Kalimatul-Ikhlas *LailahaillaAllah* Part 4
    Posted by: "darultawhid english" darultawhid_english@yahoo.com darultawhid_english
    Date: Mon Jul 21, 2008 9:00 pm

http://www.darultawhid.com/en/forum/index.php?topic=1561.0

The virtues of LailahaillaAllah
The kalimah (word) of tawhid has many important virtuous. It is not possible to count them all here. Let's touch upon some of them here:
1-       It is a word of taqwa (piety).
It is a word of taqwa as Umar (ra) and some other sahaba (ra) said.
2-       It is a word of Ikhlas (sincerity).
3-       It is a (way of) witnessing (shahadah) Haqq.
4-       It is (a way of) calling to Haqq.
5-       It is a word which cleanses from shirk and a word which saves (one) from (committing) shirk.
6-       It is a word which is the reason of the creation of the creatures.I have only created Jinns and men, that they may serve Me.[1]
7-       It is the word that prophets had been sent with; and the word which the (holy) books had been revealed for.
“Not a messenger did We send before thee without this inspiration sent by Us to him: that there is no god but I; therefore worship and serve Me.[2]
“He doth send down His angels with inspiration of His Command, to such of His servants as He pleaseth, (saying): ‘Warn (Man) that there is no god but I: so do your duty unto Me’."[3]
There are many ayah like this in the Qur’an. The second ayah mentioned above (the one in the Surah an-Nahl) was the first surah which Allah (swt) had counted His blessings (nimah); for this reason it is called “Niam� meaning “blessings.
For this reason Ibn Uyayna (ra) stated the following: “Allah (awj) had not given to a slave among His slaves; a better blessing than informing him of lailahaillaAllah.�
For the ahl-jannah (inhabitants of paradise) lailahaillaAllah is like the cool water which had been given to ahl-dunya on a hot desert to cool down.
8-       It is because of this word jannah and jahannam had been created.
9-       For this reason it is the word which the prophets had been commanded to jihaad (fight) with.
Whoever utters this word, knowing its meaning will protect his belongings and his life. And whoever opposes this word, his belongings and his life will be lost and become halal.
10- It is the key of jannah.
11- It is the (beginning) key of the call of the prophets.
12- It is the word which Allah (jj) spoke to Musa (as) face to face:
In Bazzar’s and others Musnad in the narration of Iyad al-Ansari, RasulAllah stated: “The word of lailahaillaAllah is very valuable and haqq in the Eyes of Allah and this word has a very important place on the Eye of Allah. Whoever utters this word showing loyalty, Allah will put him into jannah with it. And whoever utters this word without believing it, he will protect his belongings and his life in this dunya. However, tomorrow on the day of akhirah, Allah will take his account to counter.�[4]
13- It is a price (wage) needed to enter jannah.[5]
The saying of Hasan (ra) had attirubuted to RasulAllah (saw) with a weak chain: “Whosever last word is lailahaillaAllah will enter jannah.�[6]
14- It is salvation from the fire.
“RasulAllah (saw) once on hearing a mu’adhin (caller of adhan) says: I testify that there is no god but Allah. RasulAllah (saw) said: You have come out of the Fire (of Hell).� [7]
15- It is a word which neccessiates to be forgiven.
In the Musnad of Ahmad b Hanbal, there is the following narration from Shiddat b Ghus (ra) and Ubada b Samit (ra): “One day RasulAllah (saw) told his ashadb: ‘Lift your hands and say lailahaillaAllah.’  We held our hands up like that for nearly an hour and then RasulAllah (saw) brought his hand down and said: ‘AlhamduliAllah (all praise to Allah). O Allah! You had sent me with this word and You have commanded me to perform its requirements. You promised me jannah with this word. Surely You will never break your promise.’ And then He (saw) continued: ‘ I am announcing the good news to you. Certainly Allah had forgiven (all of) you’.â€�[8]
16- This word is the best of goodness.
Abu Dhar (ra) said: “I asked RasulAllah (saw): ‘O RasulAllah (saw)! Tell me a deed which may take me closer to jannah and which may keep me distant from the fire (of hell).’ RasulAllah (saw) commanded: ‘When you perform an evil, perform a good deed for sure there are ten merits for the hasana (good deed) you had performed.’  I said: ‘O RasulAllah (saw)! Is (the statement of) lailahaillaAllah a goodness?’  RasulAllah (saw) commanded: ‘It is the best of goodness’.â€�[9]

17- It erases the haram which are committed and mistakes which are performed (done).

