(Reason 20 of ‘22 serious reasons shahada should contain no name except God’s’)
“The more you look into and understand yourself, the less judgmental you become towards others.” – Tariq Ramadan
A later invention
Even though at least three versions of the farewell sermon are reported in hadith books, they all share the same shahada, the one found in the Quran, i.e. There is no god but God (La ilaha illa Allah).
The Quran doesn’t authorize any name in shahada except God’s, since this would otherwise present as a case of ‘shirk’ (19:65).
Then the extended shahada – which binds and couples the testimony of God’s oneness with the testimony of Muhammad’s messengership in an interwoven formula – evolved as a violation to this monotheistic concept.
Because no such formula is approved by the Quran, it must be an innovation and a later development. It must have been formulated by Muhammadans after the Prophet’s death and during the first decades of the Islamic era in a specific environment – under the pressure of various socio-economic, political and psycho-theological factors – in order to serve, on the first place, specific purposes of various interest groups of that time.
Causes for development of sectarian shahada
There was a pagan urge for a mediator and intercessor
It was difficult to worship God without associate
Idolization of Muhammad was underway partly in response to Judaeo-Christian claims
Religious egotism required a slogan to differentiate Islam from other religions
A theological formula for conversion to Islam was felt necessary
Armed conflicts with non-Muslims demanded an ideological tool for military propaganda
Interest groups needed a ‘human god’ to give ‘divine authorization’ to their own ideas
There was a pagan urge for a mediator and intercessor
An obvious religious-psychological factor that annexed human name to shahada was the need for an intermediary and a negotiator.
As a trend noted in most of the religious groups, many earlier Muslims also felt the strong urge to have a human deity that would mediate and negotiate with God on their behalf, so to help them to keep in touch with God as well as to face divine anger during the Final Judgment.
And as the wishful thinking conveniently found it in an idolized Muhammad, they imagined Muhammad as the mediator between human and God in this life and as the intercessor in the hereafter, an anti-Quranic speculation that eventually led to the rigid assertion that without accepting Muhammad none can attain salvation (warning! Is God not sufficient for His servant? They frighten you with others beside Him. 39:36).
Thus many earlier Muslims – not content with ‘God Alone’ insisted by the Quran – wanted names of ‘others’ to be mentioned besides Him (39:45).
Hadith books reveal how the name of Muhammad – who allegedly claimed about his vital role as an intercessor and negotiator with God for anyone who recites La ilaha illa Allah – was eventually added to the recitation itself, thereby extending the shahada to La Ilaha Illa Allah Muhammadur rasulullah.
It was difficult to worship God without associate
Most people find it difficult to worship the unperceivable, unportrayable God (6:103) without associating Him with something that is perceivable and portrayable (12:106). This is due to an intrinsic limitation in human mind that ‘likes to see and hear’ (7:143).
As a result of this limitation within the sensory-cognitive processes in mind, mortals throughout the ages have invented numerous idols besides God in order to worship Him in conjunction with creatures that look like them or things that are tangible and conceivable (12:106; cf. 39:43-45, 40:12, 39:36).
Likewise, many earlier Muslims also found it hard to worship the ‘abstract’ God without associating Him with something that is ‘real’ to their perception. And they easily found it in an idolized Muhammad.
Clearly, because of the then prevalent pagan trend – so common in most religious groups – many earlier Muslims also lacked the holistic approach (39:45, 17:45-46, 53:25-27, 70:33-34, 16:20-21) essential to understand Islamic monotheism depicted in the Quran, which calls to worship God alone without associating anyone (‘never associate anyone’ 18:110) or anything (‘do not associate anything in any way’ 4:36) besides Him.
Then the extended shahada came to make their life easier! While proclaiming the precise formula ‘There is no god but GOD, MUHAMMAD is God’s messenger’ – which binds and couples the testimony of God’s oneness with the testimony of Muhammad’s messengership in an interwoven formula – Muslims somehow perceived GOD and MUHAMMAD as two reciprocal mates of a divine pair. …
Thus, by binding, coupling, interweaving and mingling Muhammad with God, they subconsciously fabricated in their fantasy an idolatrous concept of a very intimate, special, dual relationship between their fictional, mocked God and their imaginary, legendary Muhammad: with time they eventually converted their cult leader into an idol, an associate and a terrestrial counterpart with God (warning! And God has said, “Do not take-up two gods, two. There is only One god, so it is Me, only Me, that you shall revere.” 16:51).
But this was ‘practical and helpful’. Instead of doing the difficult task of worshipping the abstract God who is ‘Ahad’ and ‘Samad’ (‘the infinitely One, Alone, Indivisible’ and ‘the Absolutely Independent’; sura ikhlas:1-2), traditional Muslims found it more convenient to worship a domesticated, humanized god who is coupled with (and thus dependent on) an associate, a messenger.
