Recent Articles

Shahadah

This article forms part of the series Islam

Vocabulary of Islam

Five Pillars

Profession of faith

Prayer – Alms

Fasting

Pilgrimage to Mecca

Holy Cities

Mecca – Medina

Jerusalem

Najaf – Karbala

Events

Hijra – Islamic calendar – Eid ul-Fitr

Eid ul-Adha – Aashura – Mosque – Minaret

Mihrab – Kaaba

Religious

Muezzin – Imam – Mullah

Ayatollah – Mufti

People & Groups

Seyd

Texts and laws

Qur'an – Hadith – Sunnah

Sura – Fiqh – Fatwa

Sharia – Sunni – Shi'a

Kharijite

Maddhabs

Hanafi – Maliki

Shafi'i – Hanbali

Sects

Wahhabism – Salafism

Twelvers – Ismailism

Mu'tazili – Druze

Asharism – Sufism

The shahādah, or the Islamic creed, is a declaration of belief in the unity of God and the prophethood of Muhammad. Its recitation is considered one of the Five Pillars of Islam. When stated aloud, one is considered to have officially declared oneself a convert to Islam.

The Arabic words are: :لا إلاه إلالله محمد رسول الله

which are romanized:

Lā ilāha il-Allāh Muhammadur rasūl Allāh.

In English, the credo goes:

There is no god but God [and] Muhammad is the messenger [or prophet] of God.

Honest recitation of the shahādah once, in Arabic, in front of two Muslim witnesses, is all that is required for a person to become a Muslim.

It is considered correct to refer to previous figures, such as Jesus (in Arabic, Isa) as prophets (rasul), and some groups (notably certain Sufi mystics) will amend the declaration to mention prior prophets whose names are found in the Qur'an.