The Greatest Right of Allāh Over His Slaves

All praise is due to Allāh. May Allāh raise the rank of Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ and protect his nation from that which he feared for them.

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The Foundation of Belief

The greatest right that Allāh, the Exalted, has over His slaves is that they confirm His Oneness and associate nothing with Him in worship. Associating partners with Allāh is the gravest sin a person can commit. It is the one sin Allāh does not forgive after death, while He forgives whatever is less than that for whomever He wills.

Allāh the Exalted said:

إِنَّ ٱللهَ لَا يَغفِرُ أَن يُشرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ لِـمَن يَشَآءُ

Surely Allāh does not forgive the association of partners with Him, and He forgives whatever is less than that for whomever He wills. [Sūrat al-Nisāʾ, 48]

All forms of blasphemy likewise carry no forgiveness after death.

Allāh the Exalted said:

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَصَدُّواْ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللهِ ثُمَّ مَاتُواْ وَهُم كُفَّارٌ فَلَن يَغفِرَ ٱللهُ لَهُم

Surely Allāh will not forgive those who blasphemed and blocked others from the path of Allāh, and then died while being blasphemers. [Sūrat Muḥammad, 34]

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The Two Testifications of Faith

The minimum by which a person is saved from remaining in Hell forever is to hold with conviction the two testifications of faith.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

مَن شَهِدَ أنْ لا إِلهَ إِلا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وأَنَّ عِيسَى عَبْدُ اللهِ وَرَسُولُهُ وَكَلِمَتُهُ أَلْقَاهَا إِلى مَرْيَمَ، وَرُوحٌ مِنْهُ وَالجَنَّةَ حَقٌّ وَالنَّارَ حَقٌّ، أَدْخَلَهُ اللهُ الجَنَّةَ عَلَى مَا كَانَ مِنَ العَمَلِ

Whoever testifies that no one is God except Allāh alone without a partner, that Muḥammad is His slave and His Messenger, that ʿĪsā is the slave of Allāh and His Messenger, and the good news given to Maryam, and a soul from Allāh, that Paradise is true, and Hellfire is true, Allāh will admit him to Paradise no matter what he did. [Al-Bukhārī and Muslim]

In another narration:

فَإِنَّ اللهَ حَرَّمَ عَلَى النَّارِ مَنْ قَالَ لا إِلهَ إِلا اللهُ يَبْتَغِي بِذَلِكَ وَجْهَ اللهِ

Surely Allāh made forbidden for Hell whoever said “no one is God except Allāh” sincerely for the sake of Allāh. [Al-Bukhārī]

It is obligatory to pair belief in the Message of Muḥammad ﷺ with the testimony that no one is God except Allāh. Neither alone is sufficient.

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The Meaning of the Two Testifications

The testification that “no one is God except Allāh” means: I confess with my tongue and hold as a conviction in my heart that the only rightfully worshipped One is Allāh the Exalted.

The testification that “Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allāh” means: I confess with my tongue and accept with my heart that our Master Muḥammad ﷺ is sent from Allāh to all humans and jinn, that he was truthful in everything he conveyed from Allāh, and that all people must believe in his laws and follow him.

The two testifications together mean the negation of Godhood for anything other than Allāh, and the confirmation of Godhood for Allāh alone, along with the confession of the Message of Muḥammad ﷺ.

Allāh the Exalted said:

وَمَن لَّـم يُؤمِن بِٱللهِ وَرَسُولِهِ فَإِنَّآ أَعتَدنَا لِلكَــٰفِرِينَ سَعِيرًا

Whoever does not believe in Allāh and His Messenger, then he is a blasphemer, and We have prepared Hell for the blasphemers. [Sūrat al-Fatḥ, 13]

The scholars of Islām have agreed that whoever practices a religion other than Islām is a blasphemer. They have likewise agreed that whoever does not charge such a person with blasphemy, or doubts it, or remains neutral about it, has also fallen into blasphemy.

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Who Must Utter the Testification

Uttering the two testifications once in a lifetime with the intention of fulfilling the obligation is required of every accountable person. According to the Shāfiʿī and Ḥanbalī schools, it must also be uttered in every prayer for the prayer to be valid.

