At a glance
- Era
- The Prophetic Era
- Region
- Global / Diaspora
- Identifiers
- Wikidata
- Review
- Completeness 3/5 · Help complete it
Summary
"The two testimonies" are the testimony that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is God's messenger — the first thing the Prophet ﷺ mentioned in his saying "Islam is built on five" 1. They are one of the five pillars of Islam.
In Gabriel's hadith
What is not covered here
The creed books treat the meaning of "there is no god but God", its conditions and the categories of tawhid; that will be added in a later batch from the creed sources with their authors' sayings, and is not presented here since it is not in the sources consulted.
From Sheikh Omar Abdelkafy's lecture series Al Dinu Al Qayem
The Sheikh says that the highest branch of faith is the saying "there is no god but God", that the first of the branches is the testimony, and that Abu Jahl understood its meaning 3 4. He says that one Companion treated trustworthiness, truthfulness and refusing false witness as part of the meaning of "there is no god but God", so that for him prayer was not separated from trustworthiness 5.
The Sheikh holds, as his own opinion, that the believer who prays carries the ethics of "there is no god but God" 6, and that the words of the testimony that come out at a critical moment are a sign of a heart full of faith 7.
Connections
- Based on
- Arba'un 8 — I was ordered to fight the people· Muwatta 2105· Muwatta 2106· Muwatta 2107· Muwatta 2108· Muwatta 2109· Muwatta 2110· Muwatta 2111· Muwatta 2112· Muwatta 2113· Muwatta 2114· Muwatta 2115· Muwatta 2116· Muwatta 2117· Muwatta 2118· Muwatta 2119· Muwatta 2120· Muwatta 2121· Muwatta 2122· Muwatta 2123· Muwatta 2126· Muwatta 2127· Muwatta 2162· Muwatta 2193· Muwatta 1324· Muwatta 1325· Muwatta 1326· Muwatta 1327· Muwatta 1328· Muwatta 1329· Muwatta 1330· Muwatta 1331· Muwatta 1332· Muwatta 1334· Muwatta 1338· Muwatta 1339· Muwatta, Book of Jihad· Muwatta, Book of Judgements (aqdiya)· The five pillars of Islam· Islam (the religion and the term)
- Mentioned in
- Muslim 16 — Islam is built on five· Muslim 22 — I was commanded to fight the people until they testify
- Basis for
- The sanctity of a Muslim's blood
People and things also explored
Malik ibn Anas· Muwatta, Book of Judgements (aqdiya)· Muwatta, Book of Jihad· Yahya ibn Yahya al-Laythi· Umar ibn al-Khattab· Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Ansari· Islam (the religion and the term)· Abd Allah ibn Dhakwan Abu al-Zinad
Sources
- Ibn Khuzayma, al-Mukhtasar (local scan) , p.192
- Sahih al-Bukhari , 50
- Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Al Dinu Al Qayem, episode 1, at 00:05:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Al Dinu Al Qayem, episode 1, at 00:39:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Al Dinu Al Qayem, episode 3, at 00:09:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Al Dinu Al Qayem, episode 6, at 00:15:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Al Dinu Al Qayem, episode 11, at 00:17:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Tanzil Project, Qur'an text v1.1
- Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam — Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “The shahada”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/shahada/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-25.