…
1. The Prophet ﷺ said:
"Whoever says: there is no god but Allah enters Paradise."[1]Tabarani narrated it from Abu Dharr in the Kabir (7:55), Ibn Hibban in his Sahih (31), al-Hakim in his Mustadrak (4:251), al-Mundhiri in al-Targhib (2:422), al-Haythami in Majmaʿ al-zawa'id (1:18), Ibn ʿAdi (7:2639), Abu Nuʿaym in the Hilya (7:174), and al-Bazzar from ʿUmar.
2. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever says there is no god but Allah enters Paradise even if he commits adultery and even if he steals (i.e. even if he commits great sins)."[2] (Nasa'i, Tabarani and others from Abu al-Darda' - sahih)
3. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever witnesses that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah's Messenger, Allah forbids the Fire from touching him."[3] Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim from ʿUbada ibn al-Samit.
Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bari, book of riqaq ch. 14 (1989 ed. 11:324) says that the hadiths of "Allah forbids the Fire from touching him" are even more explicit than those of "Allah will enter him into Paradise" in establishing that the one who declares Allah's oneness is saved even if he does not heed the orders and the prohibitions.
4. The Companions were talking about Malik ibn Dukhshum, and they wished that the Prophet ﷺ would curse him so that he should die or meet some calamity.
The Prophet ﷺ
said: "Does Malik ibn Dukhshum not testify to the fact that there is no god but Allah and that I am the Messenger of
Allah?" They said: "Yes, he no doubt says this but it is not in his heart."
The Prophet ﷺ
replied: "No-one ever witnesses that there is no god but Allah and that I am Allah's Messenger and then enters the Fire
nor is consumed by it." Anas said: "This hadith impressed me so much that I ordered my son to write it down and he
did."[4] Muslim narrates it.
5. The Prophet ﷺ said that Allah will save a man of his community the record of whose
sins fills 99 books, each book extending as far as the eye can see.
Against all this will be weighed the one good deed
that he has, which is his witnessing that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger, and it will
outweigh all the rest. The Prophet ﷺ then said: "Nothing is of any weight with Allah's
Name."
[The hadith begins: innallaha sayukhallisu rajulan min ummati...][5] Narrated from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAs by Ahmad, Tirmidhi (Iman 17 - hasan gharib), al-Hakim, and Bayhaqi in Shuʿab al-iman.
6. Bukhari narrates in his Sahih (Volume 9, Book 93, Number 601):
Maʿbad ibn Hilal al-ʿAnazi relates:
Some of us
from Basra gathered and went to Anas bin Malik in company with Thabit al-Bunani so that he might ask Anas about the
Hadith of Intercession on our behalf. Anas was in his palace, and our arrival coincided with his late morning (Duha)
prayer. We asked permission to enter and he admitted us, sitting on his bed. We said to Thabit, "Do not ask him about
anything else first but the Hadith of Intercession." He said, "O Abu Hamza! Here are your brethren from Basra coming
to ask you about the Hadith of
Intercession." Anas then said:
The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- talked to us saying: On the Day of Resurrection the people will surge one group after another like waves, and then they will come to Adam and say: "Please intercede for us with your Lord." He will say: "I am not fit for this. You should go to Ibrahim as he is the Intimate Friend (khalil) of the Beneficent." They will go to Ibrahim and he will say: "I am not fit for this, but you should go to Moses as he is the one to whom Allah spoke directly." So they will go to Musa and he will say: "I am not fit for this, but you should go to `Isa as he is a soul created (directly) by Allah, and His Word (Be!)." They will go to `Isa and he will say: "I am not fit for this, but you should go to Muhammad."
They will come to me and I will say: "I can do it." Then I will ask for my Lord's permission and it will be given; then He will inspire me to praise Him with such praises as I cannot fathom. So I will praise Him with those praises and will fall down prostrate before Him. Then it will be said: "O Muhammad, raise your head and speak, for you will be heard; ask, for your will be granted your request; intercede, for your intercession will be accepted." I will say: "O Lord, my Community! My Community!" And then it will be said: "Go and take out of the Fire all those who have in their hearts faith the weight of a barley grain."
I will go and do so and return to praise Him with the same praises, and fall down prostrate before Him. Then it will be said: "O Muhammad, raise your head and speak, for you will be heard; ask, for you will be granted your request; intercede, for your intercession will be accepted." I will say: "O Lord, my Community! My Community!" And then it will be said: "Go and take out of the Fire all those who have in their hearts the smallest iota of faith (or: the like of a small ant or a mustard-seed)." I will go and do so.
When we left Anas, I said to some of my companions: "Let us pass by al-Hasan (al-Basri) who is hiding himself in the house of Abu Khalifa and request him to recount to us what Anas ibn Malik has just told us." So we went to him and we greeted him and he admitted us. We said to him: "O Abu Sa`id! We came to you from your brother Anas ibn Malik and he related to us a Hadith about the intercession the like of which I have never heard." He said: "What is that?" We told him of the Hadith and at the end we said: "He stopped at this point." He said: "What then?" We said: "He did not add anything after that."
He said: "Anas related the Hadith to me twenty years ago when he was a young fellow. I don't know whether he forgot or if he did not like to let you depend overly on what he might have said." We said, "O Abu Sa`id! Do tell us." He smiled and said: "Man was created hasty. I only mentioned it because I was going to inform you of it. Anas told me the same as he told you and said that the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- added: I will then return for a fourth time and praise Him similarly and prostrate before Him the same as before. And then it will be said: "O Muhammad, raise your head and speak, for you will be heard; ask, for your will be granted your request; intercede, for your intercession will be accepted." I will then say: "O Lord, allow me to intercede for whoever said: La ilaha illallah." Then Allah will say: By My Power, by My Majesty, by My Supremacy, and by My Greatness, I shall take out of the fire whoever said: La ilaha illallah. [6]
7. This is confirmed by another well-known hadith whereby the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- said:
"My intercession is for those people of my Community who commit major sins."[7]
8. Adhana fi al-nasi anna man shahida an La ilaha illallah wahdahu la sharika lahu mukhlisan dakhala al-janna. "It was proclaimed among the people that whoever witnesses that there is no god except Allah, alone, without partner, enters Paradise."[8]
8a. Man shahida an La ilaha illallah dakhala al-janna. "Whoever witnesses that there is no god but Allah alone enters Paradise."[9]
9. Bashshir al-nasa annahu man qala La ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lahu wajabat lahu al-janna.
"Announce to the people the tidings that whoever says: No god except Allah alone, without partner, Paradise is guaranteed for him."[10]
10. `Uthman ibn `Affan said: I heard Allah's Messenger say:
"Verily, I know a phrase which no servant utters truthfully from his heart except the Fire is made unlawful for him."
`Umar ibn al-Khattab said: "I shall tell you what that phrase is. It is the kalima of sincerity with which Allah has empowered Muhammad and his Companions, the kalima of fear of Allah which Allah's Prophet enjoined upon his uncle Abu Talib on his deathbed: the witnessing that there is no god but Allah."[11]
11. Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib relates: When the death of Abu Talib approached, Allah's Apostle ﷺ came to him and said: "Say: la ilaha illallah, a word with which I will be able to negotiate or argue (uhajju) for you in Allah's presence."[12] Narrated by Bukhari in his Sahih (Volume 8, Book 78, Number 672). Muslim also narrates it in his Sahih.
12. mafātih al-janna shahadatu an lā ilāha illallāh. "The keys to Paradise are the witnessing that there is no god but Allah."[13] Ahmad related it from Muʿadh and Haythami said in Majmaʿ al-zawa'id: "The men in its chain have been declared trustworthy (thiqa) although there is interruption in the transmission." It is confirmed by the next hadith.
12a. li kulli shay'in miftāhun wa miftāhu-l jannati shahādatu an lā ilāha illallāh. "Everything has its key, and the key to Paradise is the witnessing that there is no god but Allah."[14] Narrated by Tabarani from Muʿqal ibn Yasar. Wahb confirmed its authenticity as related in one of the chapter-titles in Bukhari's Sahih.
13. Ibn ʿAbbas narrated in his Commentary that the Prophet ﷺ said concerning the meaning of the verse: { hal jaza'u al-ihsani illa al-ihsan - "Is the reward of goodness anything other than goodness?" } (sura 55:60): "Allah says: Can there be any other reward than Paradise in the Hereafter for one whom I blessed in his worldly life with the recitation of the kalima of la ilaha illallah?" ʿIkrima and al-Hasan also said that the reward of la ilaha illallah cannot be anything but Paradise.
14. "If anyone comes on the Day of Resurrection who has said la ilaha illallah sincerely with the intention to win
Allah's pleasure, Allah will make Hellfire forbidden for him."[15]
Narrated by Bukhari, vol. 8 p.288 #431.
Tirmidhi comments on the preceding hadith:
"It is narrated from al-Zuhri that he was asked about the Prophet's
saying ﷺ whereby "Whoever says la ilaha illallah enters Paradise" and he said: "This was only in the beginning of Islam,
before the revelation of obligations and the orders and prohibitions."
The hafiz Abu Bakr ibn al-ʿArabi (d. 543)
comments on this in ʿAridat al-ahwadhi (10:105): "There is no justification for Ibn Shihab's (al-Zuhri)
explanation."
This is confirmed by the hadith of ʿUtban ibn Malik. Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bari, Riqaq ch. 14 (1989 ed.
11:324) mentions that the opinion of al-Zuhri and of Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib that the hadith "Whoever says la ilaha
illallah" applied only in the beginning of Islam was incorrect since the hadith of Abu al-Darda' and Abu Dharr whereby
the Muslim enters
Paradise "even if he commits adultery or steals" and the Prophet ﷺ mentioned this
precisely to contradict the logic of those who say that great sins will prevent entry into
Paradise.
15. lan yuwafiya ʿabdun yawma-l qiyāmati yaqulu la ilāha illallāh yabtaghi biha wajh Allah illa harrama Allahu ʿalayhi al-nār. "No servant is true to his word on the Day of Resurrection, saying: No god but Allah in order to seek Allah's good pleasure, except Allah will make the Fire unlawful for him."[16] Narrated by Ahmad and Bukhari from ʿUtban ibn Malik.
16. "The best of my sayings and of the sayings of all Prophets before me is: There is no god but Allah alone, without
partner, to Him belong all sovereignty and glory, and He has power over all things."
Narrated by Tirmidhi from ʿAmr
ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his
grandfather (hasan gharib).
17. afdalu al-aʿmali al-imānu billāhi wahdah, thumma al-jihād, thumma hujjatun mabrūra, tufdilu sā'ir al-aʿmali kama bayna matlaʿ al-shamsi ila maghribiha. "The best deed is belief in Allah alone, then fighting in the way of Allah, then pilgrimage that is accepted: these outweigh all deeds the distance of East to West."[17] Narrated by Ahmad from Maʿiz with a sound chain.
18. Alaysa yashhadu an La ilaha illallah wa anni rasulullah? Qalu innahu yaqulu dhalika wa ma huwa fi qalbihi. Qala la yashhadu ahadun an La ilaha illallah wa anni rasulullah fa yadkhulu al-nara aw tut`imuhu. Qala anas fa a`jabani hadha al-hadith fa qultu li ibni uktubhu fa katabahu.
It is narrated on the authority of `Utban ibn Malik that he came to Madina and said: Something was wrong with my eyesight, so I said to the Prophet: "It is my ardent desire that you should grace my house with your presence and pray there so that I should take the spot where you prayed as a place of worship."