It is interesting to observe how, during the reign of Abbasid dynasty (started 132 AH/ 750 CE), i.e. in a much later period of Islamic history, SURA IKHLAS WAS REMOVED from the coins of earlier Muslim caliphs and Muhammad’s name was moved to the centre in its place, as a counterpart of God’s name!!!
Idolization of Muhammad was underway partly in response to Judaeo-Christian claims
The Quran is divine but its commentaries are human. Then, one may ask: How reliable are those traditional commentaries that have shaped Muslim minds and Muslim societies throughout the centuries?
After the generation of the companions of the Prophet, the students of the companions took over the responsibility of explaining the Quran. During this period, greater emphasis was placed on Judaeo-Christian traditions, known as Israiliyat, and because of this, many of these narrations entered into Islamic literature.
And this happened despite the clear Quranic warning against the following of potentially erroneous Judaeo-Christian views: O you who acknowledge, if you obey some of those who received the Book they will turn you after your acknowledgement into rejecters! 3:100; cf. 5:48-51.
Most of the people who narrated these traditions were Jews and Christians who had embraced Islam, such as Abdullah ibn Salaam (a Companion, d. 43 A.H.), Ka’ab al-Ahbar (embraced Islam after the death of the Prophet and did not see him; d. 32 A.H.), Wahb ibn Munnabih (d. 110 A.H.), and Abdul Malik ibn Jurayj (d. 150 A.H.) …
Much of the Judaeo-Christian traditions prevalent in Hadith and tafsir literature can be traced back to these scholars, who interpolated their own Biblical and Talmudic beliefs, teachings and stories with the Islamic creeds and preaching.
Many Muslims of earlier generations, thus influenced by scholars and story-tellers with Judaeo-Christian background, gradually invented countless legends, rumours and anecdotes to praise their messenger for being a sanctified superman, while ignoring the divine warning against this (18:101-110).
An example in this regard is the forged assertion that God created the Universe for the sake of Muhammad (lawlaka lawlaka lama khalaqtu al-aflaka). Attributed to God under the label hadith-e-Qudsi (Sacred hadith), this Muslim claim is similar to, and most clearly copied from, the Jewish and Christian claims about Moses and Jesus.
Moreover, in line with the claims of the ‘People of the Book’ about their specific cult leaders, and also to compete with them – although violating the clear Quranic instruction not to differentiate between messengers (2:285, 21:92, 23:51-53) – many Muslims insisted on making their messenger greater than all other messengers by idolizing him to an extent parallel to that of e.g. ‘Lord Jesus’, thereby further violating another Quranic instruction not to revere any human as Lord (2:135-136, 3:64-65, 6:164, 16:51, 18:101-110).
They elevated their demigod to such high standings like ‘Sayyiduna Muhammad’ (‘Our LORD Muhammad’), ‘Sayed al-Khalq’ (the Lord of all creation), ‘Ashraf al-Mursaleen’ (the Most honourable of all the messengers), ‘Habib Allah’ (God’s sweetheart!) and so on.
During this process of glorification and idolization of Muhammad, he was ultimately exalted to a heavenly status that was lofty enough to share even the rank of God. And so his name appeared in the same statement along with God, through the extension of shahada.
Interestingly, this new formulation itself seems to have tracked the Christian formula, which probably explains why the interweaving nature of the extended shahada resembles the credo where the Father and the Son co-exist within one deity (John 17:3; 1 Corinthians 8:6).
Religious egotism required a slogan to differentiate Islam from other religions
The essence of Islam – submission to one God alone by turning-away from all that is false and then mercy and justice to all of His creation – constitutes the ‘one moral law’ (‘deen’) for all people that was revealed to all messengers (98:5).
That is why the Quran calls to regard all messengers as equal and to respect inspired texts of all religions, while acknowledging unity of all revelations and accepting them as integral constituents of ‘one Book of God’ (‘al-kitab’, e.g. 2:113, 2:136, 3:19, 3:100, 3:119, 6:91-92, 6:154-157, 10:37, 23:68, 39:18; cf. 18:27, 10:94).
Thus Islam, which was preached by all messengers of all times and nations, is not a religion of any particular messenger only. Besides, the Quran constantly describes Islam as ‘the way of Abraham’ (‘Millat Ibraheem’; 2:120, 2:130, 2:135, 3:95, 4:125, 6:161, 12:37, 12:38, 16:123, 22:78) rather than ‘the way of Muhammad’.
Muhammad the messenger, who strictly followed the religion of Abraham (6:159-164, 4:125, 22:78), was neither an introducer of Islam, nor he brought anything fundamentally new in religion (3:144, 38:65, 46:9, 47:19). His duty, in fact, was nothing except conveying to the humanity the divine message, the final testament (42:48, 5:99; cf. 5:92, 5:99, 13:40, 16:35, 16:82, 24:54, 29:18, 38:65, 42:48, 64:12).
According to the Quran, because man’s ‘submission to God’ (‘islam’, in its original connotation) is the essence of all true religion, all religious communities in their initial, fresh spirit subscribed to the doctrine of God’s oneness. Then their subsequent divergencies must have been an outcome of sectarian pride and mutual exclusiveness3:
God bears witness (SHAHADA) that there is no god but He (‘La ilaha illa Allah ’), and so do the Forces and those of knowledge, upright with equity: there is no god but He, the Almighty, the Wise./ The system with God is submission (ISLAM), and those who received the Book differed, after the knowledge had come unto them, only out of rivalry among themselves. 3:18-19.
Therefore, while ‘La ilaha illallah’ is the only true identity of a Muslim of any religion (2:177, 2:111-112, 2:130-131, 3:18-20, 6:71, 18:110, 27:44, 40:65-66), any addition to this original dictum is nothing but a deviation – a sign of religious chauvenism and mutual rivalry – which is otherwise also the root cause of all hostility and division in religion.
Despite this clear Quranic stance and warning, Muhammad-worshippers went through the same deviation. During the Umayyad period of Arab expansion, feeling superior as a religious group while claiming to be followers of ‘the last and the best prophet’, they concocted the extended shahada with Muhammad’s name in it; so that it could serve as an ideological slogan to sharply differentiate Islam from all other religions – which were all ‘outdated’ by the definition – and thereby to mark a superior religious-political identity for the then Muslims.
A theological formula for conversion to Islam was felt necessary
The Quran doesn’t prescribe any formal declaration for conversion to Islam.
The development of sectarian shahada as an official declaration for conversion to Islam probably started under the influence of the Jewish tradition of Shema, the central statement of Judaism, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is One” (Sh’ma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Eḥad. Deut 6:4).
Recited by the Jews in the morning and evening prayers to affirm their faith, Shema is portrayed in the Quran as the first commandment and the most important of all Mosaic Laws (27:10-12; cf. 16:2, 20:13-20, 21:25, 37:35-37; cf. Deut 5:1-11, 6:4-6).
Then – as the Jewish counterpart of the original Islamic testimony ‘There is no god but God’ – Shema also presents as a possible allegorical meaning of ‘Aasa’ (staff, cane, support, strength, conviction, authority, strong logic), given to Moses, which appeared like a tremendous, live ‘serpent’ that ‘ate up’ all false, illusory inferences made-up by Pharaoh’s polytheist pundits:
And We inspired Moses: “Throw down your staff”; and it swallowed all what they fabricated… / And the illusionists were cast/made in compliance./ They said, “We acknowledge the Sustainer of the worlds.” 7:117-121; cf. 10:79-82, 7:107-108, 26:33, 20:22, 27:10-12, 28:32.
This is how the true shahada ‘La Ilaha Illa Allah’ overwhelms and swallows up all fancied, fabricated shahadas.
Now, as the Shema implies, there is no room for confessing a mere human alongside the one true God in one’s ultimate confession of faith. None of the messengers, not even Moses himself, ever conjoined his/ her own name with God’s name anyway in any such confession. Thus the Jews add no human name to Shema – no messenger, not even Moses. After reciting the Shema they simply read the ‘ten commandments’.
However, this solemn stance of Abrahamic monotheism underwent a change with the shaping of Christian theology. Though Jesus himself considered Shema as the most important divine commandment (Mark 12:29-30), Saint Paul revised it by adding to it Jesus’ name: Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. 1 Corinthians 8:6.
This growing notion of the co-existence of God and Jesus as ‘one essence’ was a continuation of the trend, much evident in the last of the four Gospels, where Jesus the human was already in a process of deification (1 John 2:23, John 14:1, 17:3, 20:28). This eventually gave rise to the doctrine of Trinity, culminating in the Nicene Creed in 4th century, which imagined the union of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit within the threefold personality of one Godhead, i.e. a three-in-one Divine Being, where Jesus in fact replaced Dionysian of Greek mythology.
The original Islamic shahada (the first article of ‘full shahada’) as an official declaration for conversion to Islam apparently retained its pure monotheist spirit during the lifetime of the Prophet and his ‘rightly guided successors’ or ‘Khulafa-e-Rashideen’. With time Muslims started idolizing Muhammad as their Lord (warning! 3:64, 2:135-136, 3:80, 6:164) and as ‘the last and so the greatest of the prophets and the sweetheart of God’ in a way parallel to the Christians who worshipped Jesus as the Son of God.
