Category: Salah (Prayer)

The Prophet’s ﷺ Tafsir of لا اله الا الله
Shaykh Abdurrazzaq al-Badr حفظه الله [Video|Ar-En Subtitles]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRtUo9PZ5Q8 [15 min]

The Importance of Correctly Understanding “لا إله إلا الله”

If the understanding of the people are deviated from the correct meaning of (لا إله إلا الله), what kind of deviation do you think will happen to the religion of the people? Therefore, from the most emphasized obligations and from the most important of affairs, is that the Muslim has correct understanding of this tremendous statement (لا إله إلا الله). When an individual wants what will aid him in having correct understanding of لا إله إلا الله, I direct you to a way, which I believe has a tremendous benefit. I advise with it and I also advise it to be propagated, in specifically understanding لا إله إلا الله.

While we are speaking about the dangers of the shortcomings in understanding لا إله إلا الله and the incorrect understandings that exist in the books that the people have, I direct you to a beneficial way in understanding this statement, also this understanding will be remembered daily, by way of a narrated Sunnah from our Prophet.

A Prophetic Remembrance for Nourishing the Heart

I am not narrating a statement from myself nor a statement from a scholar. Rather I only narrate to you the statement of the Messenger of Allah, regarding something you do everyday. And it nourishes the correct understanding of لا إله إلا الله in the hearts. And its affair is amazing سبحان الله. And everything from the Sunnah is blessed. Whoever is blessed to preserve the narrated Sunnah from our Prophet and act upon it, there is an effect upon him, especially the narrated remembrances from our Prophet. All of you have memorized and act upon the authentic remembrance, that is said at the end of each prayer from the Hadith of Mughirah and Abdullah ibn Zubayr. That which is stated in this Hadith, and I request complete focus from everyone, because this is from the loftiest affairs the Muslim should take heed to, and most tremendous affairs the Muslim should take heed to.

The Three Tahlilat After Prayer

When you look at the Hadith, three Tahlilat (the utterance of لا إله إلا الله) are stated, that is legislated for you to say after each prayer.

لا إله إلا الله، وحده لا شريك له، له الملك، وله الحمد، وهو على كل شيء قدير

لا إله إلا الله، ولا نعبد إلا إياه، له النعمة، وله الفضل، وله الثناء الحسن

لا إله إلا الله، مخلصين له الدين، ولو كره الكافرون

It is legislated for you to repeat these three Tahlilat daily after each prayer. This repetition is a nourishment for your heart, O Muslim, in understanding لا إله إلا الله and establishing its meaning. And this is what is intended by the legislated remembrances. It is not merely statements that are said. Rather it is a nourishment for the heart. So when you read these remembrances daily at the end of each prayer as legislated, and you are conscious, then you are renewing this Tawhid and this belief in لا إله إلا الله in your heart.

Breakdown of the First Tahlil: Negation, Affirmation, and Evidence

لا إله إلا الله، وحده لا شريك له، له الملك، وله الحمد، وهو على كل شيء قدير

لا إله إلا الله (There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah) – We said that this includes negation and affirmation, a general negation and a specific affirmation.

وحده لا شريك له (alone without any partner) – This is an emphasis of the negation and the affirmation that the statement لا إله إلا الله guides to. The statement: وحده (alone), emphasizes: إلا الله (except Allah). And the statement: لا شريك له (alone without any partner), emphasizes: لا إله (There is no deity worthy of worship). It is stated as an emphasis giving attention to the status of Tawhid and its lofty significance, emphasizing the negation and affirmation that the statement لا إله إلا الله guides to. لا إله إلا الله، وحده لا شريك له. You are emphasizing the meaning that is in لا إله إلا الله.

After that: له الملك، وله الحمد، وهو على كل شيء قدير (His is the dominion and His is the praise and He is Able to do all things.) – These are the evidences for Tawhid. You worship Allah and single Him out because His is the dominion alone! These are all evidences of Tawhid. Similar to this is: الله لا إله إلا هو… Allah! None has the right to be worshipped but He… This is Tawhid. الحي القيوم لا تأخذه سنة ولا نوم the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber, nor sleep overtake Him… until the end of the verse, these are all evidences of Tawhid.

Breakdown of the Second Tahlilat:

Explanation and Sincerity

[2] لا إله إلا الله، ولا نعبد إلا إياه،
(There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and we worship none except Him…)

ولا نعبد إلا إياه، (and we worship none except Him…) This is an explanation. You read the statement of Tawhid then you follow it with the reality of its meaning. ولا نعبد إلا إياه، (and we worship none except Him…) is the meaning of لا إله إلا الله that we don’t worship none except Allah.

له النعمة، وله الفضل، وله الثناء الحسن
(to Him belongs the bounty and to Him belongs the grace, and to Him belongs all excellent praise…) These are the evidences of Tawhid.

Breakdown of the Third Tahlilat:

The last Tahlil that you say after it:

[3] لا إله إلا الله، مخلصين له الدين، ولو كره الكافرون
There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, being sincere to Him in religion, although the disbelievers dislike it.