(Another version also in Muslim has: I sent for the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- the message: "Come and lay for me a place for worship [khutta li masjidan]." Imam Nawawi said: It means: "Mark for me a spot that I can take as a place for worship by obtaining blessing from your having been there [mutabarrikan bi atharika].") So the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- came there, with those of the Companions whom Allah wished. He entered (my home) and performed prayer. Then the Companions began to talk among themselves about Malik ibn Dukhshum, and they wished that the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- would curse him so that he should die or meet some calamity. After the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- finished praying he said: "Does Malik ibn Dukhshum not testify to the fact that there is no god but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah?" They said: "Yes, he no doubt says this but it is not in his heart." The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- replied: "No-one ever witnesses that there is no god but Allah and that I am Allah's Messenger and then enters the Fire or consumes it." Anas said: "This hadith impressed me so much that I ordered my son to write it down and he did." Imam Nawawi says about: "In this hadith is evidence for obtaining blessings through the relics of saints (al-tabarruk bi athar al-salihin)."[18]
19. Al-imanu bid`un wa sab`una baban fa adnaha imatat al-adha `an al-tariq wa arfa`uha qawlu La ilaha illallah.
"Belief is seventy and some branches. Its lowest branch is the removal of harm from the road while its highest is to say: There is no god but Allah."[19].
20. Man kana akhir kalamihi La ilaha illallah dakhala al-janna.
"Whoever breathes his last with the words: La ilaha illallah, enters Paradise."[20]
The hadith master Abu al-Baqa' told us: Hafiz Abu Muhammad informed us: Abu Tahir al-Silafi informed us: Abu `Ali al-Burdani said: I heard Hannad ibn Ibrahim al-Nasafi saying: I heard Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Qattan saying: I heard Abu `Abd Allah `Umar ibn Ahmad Ibn Ishaq al-`Attar saying: I heard Abu `Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn Warah al-Razi saying: I and Abu Hatim Muhammad ibn Idris al-Razi were present with Abu Zur`a al-Razi at the time of his death, so I said to Abu Hatim: "Come, let us remind him to say the shahada." Abu Hatim said, "I would be ashamed before Abu Zur`a to remind him of the shahada; but come, let us recall the hadith, perhaps when he hears it he will say it." I started and said: Muhammad ibn Bashshar told us: Abu `Asim al-Nabil told us: from `Abd al-Hamid ibn Ja`far - then I got confused about the hadith as if I never heard it or read it. So Abu Hatim started and said: Muhammad ibn Bashshar told us: Abu `Asim al-Nabil told us: from `Abd al-Hamid ibn Ja`far - then he too got confused as if he never read it or heard it before. Then Abu Zur`a, may Allah be pleased with him, spoke and said: Muhammad ibn Bashshar told us: Abu `Asim al-Nabil told us: `Abd al-Hamid ibn Ja`far told us: from Salih ibn Abi `Urayb: from Kathir ibn Murrah: from Mu`adh ibn Jabal, may Allah be pleased with him, he said: the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and give him peace, said: "Whoever speaks as his last words: La ilaha illallah" - then Abu Zur`a's spirit came out with the letter ha' (the last letter of the word Allah) before he could say "he will enter Paradise." That was in the year 262 H.[21]
21. man māta wa huwa yaʿlamu annahu lā ilāha illallāh dakhala al-janna.
"Whoever dies knowing full well that
there is no god but Allah, enters Paradise."[22] Narrated by Muslim and Ahmad from ʿUthman.
22. idhhab bi naʿlayya hatayni fa man laqita min wara'a hadha al-ha'it yashhadu an la ilaha illallah mustayqinan
biha qalbahu fa bashshirhu bi al-janna. The Prophet ﷺ said to Abu Hurayra: "Go
with these two sandals of mine and whoever you meet behind this wall that witnesses that there is no god except
Allah with
certitude in his heart, give him glad tidings that he will enter Paradise."[23] Narrated by Muslim from Abu Hurayra.
The latter then met ʿUmar, who prevented him from announcing this to the people and the Prophet ﷺ agreed with him on the grounds that they would then rely upon it to the exclusion of everything
else. The prevention of this news from reaching the ears of the ignorant is confirmed by the hadith of Muʿadh and
that of ʿUbada ibn al-Samit through al-Sunabihi, both narrated by Muslim in the same chapter (Book of iman ch. 10).