For the person raised as a Muslim who believes in the two testifications from birth, uttering them is not a condition of his Islām. He is a Muslim even if he does not utter them. The requirement to utter applies to the one entering Islām from another religion.

The best and first obligation upon every person is belief in Allāh and His Messenger. The Prophet ﷺ conveyed that Allāh said:

قَالَ اللهُ تَعالى: وَمَا تَقَرَّبَ إِلىَّ عَبْدِي بِشَىءٍ أَحَبَّ إِلىَّ مِمَّا افْتَرَضْتُ عَلَيْهِ

My slave does not become more accepted by Me by doing anything more acceptable to Me than what I have made obligatory upon him. [Al-Bukhārī]

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No Religion is Correct Except Islām

Allāh the Exalted said:

وَمَن يَبتَغِ غَيرَ ٱلإِسلَـــٰمِ دِينًا فَلَن يُقبَلَ مِنهُ وَهُوَ فِي ٱلأَخِرَةِ مِنَ ٱلخَــٰسِرِينَ

Whoever seeks other than Islām as a religion, it will not be accepted from him, and he will be among the losers in the Hereafter. [Sūrat Āl ʿImrān, 85]

And He said:

إِنَّ ٱلدِّينَ عِندَ ٱللهِ ٱلإِسلَامُ

The acceptable religion to Allāh is Islām. [Sūrat Āl ʿImrān, 19]

All the Prophets were Muslims. Whoever followed Mūsā was a Muslim under the Mosaic law. Whoever followed ʿĪsā was a Muslim under the Jesusite law. Our Master Muḥammad ﷺ came with the renewal of the call to Islām after it had been interrupted among the people of the earth, supported by miracles that prove his Prophethood.

The Islamic foundation that unites all the people of Islām is the worship of Allāh alone.

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The Fate of the Believer and the Blasphemer

Whoever confirms the Oneness of Allāh and has faith in His Messenger ﷺ will not dwell in Hellfire forever, even if he enters it because of his sins. His final fate is to exit Hell and enter Paradise after receiving whatever punishment he deserves, if Allāh does not forgive him beforehand.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

يَخرجُ مِن النارِ مَنْ قَالَ لا إِلهَ إِلا اللهُ وفي قَلْبِهِ وَزْنُ ذَرَّةٍ مِن إِيمانٍ

Whoever says “There is no God except Allāh” will come out of Hell as long as he has a particle’s weight of faith in his heart. [Al-Bukhārī]

As for the one who rejected the two testifications entirely, his destination is Hell forever, with no exit and no intercession.

Allāh the Exalted said:

وَمَن لَّـم يُؤمِن بِٱللهِ وَرَسُولِهِ فَإِنَّآ أَعتَدنَا لِلكَــٰفِرِينَ سَعِيرًا

Whoever does not believe in Allāh and His Messenger, We have prepared Hell for the blasphemers. [Sūrat al-Fatḥ, 13]

As for the one who upheld the Oneness of Allāh, fulfilled His commands, and avoided His prohibitions, he will enter Paradise without punishment, where the everlasting and ongoing blessings are. The Prophet ﷺ conveyed that Allāh said:

قَالَ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: أَعدَدْتُ لعبدِيَ الصالحينَ مَا لا عينٌ رَأَتْ ولا أُذنٌ سَمِعَتْ ولا خطرَ على قَلْبِ بَشَرٍ

Allāh the Mighty and Great said: I have prepared for my pious slaves what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and what never occurred to the heart of any human. [Al-Bukhārī]

Allāh the Exalted also said:

فَلَا تَعلَمُ نَفسٌ مَّا أُخفِىَ لَهُم مِّن قُرَّةِ أُعيُنٍ جَزَآءَ بِـمَا كَانُوا يَعمَلُونَ

No soul knows what is hidden for them of pleasurable things as compensation for what they used to do. [Sūrat al-Sajdah, 17]

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This article is part of IKF’s Ilm al-Aqīdah series, drawn from the works of the scholars of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamāʿah.