Saturday, July 02, 2016

MUSLIM DECLARATION OF FAITH

SYAHADAH OR DELARATION OF MUSLIM FAITH
By: Kassim Ahmad
2nd July, 2016

            The syahadah or the declaration of Muslim faith is an important pillar of faith. Customs or what one inherits from one’s ancestors is almost always different from what is taught by God and his Prophet. This pillar is stated in Surah 3, verse 18. The full verse goes, “God bears witness that there is no god except He, and so do the angels and those who possess knowledge, truthfully and equitably; He is the absolute god, there is no god but He, the Almighty, Most Wise.”
Among the sectarian Sunnis, they add: “I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God.” This so-called second syahadah is, however, rendered null and void in Surah 63: verse 1 by God and His messenger. Those who declare it are hypocrites!
            To prove that what we say is correct, we have to quote other verses. One of them goes, “When God alone is mentioned, the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter shrink with aversion. But when others are mentioned besides him, they rejoice.” (39: 45). More. “You shall know that there is no god besides God.” (47: 19). Also 4: 87; 40: 65; and 27: 44 (syahadah of the Queen of Sheba[1]. Also the correct syahadah of the Pharaoh of the time of Moses, but was not accepted by God as he was doing that only when he was drowning! (10: 9). Also the sincere syahadah of Pharaoh’s magicians (7: 121-122) when they lost their contest with Moses; and the syahadah of Abraham and his descendants. (2: 131-133).
            So was all Jewish prophet-mesengers’ declaration of faith. Had it been different, it would have made Islam not one religion, but many. This is impossible.
            Yet, truth to tell, the entire Muslim world practices two syahadah. Or most Muslims do. They read the same scripture, the Quran, but their understanding of this most important pillar of faith is different. How do you account for it? The answer is contained in verse 2 of the second Surah. The verse goes, “ This is the scripture, no doubting it, is a guide for the conscientious.” Who can give guidance? Only God can, and no one else; not even Prophet Muhammad. Recall that Muhammad was unable to persuade his Quraisy unbelieving relatives to become Muslims!
            I want to pose the mother of all questions. Thirty years after Muhammad’s death, the Arab armies of liberation liberated the whole of the then hegemonic powers, the Persian and the Byzantian Empires. Islam became the lone superpower, to last for eight centuries. Medieval Europe sat to learn at the feet of Baghdad for three centuries. [2] That gave rise to the European Renaissance.
            My mother of all questions is: Have any modern Muslim thinkers tackled the problem of the second rise of Islam( the true Islam, that is)? I would like to meet him, congratulate him and to propose to him to begin the second Islamic Renaissance. It is high time, seeing that liberal-capitalist Europe and America are collapsing.  

KASSIM AHMAD is a Malaysian author. His website is www.kassimahmad.blohspot.com     
           




[1]  We searched high and low, but unable to locate the place.
[2] Unfotunately, most European historians, except a few, conspired to erase this important contributions of Muslims to world science and civilization. 

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