Lets get into detail of Shahadah insha'Allah. VERY IMPORTANT: Please keep in mind when you are reading these conditions you might feel you do not really understand or meet those conditions. It doesnt mean your shahadah is not valid or your have a weak imaan. ALLAH LEADS TO IMAAN WHOMEVER HE WILLS! If your heart is let to Islam it means Allah (swt) loves you that is what is important. What we are trying to do here is learn the details of our imaan. "9 Conditions of the Shahadah": 1 Knowledge 2 Certainty 3 Acceptance 4 Submission 5 Truth 6 Sincerity 7 Love 8 Denial 9 Adherence Today we will analyze the first two: 1 KNOWLEDGE: ('ilm) That is, one must have the basic and general knowledge of what is meant by the shahadah. One must understand what the shahadah is affirming and what the shahadah is denying. Allah says in the Qur'an, "So know that there is no God save Allah, and ask forgiveness for your sin." (Surah Muhammad: 19). Similarly, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Whoever dies knowing that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah shall enter Paradise.” (Recorded in Sahih Muslim). In fact, the shahadah itself is a testimony. When one testifies to something, one must know what it is that he is testifying concerns. Obviously, a testimony about something that one does not have any knowledge about is absolutely unacceptable. Allah says in the Qur'an, "Except him who bears witness unto the truth knowingly." (Surah Al-Zukhruf: 86). Now this condition probably sounds obvious; if someone said to you, "There is no God except Allah," and then said that what he meant by Allah was Jesus, you would immediately tell him that this shahadah is nonsense. Yet can you imagine that there are Muslims in the world that until recently used to have a yearly weeklong celebration to "the Gods of the Sea"! All along they call themselves Muslims and they make the shahadah numerous times a day. This clearly shows that they have no idea what the meaning of their shahadah is. All of us do our best to learn at least the basics of Islamic beliefs, the basics of what shahadah means. In this way, Allah willing, we will be making the correct shahadah. We will be witnessing to the truth as we are supposed to be witnesses to it. 2- CERTAINTY (yaqeen): This is the opposite of doubt and uncertainty. In Islam, in fact, any kind of doubt is equivalent to Kufr or disbelief. We must, in our hearts, be absolutely certain of the truth of the shahadah. Our hearts must not be wavering in any way when we testify to the truth of, "There is none worthy of worship except Allah." Allah describes the believers in the Qur'an as those who have belief in Allah and then their hearts waver not. Allah says, "the (true) believers are those only who believe in Allah and His messenger and afterward doubt not, but strive with their wealth and their lives for the cause of Allah. Such are the sincere." (al-Hujjarat : 15). Similarly, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "No one meets Allah with the testimony that there is none worthy of worship but Allah and I am the Messenger of Allah, and he has no doubt about hat statement, except that he will enter Paradise." (Recorded by Muslim.) Indeed, Allah describes the hypocrites as those people whose hearts are wavering. For example, Allah says, "They alone seek leave of thee (not to participate in jihad) who believe not in Allah and the Last Day and whose hearts feel doubt, so in their doubt they waver." (al-Tauba: 45). Many scholars have stated that the diseases of the heart, or the doubt and suspicions that one allows into one's heart, are more dangerous for a person's faith than lusts and desires. This is because lusts and desires may be satisfied at some time yet the person still knows them to be wrong and he may control himself and repent and give up that evil deed. On the other hand, the doubts and suspicions may linger in the heart, with no cure, until the person finally leaves Islam entirely or continues to practice Islam while, in fact, in his heart he does not have the true faith. The greatest cure for these doubts is seeking knowledge. It is through sound knowledge of the Qur'an and the Sunnah that most of these doubts will be removed.