Congratulations on your guidance
To begin with, we sincerely congratulate you from the bottom of our hearts for the guidance Allah has granted and favored upon you to accept the correct religion and to act according to it. We ask Allah that He keeps us all firm upon this great religion until we meet Him.
Indeed a true Muslim feels great joy when someone accepts Islam, for he wishes well for others and wants them to live as he does himself: a life of comfort and delight with spiritual joy and mental stability. This can only result from implementing the teachings of Islam. Allah says: [Whoever works righteousness — whether male or female — while he or she is a true believer, verily, to him we shall give a good life, and we shall pay them certainly a good reward according to the best of what they used to do.] (Surah An-Nahl 16:97)
We are all humans, and all humans are in dire need of Allah. Allah says: [O Mankind! It is you who stand in need of Allah. But Allah is Rich (Free of all needs), Worthy of all praise.] (Surah Fatir 35:15) And: [If you disbelieve, then verily Allah is not in need of you; He likes not disbelief for His slaves. And if you are grateful, He is pleased with that for you.] (Surah Az-Zumar 39:7)
Entering Islam: the two testimonies
Islam is a direct relationship between the slave and his Lord without any intermediaries. One does not need to exert great efforts to enter its fold; he merely needs to utter a few words which are easy on the tongue but very weighty in meaning. One who has decided to become Muslim says the following words, called the two testimonies of faith: 'Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha ill-Allah, wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan 'abd-ullahi wa rasooluh' — 'I testify that there is no true deity except Allah, and I testify that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.'
This statement is the key to the door of Islam. Whoever utters it shuns all other religions besides Islam and all beliefs which differ from it. Through this statement, he receives the rights which all other Muslims receive, and he must fulfill the rights which all other Muslims must fulfill. It is true that one is regarded to be a Muslim by what is outward and apparent, and that only Allah knows what is truly in his heart — but one must know the meanings found in the two testimonies.
The meaning of 'there is no deity except Allah'
This is the phrase of monotheism; due to this concept Allah brought the creation into being, and due to this concept He created Paradise and Hellfire. It means:
• There is no true Master and Owner present in this existence except Allah. Allah says: [Surely, His is the Creation and Commandment. Blessed be Allah, the Lord of all the worlds!] (Surah Al-A'raf 7:54)
• No deity deserves servitude and worship except Allah.
• All the Names and Attributes of Allah are perfect and complete; He is high above and free from all faults and shortcomings. Allah says: [And all the Most Beautiful Names belong to Allah, so call on Him by them.] (Surah Al-A'raf 7:180)
The conditions of the testimony
It is not enough that one merely utters the testimony for it to be accepted by Allah. It is the key to the gates of Paradise, but in order for it to work, it needs to have the right ridges. The testimony must meet the following conditions for it to be accepted by Allah:
- 01Knowledge: one must know that all other deities worshipped besides Allah are false, and that there is no deity worshipped in truth except Allah.
- 02Certainty: certainty in the testimony, which is the opposite of doubt; there is no room for wavering.
- 03Acceptance: one should accept the testimony fully and not reject it.
- 04Compliance, obedience, and acting upon all that the testimony necessitates: doing what Allah ordered and abstaining from what He prohibited.
- 05Truthfulness: one must be truthful in his testimony.
- 06Sincerity of worship: one's worship and obedience must be sincerely for Allah alone.
- 07Love: one must love Allah, His Messenger, and His righteous slaves, preferring what Allah and His Messenger love.
The testimony that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah
To bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah necessitates the following:
- 01To believe that he is a Messenger, and that he is the best, the last, and the seal of the messengers; no messenger will come after him. Allah says: [Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the last of the Prophets.] (Surah Al-Ahzab 33:40)
- 02To believe that he is infallible in the teachings he conveyed from Allah: [Nor does he speak of his own desire. It is only an inspiration that is inspired.] (Surah An-Najm 53:3-4)
- 03To believe that he is a messenger to all of creation, both jinn and humans, until the Last Hour.
- 04To obey the Prophet ﷺ in what he ordered, to believe in everything he said, and to abstain from what he has forbidden and warned against.
What to do after pronouncing the two testimonies
After pronouncing the two testimonies, it is from the Sunnah that a person performs a complete bath (ghusl) with pure water and then performs a prayer consisting of two units (rak'ahs). In a hadith, a man named Thumaamah al-Hanafi was taken captive while he was a disbeliever. When he accepted Islam, the Prophet ﷺ untied him and sent him to the walled garden of Abu Talhah, commanding him to take a complete bath. He performed the bath and prayed two rak'ahs, and the Prophet ﷺ said: 'Your brother's Islam is sincere.' (Saheeh Ibn Khuzaimah)
A complete bath consists of: the intention in one's heart to remove the state of ritual impurity (without uttering it vocally); mentioning the name of Allah; washing the hands and then the private parts; performing a complete ablution as one would for prayer (the feet may be washed at the end); pouring at least three handfuls of water over the head, running the fingers through the hair so that water reaches the roots and scalp; then pouring water over the rest of the body, beginning with the right side and then the left, taking care that water reaches the armpits, ears, and navel; and finally washing the feet if they were not washed before.
This is the beginning of a new life of obedience and learning. Islam does not end at the testimony; the new Muslim proceeds gradually to learn the pillars of Islam, the articles of faith, and whatever he needs in his religion — as the next lesson explains.