The Shahada

The first pillar of Islam is to pronounce the Shahada:

Ashadu an la ilaha ila Allah, wa ashadu anna Muhamad rasulullah

I testify that there is no God but Allah, and I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

The belief and testimony that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is His messenger. The definition of the shahada is: to express it with the tongue and believe it with the heart. But what does it mean to believe in Allah? Believing in Allah entails accepting His existence, knowing His attributes and believing in them. It is obligatory for every Muslim to believe in the existence of Allah, that it is prior to the beginning of time and has continuity beyond the end of time. In that He is unique, there is only one, He is self-sufficient, independent, He needs absolutely nothing, in that He is different from everything He has created, which is the Living One, the Mighty, the Wise, the One who has will over all things, the One who possesses Hearing, Sight, and Speech. These are some of the attributes of Allah, the belief of which is obligatory, and therefore it is obligatory also to deny all the opposites of these attributes. By knowing and believing in these attributes, we are confirming the first part of the Shahada, the one concerning Allah being the only God: Ashadu an la ilaha ila Allah, I testify, that you have no God but Allah.

The second part is to bear witness that the Prophet Muhammad is the last of the messengers, the seal and culmination of all the prophets, that he was sent by the Creator to both men and jinn, that he ratified the messengers who preceded him, and that upon him Allah sent down the Qur’an as a guide for men: wa ashadu anna Muhammad rasulullah, and testified that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah

Accepting Islam consists of affirming the shahada with sincere and free belief before Muslim witnesses and from that moment on the other four worship practices or pillars of Islam become obligatory: Salat, Zakat, Ramadan fasting and pilgrimage.