لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله

"There is no god only Allãh, Muhammad is the Rasool (Messenger) of Allãh" is also known as Kalima Tayyab. Kalima Tayyab is the testification of faith in Islam. A person cannot be considered to be a Muslim if he/she does not believe in the words of this Kalima. To become a Muslim, a person must say this Kalima with total belief. Another point about this Kalima is the name given to it, which is Tayyab. Tayyab means Purity. By uttering this Kalima a person is purified from disbelief. An impure person becomes pure. This purification is spiritual.

The Messenger Muhammad(صلى الله عليه وسلم) of Allãh added, "There will come out of Hell (Fire) everyone who says: 'La ilaha ill Allãh,' and has in his heart good equal to the weight of a barley grain. Then there will come out of Hell (Fire) everyone who says: ' La ilaha ill Allãh,' and has in his heart good equal to the weight of a wheat grain. Then there will come out of Hell (Fire) everyone who says: 'La ilaha ill Allãh,' and has in his heart good equal to the weight of an atom (or a smallest ant)."
When the death of Abu Talib approached, the Messenger of Allãh came to him and said, "Say: La ilaha ill Allãh, a word with which I will be able to defend you before Allãh."

[Sahih Al Bukhari]

THE MEANING OF: لا إله إلا الله

Let us start by looking at the literal translation of the words لا إله إلا الله

لا means NO

إله means GOD

إلا means ONLY or BUT

الله means ALLÃH

Most of the Muslims even today substitute the word GOD for the Name Allãh. They go so far as translating the words لا إله إلا الله to mean ‘There is no god but God’. This latter translation is incorrect. IT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE! Is Allãh a God? No! Is the short and simple answer.Allãh is not a God with a capital ‘G’ or little ‘g’. The first Kalima(Testification) says clearly لا إله(NO GOD!) إلا الله (Only Allãh). The biggest misunderstanding has started from the Translations of the Holy Qur’an. The translators freely substituted the word GOD where ever the name Allãh is mentioned. It is, as if they are apologizing on Allãh's behalf and, in their minds, correcting the words of the Holy Qur’an. To compound the problem, the translators use outdated English which is neither spoken nor read by the majority of the population. It is this misrepresentation that has caused the confusion. Today so many Muslims who do not understand Arabic believe Allãh and God is one and the same because they can only understand the (incorrect) English translation. This is a major downfall. Have you ever really considered why the Kalima started with a Negative word NO followed by GOD? It was to stop the people worshipping gods in the form of statues or in the form of pictures, or in the form of mental images. It was to stop people worshipping a god or gods sitting on a throne. If Allãh is a god then the Kalima might have started with YES there is a God, or Allãh is the only God, but it does not. The Kalima starts with NO god.

The name Allãh cannot be converted to the English word God. Allãh is infinite, which meansAllãh has no boundaries. Allãh has no centre. Allãh has no inside and no outside. If Allãh had boundaries then that would limit Allãh.

We are told in Al Qur'an:

وَلِلّهِ الْمَشْرِقُ وَالْمَغْرِبُ فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّواْ فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللّهِ إِنَّ اللّهَ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ

“To Allãh belong the east and the West: Whithersoever ye turn; there is the presence of Allãh. For Allãh is all-Pervading, all-Knowing.”

[Al Qur’an, Al Baqarah’ 115]

If Allãh was a god then we would not see his face everywhere. He would be limited by form or shape. He would be limited by time and place. Allãh has no form or shape because with form and shape there is an outline that forms the shape or boundary. We are informed about this in the Al Qur’an:

اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ

 “Allãh, the Eternal, Absolute.”
[Al Qur’an, Al Iqlaas’ 2]

Which means Allãh is not limited by time, place or circumstance. Some readers may say thatAllãh is referred to as God in the Al Qur’an. This is true. An example of this is given here:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَمَاتُوا وَهُمْ كُفَّارٌ أُولَئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ لَعْنَةُ اللّهِ وَالْمَلآئِكَةِ وَالنَّاسِأَجْمَعِينَ

خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا لاَ يُخَفَّفُ عَنْهُمُ الْعَذَابُ وَلاَ هُمْ يُنظَرُونَ

وَإِلَـهُكُمْ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ لاَّ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ الرَّحْمَنُ الرَّحِيمُ

“Those who reject Faith, and die rejecting,- on them is Allãh's curse, and the curse of angels, and of all mankind;
They will abide therein: Their penalty will not be lightened, nor will respite be their (lot).
And your Allãh is One Allãh: There is no god but He, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.”
[Al Qur’an, Al Bakharah’ 161-163]
  