In this it shows that لا إله إلا الله includes making the religion sincerely for Allah. As Allah the Most High said:

ألا لله الدين الخالص
Surely the religion is for Allah only.﴾ al-Zumar:3 ﴿

وما أمروا إلا ليعبدوا الله مخلصين له الدين
And they were commanded not, but that they should worship Allah, and worship none but Him Alone…﴾ al-Bayyinah:5 ﴿

فادعوه مخلصين له الدين
so invoke Him making your worship pure for Him Alone…﴾ Ghafir:65﴿

And that which is pure is that which is unadulterated. This is how the religion should be, sincere, pure, nothing is intended from it except Allah.

The Comprehensive Explanation Derived from the Prophet

If it was said to one of us: What is the meaning of لا إله إلا الله ? Don’t go to any book. Take the explanation from this remembrance that you repeat, which your Prophet taught you, in nourishing this tremendous affair, which is from the most important of affairs.

So if it is said to you: What is the explanation of لا إله إلا الله , what is its meaning? From the compilation of these three Tahlilat, you are able to summarize the explanation of لا إله إلا الله. Listen to the explanation from these three statements and write it down. The meaning of لا إله إلا الله that we worship none except Him alone without any partner being sincere to Him in religion… Whose explanation is this? The Messenger! It is not the explanation of a scholar you believe that such and such is possible… This is the explanation of the Messenger who commanded you to repeat these Tahlilat, and to follow him in repeating this five times every day.

In this is a tremendous benefit in establishing this affair, and making it firm in the hearts of the slaves. So if it is said: What is the meaning of لا إله إلا الله ? Explain it with the statement of the Messenger that is in this Hadith. A second time, its explanation in light of these remembrances that are repeated every day: The meaning of لا إله إلا الله : that we worship none except Him. This is from the second Tahlil. alone without any partner This is from the first Tahlil. being sincere to Him in religion… This is from the third Tahlil.

From this day forth, every time you read these Tahlilat, you remember this, which I believe is beneficial and important for every Muslim. And if someone is trialed with some obscurities and it diverts his understanding, and he is he given another meaning of it, he says: The Messenger of Allah is sufficient for us from the statement of everyone else! If the river of Allah comes, then the river of Zayd and Amr is worthless. We are not in need of it. This is the statement of the Messenger.

Quranic Proofs and the Danger of Deviant Interpretations

There are plenty verses in the Qur’an that explain to you لا إله إلا الله with the same meaning. When you read:

واعبدوا الله ولا تشركوا به شيئا
Worship Allah and join none with Him (in worship)…﴾ al-Nisa:36 ﴿

وقضى ربك ألا تعبدوا إلا إياه
And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him…﴾ al-Isra:23 ﴿

وما أمروا إلا ليعبدوا الله مخلصين له الدين
And they were commanded not, but that they should worship Allah, and worship none but Him Alone…﴾ al-Bayyinah:5 ﴿

إنني براء مما تعبدون إلا الذي فطرني فإنه سيهدين وجعلها كلمة باقية في عقبه
Verily, I am innocent of what you worship Except Him who created me and verily, He will guide me. And he made it a Word lasting among his offspring.﴾ al-Zukhruf:26-28.

These are all statements that explain لا إله إلا الله. Therefore, the Imam, reviver and rectifier, Shaykh al-Islam Muhammad ibn Abdulwahhab, when he put together the chapters in the introduction of his book Kitab al-Tawhid, all of it is in emphasizing the correct understanding of Tawhid, he put together a chapter for the explanation for Tawhid and لا إله إلا الله. He didn’t come with anything from himself. Rather he brought verses that explain the meaning of لا إله إلا الله. And he brought Ahadith that explain the meaning of لا إله إلا الله. You read them and understand from them the meaning of Tawhid.

The Consequences of Incorrect Understanding

After today, if someone from them comes and says that لا إله إلا الله means: There is no one that is able to create except Allah. Or he explains the singling out of His worship to mean singling Him out in being the Creator. An individual mustn’t believe that this incorrect explanation is something insignificant. This is a loss! This is a loss of the religion of the people.

When one comes with the statement which the religion is built upon, and causes the lay people to understand it incorrectly, what kind of deviation for the lay people do you think will occur because of this? Therefore, you find that some of the lay people repeat لا إله إلا الله , and they perform actions that nullify it. But because they have an incorrect understanding of it, they don’t believe that these actions nullify لا إله إلا الله. Because they had an incorrect understanding of لا إله إلا الله. Therefore, this affair is considered from the greatest and most important of affairs, and from the greatest of advice regarding the religion of Allah.

Read the Qur’an from the beginning of the call of the messengers to their people. And to ‘Ad (people, We sent) their brother Hud… And to Thamud (people, We sent) their brother Saleh… And to Madyan (people, We sent) their brother Shu’ayb… They all said:

يا قوم اعبدوا الله ما لكم من إله غيره
O my people! Worship Allah, you have no other Ilah (God) but Him…

This is the explanation of لا إله إلا الله. So the meaning of لا إله إلا الله is clear in the Book and the Sunnah and clear in the proofs. However, when these incorrect explanations exist, loss occurs.

Protection Against Misguidance

Also, I will mention to you something important. The people with deviated beliefs… There is a saying that everyone gives from what they have. So when their intellects are absorbed with an incorrect Aqidah, then they come with a legislated statement, like this statement: لا إله إلا الله the greatest statement, when they explain it, it will be an explanation in light of the Aqidah that is absorbed their hearts. And this is a place where this shortcoming is hidden regarding this affair. So praise Allah for well-being. This well-being is from the greatest of bounties. And from well-being is being safe from this misguidance and this falsehood

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