Question: What are the conditions for saying “La ilaha illallah”? Is it sufficient to merely utter it without understanding its meaning and implications?
Answer: “La ilaha illallah” (There is no deity but Allah) is the best of words, the foundation of the religion, and the basis of the faith. It is the message with which the prophets, peace be upon them, began their missions. The first thing the Prophet said to his people was: “Say ‘La ilaha illallah’ and you will succeed.” Allah says: “And We did not send any messenger before you except that We revealed to him that there is no deity except Me, so worship Me” [Al-Anbiya: 25]. Every messenger said to his people: “Worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him” [Al-A’raf: 59]. It is the foundation of the religion and the faith.
One must understand its meaning, which is that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah. It has conditions, which are: knowledge of its meaning, certainty without doubt, sincerity to Allah alone, truthfulness in heart and tongue, love for what it signifies, acceptance of it, submission to it, and rejection of any form of shirk (associating partners with Allah). These are the conditions for the validity of “La ilaha illallah” and its meaning. A believer must say it while disassociating from the worship of anything other than Allah, accepting the truth, loving Allah, and being sincere to Him without any doubt in its meaning. Some people say it without truly believing in it, like the hypocrites who say it while harboring doubt or denial. Therefore, knowledge, certainty, truthfulness, sincerity, love, submission, acceptance, and disassociation from shirk are essential.
Some have summarized its conditions in two lines of poetry: Knowledge, certainty, sincerity, and truthfulness with love, submission, and acceptance of it, And the eighth is disbelief in anything worshipped besides Allah.
May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.
