Shahadatayn

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From wikishia

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 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]

Uses in the Islamic Culture

Shahadatayn in Islamic architecture

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

  1. Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 41, p. 630.
  2. See: Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 41, p. 630.
  3. Ṣadūq, Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh, vol. 1, p. 299.
  4. Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 41, p. 630; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, vol. 1, p. 301-303.
  5. Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 21, p. 143.
  6. Ṣadūq, Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh, vol. 1, p. 299-300.
  7. Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, vol. 1, p. 301-303.
  8. Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 12, p. 40; Ṭabāṭabāʾī Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol.1, p. 417.
  9. Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 22, p. 452.
  10. Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 10, p. 245, 246, 264.
  11. Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 41, p. 630.
  12. Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 12, p. 40.
  13. Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 4, p. 14.
  14. Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 9, p. 224.
  15. Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 11, p. 216; Kāshif al-ghitāʾ, Kashf al-ghitāʾ, vol. 3, p. 255.
  16. Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 22, p. 452.
  17. Ṭūsī, Miṣbāḥ al-mutahajjid, vol. 1, p. 15,16, 49.
  18. Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 10, p. 245, 246.
  19. Ṭūsī, Miṣbāḥ al-mutahajjid, vol. 1, p. 29; Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 9, p. 81-82.
  20. 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.