23. man shahida an la ilaha illallah wa anna Muhammadan rasulullah harrama Allahu ʿalayhi al-nar.
ʿAbd
al-Rahman ibn Usayla al-Sunabihi said: When I entered upon ʿUbada ibn al-Samit at the time of his death I burst
into tears so he said: "Why are you crying? By Allah, if I were asked to testify I would testify for you, and if I
were given
intercession I would intercede for you, and if it were in my power I would certainly help you! By Allah, I never
heard a hadith from Allah's Messenger in which there was benefit for you except I narrated it to you, all but one:
and I shall narrate it to you now since I am about to breathe my last. I heard Allah's Messenger say: "Whoever
witnesses that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah's Messenger, Allah forbids the Fire from
touching him."[24] Muslim and Tirmidhi narrated it.
Qadi ʿIyad said: "In this hadith is the proof for the permissibility
of keeping certain types of knowledge away from the common people due to the inability of their minds to
understand it correctly, as long as it does not concern an obligation of religion or stipulations for
punishment."[25]
Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim (Iman Ch. 10 #47).
24. ya Muʿadh ibn Jabal ma min ahadin yashhadu an la ilaha illallah wa anni rasulullah sidqan min qalbihi illa
harramahu allahu ʿala al-nar.
Qala ya rasulallah afala ukhbiru al-nasa fayastabshiru? Qala idhan yattakilu. The
Prophet ﷺ said: "O Muʿadh ibn Jabal! No one witnesses that there is no god but Allah
and that I am Allah's Messenger truthfully from his heart except Allah has made him unlawful for the Fire."
Muʿadh said: "O Messenger of Allah, shall I not tell the people so that they will be glad?"
He replied: "If you do,
they will rely on it (and leave everything else)."[26]
Narrated by Muslim, Ahmad and Bayhaqi from Anas. Muslim
says: "Muʿadh narrated it at the time of his death to avoid sinning (by keeping it to himself)."
25. asʿadu al-nasi bi shafaʿati yawma al-qiyama man qala La ilaha illallah khalisan mukhlisan min qalbihi.
Abu
Hurayra inquired from the Prophet: "O Messenger of Allah, who will be the most fortunate of people to receive
your intercession on the Day of Resurrection?"
The Prophet ﷺ replied: "O Abu
Hurayra, I knew, because of your love of what I say, that no one other than you would ask me of this hadith. The
most fortunate of people to receive my intercession on the Day of Resurrection are those who said: la ilaha illallah
purely and sincerely from the heart."[27] Narrated by Bukhari from Abu Hurayra.
26. Usama ibn Zayd killed an idolater in battle after the latter had said: "There is no god but Allah" (la ilaha
illallah). When news of this reached Allah's Messenger he condemned Usama in the strongest terms and he said to
him: "How can you kill him after he said La ilaha illallah?" He replied: "But he said it with the sword hanging over
his head-"
The Prophet ﷺ said again: "How can you kill him after he said La ilaha
illallah?" He replied: "O Messenger of Allah, he said it in dissimulation (taqiyyatan)."
The Prophet ﷺ said: "Did you split his heart open (to see)?" and he did not cease to reprove him until Usama
wished that he had not entered Islam until after he had killed that man so that he might have been forgiven all his
past sins through belief.[28]
Narrated by Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmad, Tayalisi, Abu Dawud, Nasa'i, al-ʿAdni, Abu
ʿAwana, al-Tahawi, al-Hakim, and Bayhaqi.
27. Al-Miqdad said: I asked, "O Messenger of Allah, suppose I and one of the idolaters battled and he cut off my hand, then I was positioned to strike him and he said: la ilaha illallah! Do I kill him or spare him?" He said: "Spare him." I said: "Even if he cut off my hand?" He said: "Even so." I asked him again two or three times whereupon he said: "If you kill him after he says la ilaha illallah then you are like him before he said it, and he is like you before you killed him."[29] Narrated by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Nasa'i, Shafiʿi in his Musnad, and Bayhaqi in the Shuʿab.