In Ibn Maja, a hadith which is narrated from Umm Hani (raa), RasulAllah said: “LailahaillaAllah will not leave any haram and there is no valuable deed then it.[10]
One among the salaf (ulama) saw one in his dream after his death. He asked him about his situation. He said: “LailahaillaAllah did not leave anything.

18- It refreshes the things which begin to be lost in the heart.

Ahmad b Hanbal narrated in his Musnad. RasulAllah (saw) command to his ashab: “Refresh (rebuild) your iman. When the ashab asked him: ‘How can we refresh our iman?’ RasulAllah (saw): ‘Utter lailahaillaAllah. There is nothing heavier than it on your counter. If lailahaillaAllah is counted with the earths and the skies without doubt lailahaillaAllah will come heavier.[11]

In the Musnad of Ahmad b Hanbal it is narrated from Abdullah Ibn Amr (ra) that RasulAllah (saw) said: “At the time Noah (as) was dying he (as) told his son: ‘I am commanding you lailahaillaAllah. If the seven skies and the seven earths (planets) are put on one side of a scale and lailahaillaAllah on the other side of the counter undoubtly lailahaillaAllah will weigh heavier’.�[12]

Again in the Musnad of Ahmad b Hanbal, it is narrated from Abdullah b Amr (ra) that RasulAllah said: “Musa (as) said: ‘O Lord! Teach me something so I can remember You and make dua to You (with).’ Allah (jj) commanded: ‘O Musa utter lailahaillaAllah!’ Musa (as) replied: ‘O my Lord! All of Your slaves say this (word).’ Upon this Allah (swt) told him: ‘Utter lailahaillaAllah.’ Musa (as) said: ‘O Lord! There is no other deity which is deserved to be worshipped but You! However I am asking to You, to inform me of something which is unique for me.’ This time Allah (awj) replied him saying: ‘O Musa! If the seven earths and the seven skies and everything in it can be put on a counter and lailahaillaAllah on the other side of the counter, lailahaillaAllah will weigh heavier’.�[13]

19- It is a word which lifts all the barriers until meeting to Allah (awj)

In a hadith which is narrated from Ibn Umar (ra) by Tirmidhi that RasulAllah (saw) said: “This word which is uttered by an individual, who utters lailahaillaAllah until he meets with Allah, will not leave a barrier between him and Allah.�[14]

In the same manner in the hadith which is narrated from Abu Hurairah (ra) that RasulAllah (saw) said: “There is no slave that who utters lailahaillaAllah with ikhlas, who keeps distant from the major sins and there will be no door left unopen from the skies down to earth.�[15]

In the hadith which is narrated from Ibn Abbas (ra) by Tirmidhi that RasulAllah (saw) said: “There is nothing without a barrier with Allah, however the word of lailahaillaAllah is excluded (from this ruling). As the lips do not prevent it from being uttered, it will leave no barrier between Allah and the one who utters this word.[16]

Abu Umama (ra) said: “If a slave utters lailahaillaAllah, there will be nothing to prevent him other than the arsh (throne).

20- It is a word which Allah (awj) looks upon the one who utters it and responds to his dua.