In verse 163, the word God (إله ) is used to describe Allãh (Your God is One God), but notice the context in which it is used. Allãh is addressing the NON-MUSLIMS. After telling the disbelievers of the fate that awaits them, Allãh informs them that their God is one God WA ILAHUKUM ILAHUN WAHID because they are only familiar with the concept of god. Allãh tells the non-Muslims using the terminology that the non-Muslims are familiar with, which is god. Immediately following that in the same verse we are told لا إله إلا الله. There is no god only He the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful which is addressed to the Muslims. So the last part of verse 163 of Surah Baqarah is addressed to the Muslims who should not interchange the NameAllãh with the word god. You will find the word إله 'God' is used throughout the Holy Qur’an whenever the verses are addressed to the Non-Muslims.

Again we are told in the Holy Qur’an that there is no god with little 'g' or capital 'G'. So who isAllãh? Muhammad(صلى الله عليه وسلم) the Messenger of Allãh and all the great Muslim saints (RA) from the past to present have said no one should contemplate on the essence of Allãhbecause in doing that, a person will fall into error. But we must reflect on Allãh's attributes or qualities in order to attain nearness to Him.

His Name is Allãh, and his attributes or qualities are Ar Rahman (The Most Gracious), Ar Raheem (The Most Merciful), Al Malik (The Sovereign), Al Quddus (The Holy One), As Salaam (The Source of Peace), Al Mu_min (The Guardian of Faith), Al Muhaiymin (The Preserver of Safety), Al Azeez (The Exalted in Might), Al Jabbar (The Irresistible), Al Mutakabir (The Supreme) and all the other qualities mentioned in the Holy Qur’an.

I found in one translation of "Al Futhu Rabbani", the translator had freely used the word God when Referring to Allãh. I could not find the NAME Allãh anywhere in the entire book. I wrote and pointed this out to the translator. He replied, "The word GOD is mentioned in the Webster's Dictionary. It is derived from the Indian word Ghauss meaning Savior."

The Muslims use the word Ghauss for the person who is the Chief of the Walees(saints). The Shaikh of the Shaikhs. The Christians use the word Savior for Isa (Jesus (PBUH)). It is sad to find that these people, who translate the Holy Qur’an and the works of prominent saints, use the word 'God' wherever they come across the Name 'Allãh'. Countless people read these translations. The readers are brain washed into believing that 'Allãh' is 'God'. Is it any surprise the Muslims are suffering in this day and age, when people who have impact (that is the translators) on the lives of other people are ashamed to use the Name Allãh from the Holy Qur’an which is the word of Allãh. They would rather use the word 'God' from a Dictionary written by men.

In this day and age, the entire population of the earth is aware of the religion of Islam. They are also aware, that those who practice and follow Islam are called Muslims and not Mohammadans. By the same reasoning, the entire population of the earth is aware of the NameAllãh. Now it must be made clear to everyone including the ignorant Muslims (through no fault of their own), that the Muslims serve Allãh, they do not worship any God.

In conclusion Allãh is not a god. There is no god only Allãh. Allãh is the proper name of our Creator. Allãh is infinite, because where ever we turn there is the Face of Allãh. There are some Muslims who will argue that Allãh is not everywhere. After providing the proof from the Holy Qur’an (Chapter 2 verse 115) if they still dispute that Allãh is not everywhere then they have rejected the Word of Allãh. Only Allãh Knows Best!

THE MEANING OF: محمد رسول الله

Now let us look at the second part of Kalima Tayyab starting again with the literal translation of the words

محمد رسول الله

محمد means MUHAMMAD

رسول means RASOOL (Loosely translated to MESSENGER) of

الله means ALLÃH

Every Muslim will translate محمد رسول الله to mean Muhammad is the Messenger of Allãh.

There are no problems here, except in comprehension. Some Muslims do not even realize what they are uttering. They are not paying attention to the words of the Kalima. They are veiled from the meaning of the Kalima.

When Hadrat Adam (PBUH) was sent from heaven to earth for eating the forbidden fruit he repented for 330 years. Then Allãh gave Adam (PBUH) guidance and he remembered The Kalima he had seen inscribed in heaven.

لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله

When Adam (PBUH) recited the Kalima, Allãh accepted his prayer and forgave Adam (AS). Even Adam (AS) had to say:

"There is no god only Allãh, Muhammad is the Rasool (Messenger) of Allãh!"

Now say...