28. inna-llaha la yuʿadhdhibu min ʿibadihi illa al-marid wa
al-mutamarrid ʿala Allah wa aba an yaqula la ilaha illallah.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"Allah does not punish of his servants, except the rebel against Allah who refuses to say: there is no god but
Allah."[30] Ibn Majah narrated it.
29. afdalu al-dhikri la ilaha illallah.
The Prophet ﷺ said: "The best remembrance of
Allah is to say: There is no god but Allah."[31] Tirmidhi (hasan), Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, Ibn Hibban, Bayhaqi in Shuʿab
al-iman, from Jabir ibn ʿAbd Allah. (dhikr - see also 
)
30. al-tasbih nusfu al-mizan, wa al-hamdu lillah tamla'uhu, wa LA ILAHA ILLALLAH laysa laha duna Allahi hijabun hatta tukhlisu ilayh. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Saying subhan allah (glory to Allah) is half the balance and saying al-hamdu lillah (all praise belongs to Allah) fills it, and there is no veil between la ilaha illallah and Allah Himself (i.e. it is not even weighed in the Balance), it reaches Him directly."[32] Narrated by Tirmidhi from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar. Suyuti in al-Jamiʿ al-saghir said it is sound (sahih).
31. kunna ʿinda al-nabiyyi sallallahu ʿalayhi wa sallam fa qala hal fikum gharib? yaʿni ahl al-kitab qulna la ya
rasulallah fa amara bi ghalqi al-abwabi wa qala irfaʿu aydikum wa qulu la ilaha illallah! farafaʿna aydina saʿatan
thumma qala al-hamdu lillah! allahumma innaka baʿathtani bi hadhihi al-kalimai wa waʿadtani ʿalayha al-jannata wa
anta la tukhlifu al-miʿad! thumma qala abshiru fa innallaha qad ghafara lakum.
Yaʿla ibn Shaddad relates that his
father Shaddad ibn Aws told him as ʿUbada ibn al-Samit was present and confirmed it: "We were sitting with Allah's
Messenger ﷺ and he asked if there was any stranger - the narrator said: i.e. People of the Book - in the gathering. We
said that there was none. He said: Shut the door, raise up your hands and say: "There is no god but Allah." We raised
our hands and recited the kalima tayyiba for some time. He then exclaimed: "al-hamdu lillah! O Allah, You have sent
me with this word and have ordered me to teach it and have promised me Paradise for it, and You do not take back Your
promise. Be glad, for Allah has forgiven you!"[33] The chain of this hadith is fair (hasan). Narrated from Yaʿla ibn
Shaddad's father and ʿUbada ibn al-Samit by Ahmad, Nasa'i, Tabarani, al-Hakim, al-Mundhiri in al-Targhib, and
others. Al-Haythami said in Majmaʿ al-zawa'id: "The sub-narrators in its chain are trustworthy."
32. ʿAbd Allah ibn Salam relates: As we were travelling with Allah's Messenger ﷺ he heard the people asking: "Which action is the best, O Allah's Messenger?" He said: "Belief in Allah, fighting in Allah's way, and pilgrimage that is accepted." After this he heard a call coming from a valley saying: "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" whereupon he said: "And I bear witness to the same, and I bear witness that no one bears witness to the same except he clears himself of shirk (associating a partner to Allah)."[34] Ahmad and Tabarani in al-Awsat relate it with a sound chain, as stated by Haythami in Majmaʿ al-zawa'id.
33. The Prophet ﷺ came out and heard the adhan. When he heard the mu'adhdhin say: la ilaha illallah, he said: khalaʿa al-andad, which means: "He (the speaker) has disowned (the existence of) partners (to Allah)."[35] Ibn Abi al-Dunya narrated it, and Suyuti cites it in his commentary of verse 2:18 in al-Durr al-manthur.