In the hadith which Nasai in his book ‘al-Yawmu wa’l-Layl’ narrated from two sahabi that RasulAllah (saw) said: “For the individual who sincerely by heart and tongue makes shahadah and attests that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah, that He is Wahid (one), He has no partner and that mulk only belongs to Him the sky will open completely and will be looked upon those of ahl-dunya who utters this. At this time it is haqq that this servant receives all those he wishes[17]
21- It is a word which Allah confirms whoever utters it.
In a hadith which is narrated from Abu Hurairah (ra) and Abu Saeed (ra) by Nasai, Tirmidhi and Ibn Hibban, RasulAllah stated: “When the slave utters lailahaillaAllah and says Allahu Akbar! (Allah is the greatest)’ his Lord says while confirming him: ‘There is no other deity to be deserved to be worshipped but Me and I am the greatest.’ When the slave says: ‘LailahaillaAllah and He is the One and He has no partner’ His Lord says while confirming him: ‘There is no other deity to be deserved to be worshipped but Me and I am the One and I have no partner.’ When the slave says: ‘LailahaillaAllah. He is the One. He has no partner and the possessions (mulk) and praise (hamd) belong to Him.’ Allah will say: ‘There is no other deity to be deserved to be worshipped but Me and possessions are Mine and Praise belongs to Me.’ When the slave says: ‘LailahaillaAllah. There is no other to seek refuge from but Allah.’ His Lord with
confirming him: ˜There is no other deity to be deserved to be worshipped but Me and I am the only One to be seeked refuge and I am the only source of the authority.’ If the slave utters this while he is sick and if he dies upon uttering it the fire will not touch (harm) him.[18]
22- It is the most virtous word among the words the prophets had uttered.
As it is mentioned in the dua of RasulAllah (saw) on the day of Arafa.[19]
23- It is the most virtous dhikr (remembrance of Allah)
Jabir (ra) narrated that RasulAllah (saw) said: ‘The most virtous dhikr is the word of lailahaillaAllah.’[20]
Ibn Abbas (ra) said: “The most beloved word to Allah is, the word of lailahaillaAllah (There is no other deity deserved to be worshipped but Allah). Allah will not accept any deed without it.
24- It is the most virtous among the deeds whose merits are given the most at the same time it is equal to freeing a slave and it is a word which protects from the shaitan.
It is narrated from Abu Hurairah (ra) that RasulAllah (saw) said: “Whoever says 'There is no god but Allah, alone, without any partner. The Kingdom and praise belong to Him and He has power over everything' (La ilaha illaAllah, wahdahu la sharika lah, lahu'l mulku wa lahu'l hamd, wa huwa ala kulli shay'in qadir) one hundred times a day, it is the same for him as freeing ten slaves. One hundred good actions are written for him and one hundred wrong actions are erased from him, and it is a protection from Shaytan for that day until the night. No-one does anything more excellent than what he does except someone who does more than that.[21]
Narrated from Ayyub al-Ansari that RasulAllah (saw) said: “The one who utters lailahaillaAllah ten times will be like the one who frees ten slaves from the sons of Ismail (as)�[22]
Tirmidhi narrated from Ibn Umar (ra) that RasulAllah (saw) said: “Whoever utters ‘lailahaillaAllah’ while he enters into the market and if he adds ‘He takes ones life and resurrects; He is Hayy (alive) and never dies; the goodness is in His hand. He is Qadir (capable to do everything).’  Allah will reward him with a million hasana (good deed), erase his a million sayyia (bad deeds), and raise his degree a million higher. In another narration it is stated: ‘(Allah) will build a house for (to) him in jannah.’[23]
25- It is among the virtous of the word tawhid that; it erases the horror of the day of the resurrection and it consoles the loneliness of the grave.
RasulAllah (saw) stated: There is no loneliness and fear for the ahl-tawhid (who utters lailahaillaAllah) in their graves and on the day of resurrection. I see them as if the ahl-tawhid gets up from their graves and they shake the dust on their heads. They say: ‘AlhamduliAllah (all praise to Allah) Who lifts the sorrow and the distress from us[24]
In another mursal hadith: “Whoever utters hundred times a day: ‘lailahaillaAllahu’l-Malikul Haqqul-mubin (There is no deity which deserves to be worshipped but Allah. He is the Malik (Master-Owner) of the creature as Haqq (truly)) will attain salvation from the poorness. It (the word) will be a company for him in the loneliness of the grave; it will bring richness to those who utter it and will knock on the door of jannah for him (the one who utters it).[25]
26- The word of tawhid is the sign of the mu’min who get up from their graves on the day of resurrection.
Nadr b Arabi said: “When the mu’min gets up from their graves, news reached to me that lailahaillaAllah is their sign.�
In a hadith Tabarani narrated attributing to RasulAllah (saw) that RasulAllah (saw) said: “The sign of this ummah on the bridge of Siraat is the saying of: ‘O Allah! There is none to deservs to be worshipped but You! ‘LailahaillaAllah’.�[26]
27- It is one of the virtous of this word that the eight doors of jannah will be opened for the individual who utters it and his enterance into jannah through whichever door he wishes.
In a hadith which is narrated by Muslim RasulAllah (saw) said for the one who testifies both shadatayn after he completes the ablution well, the eight gates of Paradise would be opened for him and he may enter by whichever of them he wishes.
In a hadith which is narrated from Ubada b Samit (ra) that RasulAllah (saw) said: “He who said: ‘There is no god but Allah, He is One and there is no associate with Him, that Muhammad is his servant and His messenger, that Christ is the servant and the son of His slave-girl and he (Christ) His word which He communicated to Mary and is His Spirit, that Paradise is a fact and Hell is a fact,’ Allah would make him (he who affirms these truth) enter Paradise through any one of its eight doors which he would like.�
In a long hadith which is narrated from Abdurrahman b Samura (ra) that while RasulAllah (saw) was narrating the story in his dream he stated: “I saw a man among my ummah. He came near the door of jannah. But before he entered, the doors of jannah had closed meanwhile the witnessing of lailahaillaAllah had reached him and the doors of jannah had opened. And he entered into jannah.�[27]
28- It is among the virtous of this word of tawhid that it necessitates taking out of the jahannam those who entered into jahannam due to the haram they committed from among the ahl-tawhid.
In a hadith narrated from Anas (ra) by Bukhari and Muslim that RasulAllah (saw) said: “Allah (awj) commanded: ‘by My Honour, Glory, Greatness and Might, I would certainly take him out (of jahannam) who professed it: There is no god but Allah.
In a hadith which is narrated from Anas (ra) by Tabarani that RasulAllah (saw) said: “Some among the ahl tawhid will enter into jahannam for the haram they committed, those who had worshipped Lat and Uzza in the world will tell them: ‘What benefit you get from saying lailahaillaAllah? Their (this) words make Allah (awj) angry and (let Him to) He take(s) those sinner slaves from jahannam and puts them into jannnah.�
How would Allah (awj) treat those who He is pleased with while He treats those sinners in this manner? Allah never has held equal the ahl-tawhid even if they are imperfect (committed sins) with the ahl-shirk.
Some among the salaf used to say: “Ibrahim (as) would say: ‘O Allah. Do not take equal the one who does not perform shirk with the performers of shirk.�
Some among the salaf used to say the following in their dua: “O Allah. You had commanded regarding the ahl-jahannam: “They swear their strongest oaths by Allah that Allah will not raise up those who die�[28] We swear with our strongest oaths by Allah that Allah (awj) surely will raise up the ones who die. O Lord! Do not keep these two groups of people together.�
Abu Sulayman said: “If He wants to punish me for my parsimony I would ask for His generosutiy from Him. If He wants to punish me due to my haram I had committed I would ask His mercy. If He puts me into fire I would let the ahl-jahannam know that I love Him.�
One among the arif spent his entire night crying and said: “If you punish me, I love You!.� (Arif were more afraid having a barrier with Allah than being punished.)
Dhunnun said: “The fear of jahannam is as a drop of ocean when compared to the fear of separation.�
Again some among the arif said: O my Ilah. O my Master. O my Friend! If you punish me with all Your punishment, every single piece which I lost from not being close to You, will be harder than the punishment for me.�
O brothers! Try to actualize tawhid in your lives. It is because tawhid is the only thing which will protect one from the punishment of Allah. Those who uttered good words have not uttered a better word than lailahaillaAllah.

