First Lesson
Kalimah Tayyibah – Laa ilaaha illallaahu, Muhammadur-Rasulullaah.
This Kalimah is just a sacred pledge of man with Allah. That is, when a believer solemnly reads this kalimah he admits before Allah that he is His sincere and faithful servant, he will obey His commandments, and avoid all the forbidden things. Therefore, one must keep in mind four important points about this Kalimah: First, he should remember its words in the correct form. Second, he should remember its correct translation. Third, he should remember its exact meaning. Fourth, he should observe its practical requirements, and act accordingly!
This kalimah has two parts; first: “Laa ilaaha illallaah”; second, “Muhammadur-Rasulullah”; and their translation is: “No one is worthy of worship but Allah, and Muhammad is His true messenger.”
When a believer admits that no one is worthy of worship but Allah, it necessarily means that he should worship none in the whole universe, but the Almighty, and should bring no partner to Him in worship, concerning all the principles of Islam. He should believe Him to be present everywhere, seeing and hearing everything in the world. He should trust in His guidance, and should faithfully obey His commandments; moreover, he should not follow the customs and usages, that are contrary to His commandments. In all the affairs of his life, he should follow the teachings of the Holy Qur’aan; he should hope for His mercy, and should fear His wrath; he should completely rely upon Him for his guidance!
The second part of the kalimah, that is , “Muhammadur, Rasulullaah” means, that after believing in the unity of Allah, when I would desire to follow the commandments of Allah, I cannot do so unless I keep Muhammad (SAW) my instructor and guide to the Right Path. That is, I will worship Allah just as he has told me; he is a faithful and true messanger of Allah, who taught us nothing of his own will or desire. The obedience of Rasulullah (SAW), is really the obedience of Allah, and love for him, is love for Allah; one must believe that to be obedient to him is an obligatory thing, and he should submit to his orders, without any objection Whatever he has told us of the unseen things like angels, like Hell, Paradise the incidents in the grave, and the Resurrection, we must believe in them, though we could not understand them. We must believe that the method of living, which he has told us, and has behaved himself accordingly, is the method which has been appreciated by Allah; and anyone who acts contrary to it, does not tread the Right Path, and is not loved by Allah.
The Requisites Of Kalimah Tayyibah
When a muslim has firm faith in the kalimah, undoubtedly he becomes a true believer, and then he has to abandon all the forbidden things, and to observe the commandments of Allah. That is why Rasulullah (SAW) has said, “The first effect of ‘Laa ilaaha illallaah’ is that it should prevent its reader from all the forbidden things.” Therefore, the reader of such a sacred kalimah must observe the commandments of Allah on all occasions. He should keep them in mind in marriage, on deals, and on all other occasions; he should faithfully observe the commandments of Allah, and should give up the forbidden things.
The Benefits Of The Kalimah
This kalimah has many spiritual benefits. Rasulullah (SAW) said, “The most distinguished zikr is ‘laa ilaaha illallaah’. Again he says, “Read the kalimah a hundred times every day, for it is the best compensation for one’s sins, and no good deed is better than it.” In another hadith he says, “whoever reads ‘Laa ilaaha illallaah’ a hundred times in the morning, and a hundred times in the evening shall have the reward of one who has released ten slaves from the posterity of Ismaa-eel (Alayhis salaam)”. In another hadith Rasulullah (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) says, “Keep your faity fresh by reading and observing ‘Laa ilaaha illallaah.’ ”
To be continued next week.
Courtesy of Fazail-e-Amaal