34. yakhruju min al-nari man qala la ilaha illallah wa kana fi qalbihi min al-khayri ma yazinu shaʿira, thumma
yakhruju min al-nari man qala la ilaha illallah wa kana fi qalbihi min al-khayri ma yazinu badhra, thumman
yakhruju min al-nari man qala la ilaha illallah wa kana fi qalbihi min al-khayri ma yazinu dharra.
"There will come
out of the Fire whoever said: There is no god but Allah, and there is in his heart a bead's worth of goodness; then there
will come out of the Fire whoever said: There is no god but Allah, and there is in his heart a grain's worth of goodness;
then there will come out of the Fire whoever said: There is no god but Allah, and there is in his heart an atom's worth
of goodness."[36] Related by Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmad, Tirmidhi (hasan sahih), Bayhaqi, Nasa'i, Tabarani, Ibn Majah, and
Ibn Khuzayma from Anas.
35. Muʿadh ibn Jabal said that the last he spoke with the Prophet ﷺ he asked him:
"What action is most beloved to Allah?"
And the Prophet ﷺ replied: "That you die with
your tongue still moist with the mention (dhikr) of Allah."[37] Related by Tabarani and al-Bazzar (hasan). Note that
hadith #29 stipulates that the best dhikr is La ilaha illallah.
36. Ala unabbi'ukum bi khayri a`malikum wa azkaha `inda malikikum wa arfa`iha fi darajatikum wa khayrin lakum min infaqi al-dhahabi wa al-waraqi wa khayrin lakum min an talqu `aduwwakum fa tadribu a`naqahum wa yadribu a`naqakum qalu bala qala dhikrullah. The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- said: "Shall I tell you something that is the best of all deeds, constitutes the best act of piety in the eyes of your Lord, will elevate your status in the hereafter, and carries more virtue than the spending of gold and silver or taking part in just struggle and battling and being slewn in the Way of God? It is the dhikr or remembrance and mention of Allah."[38]
37. Ma `amila adamiyyun `amalan anja lahu min `adhabi al-qabri min dhikrillah. The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- said: "A human being cannot do anything that is more effective in saving him from the punishment of the grave than the dhikr or remembrance of Allah."[39]
38. Anas reports that the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- was once asked the same question as Mu`adh in hadith #35, and he replied: "Knowledge of Allah." It was then asked: "And which action adds to this in merit?" He repeated: "Knowledge of Allah." They said: "We ask about actions and you answer concerning knowledge?" The Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- said: "A few actions are greatly useful as long as there is knowledge; while a lot of actions are useless if there is ignorance." Anas said: "He spoke of this at length[40]
This hadith is confirmed by hadith #37 and by the first phrase of hadith #17 whereby "the best deed is belief in Allah alone." The hadith is further confirmed by our decisive knowledge that the purpose of creation is knowledge of Allah, as indicated by Ibn `Abbas's explanation of the verse wa ma khalaqna al-jinna wa al-insa illa li ya`budun "I did not create the jinn and humankind except to worship (= know) Me" (51:56) and the verse fa`lam annahu La ilaha illallah "Know that there is no god except Allah" (47:19).
39. Wal-ladhi nafsi bi yadihi law ji'a bi al-samawati wa al-ardi wa man fihinna wa ma baynahunna fa wudi`na fi kaffati al-mizani wa wudi`at shahadatu an La ilaha illallahu fi al-kaffati al-ukhra la rajahat bihinna. "By Him in Whose hand is my soul, if the heavens and the earth and all that are in them and everything that is in between were brought and placed in one pan of the Balance, and the witnessing that there is no god but Allah were placed in the other, the latter would outweigh the former."[41]
40. After the passing of the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- from this world Abu Bakr said to the Companions: "I asked Allah's Messenger what basic thing was necessary for salvation and he replied that whoever accepts the Word which I brought and which I offered to my uncle Abu Talib and which he rejected: this Word constitutes salvation for him."[42].
GF Haddad ©
[2000-09-16]
Footnotes
