Al Ghazali book
Friday, June 3rd, 2005The Meaning of the Second Word of the Witness (al-shahādah)
The second word of the witness is that which testifies that the apostleship belongs to the Apostle, and that God sent the unlettered (ummi) Qurashite Prophet Muhammad, as an apostle to all the Arabs and the non-Arabs, to the jinn and men. And by his law He abrogated the other laws, except such of them as He confirmed. And He gave him precedence over all other prophets and made Him Lord of mankind, and declared incomplete any profession of faith which attests to unity, i.e. “There is no god but Allah,” unless it is followed by the witness to the Apostle, namely,“Muhammed is the Apostle of AIlah,’’. And he made belief in him, in all the things which he narrated concerning the affairs of this world and the hereafter, obligatory upon all creation. And He will not accept the belief of any creature until he believes in that which the Prophet narrated concerning the things after death, of which the first is the question of Munkar and Nakīr. These are two awful and terrible beings who will make the dead one sit up in the grave, both soul and body; they will ask him about the unity of God and about the apostleship, saying, “Who is the Lord, and what is the religion, and who is thy prophet?”2 They are the two inquisitors of the grave and their questions comprise the first examination after death. Again, man should believe that the punishment of the grave is real and that His judgment of the body and soul is just and in accordance with His will. And he should believe in the balance with the two scales and the tongue-the magnitude of which is like the stages of the Heavens and the earth; in it the deeds are weighed by the power of God, even to the weight of the mote and the mustard seed, in order to establish exact justice. The records of the good deeds will be placed in a good manner in the scale of light, and then the balance will be weighed down by them according to the measure of their favour in the sight of God and by His grace, while the records of the evil deeds will be cast in a vile manner in the scale of darkness, and they will be light in the balance through the justice of God. He should believe also that the bridge (al-şirāţ) is real; it is a bridge stretched over Hell, sharper than the edge of the sword and finer than a hair. The feet of the unbelievers slip on it, according to the decree of God, and they fall into the Fire; but the feet of the believers stand firm upon it, by the grace of God, and so they pass into everlasting life. And he should believe in the frequented tank (hawd) the tank of Muhammed, from which the believers will drink before entering Paradise and after (wājib) crossing the bridge. Whoever drinks a single draught from it will never thirst again. Its width is the distance of one month’s journey; its waters are whiter than milk and sweeter than honey. Around it are ewers in number like the stars of heaven,3 and into it flow two canals from al-kawthar 4. And he, should believe in the judgment and the distinctions between men in it, that some will be closely questioned that some will be treated with leniency and that others will enter Paradise without questioning-these are God’s favourites (al-muqurrabūn). God will ask, whomsoever He will of the prophets concerning the carrying of His message, and whomsoever of the unbelievers concerning their rejection of the apostles; 5 and He will ask the innovators concerning the law and the Muslims concerning their works. And he should believe that the monotheists will be released from Hell-fire after vengeance has been taken on them so that there will not remain in Hell a single monotheist. And he should believe in the intercession of the prophets, of the learned, and of the martyrs-each according to his dignity and rank before God. And he who remains of the believers and has no intercessor will be released through the grace of God. Therefore not a single believer will abide in Hell forever; whosoever has in his heart the weight of an atom of belief will be brought out from there. And he should acknowledge the excellence of the Companions and their different ranks, and that the most excellent of mankind, after the Prophet, is Abu-Bakr, and then ‘Umar, and then ‘Uthman, and then ‘Ali. And he should think well of all the Companions and praise them, just as God and His Apostle praised them. All this was handed down in traditions from the Prophet and from his Companions. Therefore he who subscribes to all this and believes in it without doubting will be of the people of truth and the Law, thus separating himself from the followers of error and heresy. So we ask God to perfect our faith and make us steadfast in it. We ask this, through His mercy, for ourselves and for all the Muslims throughout the world. Truly He is the most merciful. And may the blessing of God be upon our Lord Muhammed and upon very chosen servant.