[1] adh-Dhariyat 51/56

[2] al-Anbiya 21/25

[3] an-Nahl 16/2

[4] Daylami.

[5] The price (wage) of jannah is lailahaillaAllah  Ibn Adiyy narrated in his book Kamil and he classified it as weak.

[6] Sahih hadith. Ahmad; Abu Dawud; Hakim; Tabarani and Bayhaqi.

[7] Muslim.

[8] Hasan hadith. Ahmad; Hakim; al-Bazzar and Tabarani.

[9] Sahih hadith. Ahmad; Tabarani; Bayhaqi; Abu Nuaym, al-Hilya.

[10] Weak hadith.

[11] Ahmad; Ibn Adiyy, Kamil; Abu Nuaym, al-Hilya. Hakim claasified it as sahih.

[12] Sahih hadith. Ahmad; Bukhari, al-adab almufrat; Bayhaqi.

[13] Nasai; Ibn Hibban; Hakim; Abu Yala; Tabarani; Bayhaqi; Abu Nuaym, al-Hilya; Ibn Abdul Barr; Baghawi. Hakim classified it as sahih.

[14] Weak hadith.

[15] Tirmidhi; Nasai. Tirmidhi classified it as hasan-gharib.

[16] Weak hadith.

[17] Weak hadith.

[18] Sahih hadith.

[19] It is narrated by Imam Malik in Muwatta and it is a hasan hadith. Its words are as follows: Yahya related to me from Malik from Ziyad ibn Abi Ziyad from Talha ibn Ubaydullah ibn Kariz that RasulAllah (saw) said, "The best dua is dua on the day of Arafa, and the best thing that I or the Prophets before me have said is 'There is no god but Allah, alone, without any partner' (La ilaha illaAllah, wahdahu la sharika lah.)"

[20] Tirmidhi; Ibn Maja; Nasai; Ibn Hibban and Hakim. Hakim classified it as sahih.

[21] Bukhari; Muslim; Malik.

[22] Bukhari; Muslim.

[23] Weak hadith. Ibn Maja; Ahmad.

[24] Weak hadith. Ibn Adiyy, Kamil; Bayhaqi; Tabarani.

[25] Weak hadith. Abu Nuaym, al-Hilya.

[26] Weak hadith.

[27] Weak hadith. Tabarani.

[28] an-Nahl 16/38