Shahadah

// Thomas Katelyn Julia Mattea //

The Shahadah consists of two statements that must be said in order to be a part of Muslim faith. It is essential to Muslim religion, to the extent that it is constantly mentioned and stated throughout the day, including when the muezzin gives the daily call to prayer from a minaret. All Muslim people take part in this prayer several times in their lifetime and it is one of the most important Pillars of Islamic religion. Founded a while after the death of Muhammad, the Shahadah continues to be a mainstay of Muslim religion today.
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__//**Subtopic #1: The Prayer**//__

The Shahadah is a prayer that declares a Muslim's faith to Allah and the Islamic religion and is also the First Pillar of Islam. The prayer says in short, "T here is no god but Allah, and Muhammed is the messenger of Allah." The Shahadah is basically the overview of Muslim people's faith in a one simple statement. This prayer is said every day during the Salat which occurs five times a day and during the service at the mosque which shows that it is very important to the Islamic religion. To become a part of the Islamic faith, someone must repeat this prayer three times in front of an imam, friend, or just Allah. After saying this, the individual is part of this hugely popular and fastest spreading religion and now may take part in the Five Pillars, Muslim Holidays, and Muslim Prayer. The prayer is a requirement to be recited if one wants to be part of and dedicated to the Muslim religion. It represents the acceptance of Allah and his prophet and the entirety of Islam. The Shahadah has to be recited correctly and wholeheartedly during at least one time in a Muslim's lifetime for them to be an official Muslim. However, it is commonly said much more often as it is extremely important to the Muslim people. The Shahadah is also stated in the muezzin's daily call to prayer and is a vital part of Islamic faith.



//**__Subtopic # 2: The Faith__**//

The Shahadah is the first pillar of Islam known as the Declaration of Faith. It shows a Muslim's complete dedication to the message of Islam and the prophet Muhammad. The Shahadah should include all six articles of faith and should be a genuine belief. The Shahadah is so important to the Muslim community that it is seen on the Saudi Arabian Kingdom Flag and is recited by the muezzin each day in the Salat. In saying this prayer, it means that the muezzin has absolute belief and submission towards Allah and believes that Muhammad was both a mortal being and a prophet. This prayer is also meant to be written and said in Arabic and to not do so is considered blasphemous. This prayer is essential to all Muslim people and is one of the most important pillars of Islamic religion. In order to become a Muslim, you must recite the Shahadah three times in front of a witness. If you are a Muslim, you are expected to recite the Shahadah out loud, with total sincerity, fully understanding what it means. Muslims repeat the Shahadah many times during their five daily prayers. The Shahadah is the basic statement of the Islamic faith: anyone who cannot recite this wholeheartedly is not a Muslim.


 * __Subtopic # 3: 7 conditons of the Shahadah__**

The Shahadah has seven conditions that come with it. The first condition is knowledge. It states that every individual should have knowledge to know that there is no one more worthy than Allah. The next condition is certainty and describes one must believe in the one god Allah and that his one prophet is Muhammad. The third condition is acceptance which is meant to show how all Muslims must accept the Shahadah to be true. The fourth condition is submission. The submissions are good duties performed every day by a Muslim to pleasure Allah. The fifth condition is truthfulness and represents being loyal to Allah at all times. The sixth condition of the Shahadah is sincerity and shows the badness in shirk which is the Muslim word for sin. The last condition of the Shahadah is Loving the Shahadah the message within it. That is a brief description of the seven conditions followed by Muslims that come with the Shahadah.



__Subtopic # 4: How to Pray the Shahadah:__

To pray the Shahadah, one does not need any special training, but they do have to follow some easy steps. All someone needs to do this prayer is the faith in Islam and how to recite it in Arabic. To pray the Shahadah, a Muslim must kneel down and face towards Mecca, or, if you are in Mecca, you will pray towards the Kaaba (pictured below the paragraph), no matter if they are saying it to be part of the Muslim faith or just during the Salat. Praying Muslims must pray to Mecca because it is where they believe Muhammad began his preachings of the Islamic religion and it is where the Kaaba is. While they recite it, they must bow up and down towards Mecca on a mat or just on the ground. No matter where a Muslim is, when its time for the Salat, they immediately get on the ground and pray. The five times of day that a Muslim prays their daily prayers are at dawn, after midday, mid-afternoon, sunset, and an hour and a half after sunset. These constant prayer times show how important praising Allah is to Muslims. So the Shahadah is not just the everyday prayer to people of the Muslim faith, it is a very important prayer only to be said by Muslims and to pray it, one would need to follow the guidelines to pray it in the paragraph.



In conclusion, the Shahadah is important towards the fastest growing religion of Islam in many ways. It is the Muslim testimony towards their god, Allah, and towards the prophet Muhammad. The importance of this Islamic Pillar is evident through several aspects of Muslim culture, as evidencd by its position on the Saudi Arabian flag. Therefore, the Shahadah was, and still is today a great part of the culture that is Islam.
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[] [] [] [] http://www.search.com/reference/shahadah http://alabalgh.net/kids/understanding-deen/shahadah.shtml www.religionfacts.com/islam/practices/ ** shahada **-faith.htm muttaqun.com/shahada.html islamworld.net/become.html **
 * __Sources:__**
 * http://www.islam.com/shahadah.htm