

So these Messengers and Prophets were sent down to remind the people that all these things they are worshiping are only temporary and fallible. They must worship the One true God who is worthy of being worshiped, and for there to be NO partners when they worship Him.

The opposite of Tawheed is Shirk which is basically saying that there is not just one god, but more than one.

Fab Vocab:

*Shahada: Testimony of faith.

*Tawheed: Oneness of Allah, Allah has no Partners. He is the Creator, and the ONLY creator. He does not give birth to another nor was He conceived. 

*Epitome: example (perfect) of.

*Prophet: Person chosen by God to speak for God to the people.

*Messenger: A Prophet with a message; Book (i.e Moses: Torah, Jesus: Bible, Muhammad: Qur’an)

*All messengers were Prophets, but not all prophets were Messengers. Prophet Muhammad was the ONLY to be both Messenger and Prophet. 

*Allah: Arabic word for God, Lord.

*Shirk: Polytheism

*Polytheism: belief of multiple gods

*Monotheism: Belief in ONE God.

Back to the basics 002: Shahada

We all know just because someone says ‘I am Muslim’ doesn’t necessarily mean that they understand and implement Islam and its teachings. So is the case with the Shahada. Just because you have uttered it, does not mean you understand it and implement it. Rather, there are conditions of the Shahada that one must attain to fully confirm that they have testified in the Oneness of Allah and the belief that Muhammad [sallah Allaahu alayhi wasalam] was the Prophet of Allah.

The Shahadah is the key to Paradise. But there is no key except that it has ridges. If you come with the key that has the right ridges, the door will open for you, otherwise it will not. In order to achieve Paradise through this testimony, one must fulfill certain conditions that constitute the “right ridges” for this key statement.

There are 7 [and some say 8] conditions of the testimony of faith. They are as follow:

1. Knowledge (`ilm); this basically means that one should have the basic and general knowledge of what’s being said. Are you sound enough to understand what you’re saying? You must understand what the shahadah is affirming and what it’s denying. It’s affirming ONE God, and Muhammad as the last Messenger of God, and denying any partners to Allah and any other Prophets after Muhammad.

• Only with knowledge are you able to completely disassociate yourself and your beliefs from other deities. 
• The Prophet Muhammad [alayhi asalam] said: He who died knowing fully well that there is no true God worthy of being worshiped except Allah entered Paradise [narrated by Muslim]

2. Certainty (al-yaqeen); this just means that you must be certain of the truth in the Shahada. There’s no doubt in your heart that there’s no God but Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger. You’re certain that Islam is the only religion in the eyes of Allah. You’re certain that you want to be a Muslim. You’re certain that Allah is your Lord.

• “…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. -Al Hujuraat; 15

 3. Sincerity (al-ikhlaas); Your intentions must be purely devoted to Allah. Every action and intention must be for Allah. When we make the shahada, we must do it solely for the sake of Allah. Not for any other reason. This is sincerity, it negates shirk. You’re not doing it for someone, you’re not doing it just to do it, you’re not doing it for any other reason, except for Allah. All acts of Islam must be sincere in the sense that they are only to Allah.

• Say, ” Allah [alone] do I worship, sincere to Him in my religion” [39:14]

4. Truthfulness (as-Sidq); when we say the Shahaadah we’re saying it honestly and meaning it. Only when we’re truthful in what we testify, can we understand truth and accept it for what it is. This takes out the component of hypocrisy of those who utter truth with their tongue, yet do not feel it in their hearts. You must know the truth and believe it in your heart. The belief in your heart makes the heart sound and free from all types of evils. 

5. Love(al-mahabbah); Love means: to love Allaah and His Messenger; Muhammad more than anyone else, to love what Allaah and His Messenger love, and to hate or dislike what Allaah and His Messenger hate or dislike in all matters that are related to Islam. 

• The believer loves this aspect of the shahadah, (s)he loves in accordance with the shahada, loves the implications and requirements, and loves those who act & strive for the sake of this shahadah. 
• That means as long as anyone of you is a Muslim and doesn’t display outward acts of Kufr (like, stating that prayer is not part of Islam, for example), then you must love them as a fellow Muslim and not harm them in any way.

6. Submission & Compliance (inQiyad); this implies actual physical enactment with our deeds of our shahaada. The believer must submit to the laws of Allah and comply with them. Full submission, not tainted by hesitation. 

 7. Acceptance (al-Qabool); this means that you accept the truth. If someone has knowledge and certainty (#1 & 2) of something, it makes sense to accept it. Accept whatever the shahaada implies. If you refuse to accept the shahada but you know it’s true AND you’re certain about it, it’s unaccepted.

 The believer accepts whatever implications there are in the shahada. That means you believe whatever is stated in the Qur’an and whatever is stated by the Prophet Muhammaed [sallah Allaahu Alayhi wa sallaam], without choosing what to believe and what to reject.

Fab Vocab:

*Implement: Put into effect/apply

*Shahada: Testimony of Faith

*Sallah Allaahu alayhi wa salam: May the blessings of Allah be upon him [said after the name of any Prophet/Messenger]

*Kufr: Impermissible acts in Islam that may take one out of the pale of being a Muslim.

*Believer: Muslim, one who submits to the will of Allah.

*Compliance: Conforming to a rule.

Back to the basics 001: Shahada

The most important aspect in Islam and in being a Muslim is to confirm the Oneness of Allah [Tawheed]. The way to confirm the oneness is through the testimony of faith; the Shahadah.

This is the Shahada: Ash-haddu an laa ilaaaha ill Allaah wa ash-haddu an-na Muhammad ar-rasuul Allah OR Ash-haddu an laa illaaha ill Allah wa ash-haddu an-na Muhammad abduhu wa rasuulahu.[the difference is that the latter includes that Muhammed was Allah’s slave and Messenger]

The Shahadah is not just a declaration of faith, it’s also the negation of many things.When you state the shahadah, you are declaring that Allah is the One true Lord, One in His Godship and One and Unique in His Actions and Names and Attributes. Nothing is like Him. Only when you declare that, are you able to negate any and all worship to anyone (or anything) other than Allah.

Breaking down the shahada confirms and proves the affirmation and negation of belief:

• Ash-haddu defines as I testify. You are testifying truth, you are testifying Oneness, you are testifying belief in your Creator.
• Laa illaaha: defines as no god. This is the testimony negating any other gods.
• Ill Allaah: is saying BUT ALLAH, the One and true God.

*the words in bold= I testify[that there is] no god BUT ALLAH, One and true God. 

All together that sentence of ‘laa illaah illAllah’ is negating any other gods, and confirming that Allah is the only true God who deserves to be worshiped.

This is tawheed. The most important aspect of Islam. This is what all the Prophets and Messengers of Islam came to implement. This is the very phrase that they all uttered; that there is NO god BUT Allah.

Only when you believe and confirm in the Oneness of Allah are you now able to continue the Shahadah…

• Muhammad Rasuul Allaah; defines as Muhammed is the Rasul[Messenger] of Allah. Although he was also a Prophet, the most important aspect is that he conveyed the MESSAGE of the Oneness of Allah and the declaration of faith declares the message of Oneness and the one who CAME with the Message, i.e. the Messenger. 

This is final declaration in the testimony of faith, stating that Muhammad is the true Messenger of Allah and the LAST Messenger/Prophet that will be brought to mankind. This negates the opinion of any other Prophets/Messengers coming after him. 

All together, the testimony of faith is the first pillar of Islam. Without this, everything else is irrelevant. Only when you have the concept of tawheed through the Shahada will you be considered a Muslim, one who submits [to the testimony of faith].

You’re not just saying you believe in Allah and the Muhammad was His messenger, you’re also stating that there are no other gods to worship and that Muhammad was a Messenger of Allah and IS the last Messenger of Allah.

Fab Vocab:

*Tawheed: Oneness and Uniqueness of Allah. 

*Shahada: Testimony of faith.

*Negation: The act of denying.

*Affirmation: Declaring something as true. 

I think a lot of people are confused on many aspects of the deen and they become even more so confused when they see the topics of refutations, the history of battles, some terminology, etc. Insha’Allah I wanted to start posting a bit simpler concepts that’ll segway into the more complicated issues. Because you can’t understand the major issues without first having a grasp on the simpler issues, yeah? So insha’Allah ‘Back to the Basics’ will be in the works. Insha’Allah it benefits you and it benefits me first and foremost.