Shahadatayn
Shahādatayn (Arabic: الشهادتين, literally: two testimonies) is to testify or stand witness to the oneness of God and the prophethood of Muhammad (s). Whoever utters shahadatayn counts as a Muslim and will be subject to Islamic rulings. Shiite jurists discuss shahadatayn in different sections of jurisprudence. According to their fatwas, it is recommended to suggest shahadatayn to a person who is about to die and to write shahadatayn on a deceased person's shroud.
Definition
Shahadatayn is to testify or stand witness to the oneness of God and the prophethood of Muhammad (s).[1] According to jurists, shahadatayn consists in an utterance of two sentences or any other expression of their contents:
- "I testify that there is no god except Allah and I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah."[2]
According to al-Shaykh al-Saduq, shahadatayn consists in an endorsement of monotheism and prophethood as two principles of Islam.[3]
Jurisprudential and Legal Significance
Muslims take shahadatayn to be the borderline of Islam and disbelief (kufr). That is to say, if someone utters shahadatayn, Islamic rulings will apply to him,[4] such as the cleanliness of his body and the respect for his life and property.[5]
According to al-Shaykh al-Saduq, "Iman" (faith) is interpreted in some hadiths as shahadatayn.[6] According to Allama Tabataba'i, iman has degrees the first of which is a heartfelt belief in the content of shahadatayn, which leads to the performance of the ancillary or practical rulings of Islam.[7]
In jurisprudential books, shahadatayn is discussed in sections such as the rulings of the dead, cleanliness,[8] business,[9] prayer,[10] and jihad.[11]
Manners and Rulings
- According to the majority of Shiite jurists, it is obligatory to utter shahadatayn in the Funeral Prayer after the first takbir. However, some jurists take this to be recommended.[12]
- It is recommended to suggest shahadatayn as well as the imamate of the Imams of the Shi'a to a person who is about to die.[13]
- It is recommended to inscribe on the shroud of a dead person that he or she has endorsed shahadatayn.[14]
- According to the majority of jurists, it is recommended for an imam of the Friday Prayer to utter shahadatayn in his sermons of the Prayer.[15]
- According to the Muhammad Hasan al-Najafi, the author of Jawahir al-kalam, it is a good manner to utter shahadatayn when one arrives in his place of business every day.[16]
Uses in the Islamic Culture
Shahadatayn is frequently uttered in supplications and rituals of Muslims.[17] For instance, they utter shahadatayn in the tashahhud of their prayer[18] as well as in their adhan and iqama.[19]
Shahdatayn was also used in Islamic architecture, calligraphy, and coin mintage.[20]
See Also
Notes
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 41, p. 630.
- ↑ See: Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 41, p. 630.
- ↑ Ṣadūq, Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh, vol. 1, p. 299.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 41, p. 630; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, vol. 1, p. 301-303.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 21, p. 143.
- ↑ Ṣadūq, Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh, vol. 1, p. 299-300.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, vol. 1, p. 301-303.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 12, p. 40; Ṭabāṭabāʾī Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol.1, p. 417.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 22, p. 452.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 10, p. 245, 246, 264.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 41, p. 630.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 12, p. 40.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 4, p. 14.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 9, p. 224.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 11, p. 216; Kāshif al-ghitāʾ, Kashf al-ghitāʾ, vol. 3, p. 255.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 22, p. 452.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, Miṣbāḥ al-mutahajjid, vol. 1, p. 15,16, 49.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 10, p. 245, 246.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, Miṣbāḥ al-mutahajjid, vol. 1, p. 29; Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 9, p. 81-82.
- ↑ ʿAbbāszada and others. The role of Shia Islam on the art and architecture of Imamzadas in Iran.
References
- Kāshif al-ghitāʾ, Jaʿfar. Kashf al-ghitāʾ ʿan mubhamāt al-sharīʿa al-gharrā. Qom: Daftar-i Tablīghāt-i Islāmī-yi Ḥawza-yi Ilmīya-yi Qom, 1422 AH.
- Najafī, Muḥammad al-Ḥasan al-. Jawāhir al-kalām fī sharḥ sharāʾiʿ al-Islām. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1404 AH.
- Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1413 AH.
- Ṭabāṭabāʾī Yazdī, Muḥammad Kāẓim al-. Al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā. Beirut: Muʾassisa al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1409 AH.
- Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn al-. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī Jāmiʿa-yi Mudarrisīn-i Ḥawza-yi ʿIlmīyya-yi Qom, 1417 AH.
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan. Miṣbāḥ al-mutahajjid. Beirut: Muʾassisat Fiqh al-Shi'a, 1411 AH.
- Afūugh, Muḥammad. Maḍāmīn wa ʿanāṣur-i shīʿī dar hunar-i ʿaṣr-i ṣafawī bā nigāhī bi hunar-i qālī bāfī, nigārgarī wa filizkārī. Published in Muta'ilat-i Irani, no. 20, 1390 Sh.
- ʿAbbāszada et al. Barrasī-yi naqsh-i madhhab-i shīʿa bar hunar wa miʿmarī-yi imamzadigān-i Īrān. Retrieved in January 23, 2021.