Also, some of these Muhammad-worshippers were significantly influenced by ideological interactions with their Christian neighbours (including their Muslim converts) in general and by theological debates with Christian scholars in 7th century Syria in particular. So they were looking for their own doctrinal formula in line with the credo of their Christian challengers (e.g. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true GOD, and JESUS CHRIST, whom you have sent. John 17:3; cf. 1 Corinthians 8:6).
Clearly, during this process Jesus was replaced by Muhammad and the Quranic, original Abrahamic shahada about one God was annexed, in a Christian style, with an un-Quranic, additional shahada (the second article of ‘full shahada’) that exalts a human besides God.
And this is how the extended shahada, ‘There is no god but GOD, MUHAMMAD is God’s messenger’, was formulated.
Armed conflicts with non-Muslims demanded an ideological tool for military propaganda
It appears that the origin of the extended shahada was further related, at least to some extent, to battles and conflicts, since one of the purposes it definitely served was to justify and glorify hostile expeditions by Muslims against their non-Muslim challengers.
Umayyad caliphs and then Abbasid caliphs, who conducted those military invasions, must have found it as a useful tool to conceal their worldly intentions and ambitions under the guise of divinely commanded, religious wars.
Thus, the extended shahada must have been developed partly in context of war, probably as a tactic of the military propaganda that needed to exploit popular, religious sentiment in order to portray an otherwise secular war as a Jihad.
This becomes clear from the sahih hadiths where the Prophet allegedly claimed that he had been commanded to fight against non-Muslims until they submit to Islam by reciting the ‘shahada’ (which would ‘save their life and property from the wrath of Muhammad’!!!).
It is interesting to observe in these hearsay reports the shift from ‘La ilaha illallah’ towards ‘La Ilaha Illa Allah Muhammadur rasulullah’, where Muhammad’s name, which was absent in some versions (possibly earlier), was eventually added to the original shahada.
Interest groups needed a ‘human god’ to give ‘divine authorization’ to their own ideas
Many Muslims of earlier generations – due to disjointed thoughts, fragmented by idolatrous inclination – failed to understand the importance of the holistic study of the Quran, which is so essential for correct understanding of the divine writ (2:85, 4:82, 6:91-92, 6:112-113, 6:150, 16:20-25, 17:9-11, 17:19, 17:21, 17:45-46, 17:72, 17:106, 20:114, 21:37, 25:32, 39:18-23, 39:45, 41:42, 53:25-27, 73:4, 75:16-21). As they thus failed to accept ‘the Quran alone’ (17:45-46), they felt it necessary to clarify and ‘supplement’ the Quran – which they thought was otherwise incomplete – with various manmade texts and interpretations that needed to be idolized as divine.
Moreover, in order to establish their own ideas and opinions – often dictated and shaped by selfish motives of the powerful and the clergy, and wishful thinking and demands of various interest groups – they needed to ascribe those on a genuine authority. So they further felt the strong urge to have a sanctified human figure besides God. As usual, they once again found it in an idolized Muhammad, who was gradually converted into a ‘divine incarnation’ and associate. The Quranic shahada ‘There is no god but God’ – which, by definition, cannot have any name in it except God’s name (3:18, 3:81, 7:71, 12:40, 19:65, 39:45, 40:12, 72:18) – could no longer fulfil their needs and expectations.
And since they thus considered this original Islamic testimony ‘La Ilaha Illa Allah’ as insufficient for their own purposes, they subconsciously added to it – through a trend consolidated by man-made traditions – the phrase ‘Muhammadur rasulullah’ (48:29; a statement of fact that requires no human shahada, as God alone is ENOUGH to bear witness to its truth: 4:79, 4:166, 6:19, 10:28-29, 13:43, 17:94-96, 29:52, 41:47-48, 41:53, 46:8, 48:28-29, 63:1).
Thus the idolatrous impulse eventually transmuted the divine shahada with a man-made extension: This is because when God Alone was mentioned, you rejected, but when associates were included besides Him, you acknowledged. 40:12.
And by following those earlier Muhammadans, Muslims of later generations gradually fell into the veiled trap of ‘shirk’ or ‘association with God’, the only unforgivable sin in Islam (4:48; cf. 4:116, 39:65, 6:88).
In daily practice, by bearing witness about Muhammad in association with bearing witness about God, one turns Muhammad the human into an associate with God and, therefore, a secondary authority in divinity and divine legislation. This supposed co-authorship of Muhammad with God in law-making gives man-made books of hadith hearsays a divine status besides the Quran, while seriously violating a most important instruction of the Quran: DO NOT UPHOLD any OTHER HADITH but the QURAN ONLY: So, in which HADITH after God and His messages will they believe? 45:6; cf. 7:185, 77:50; also: 4:42, 4:78, 4:87, 4:140, 6:68, 7:185, 12:111, 18:6, 23:44, 31:6, 33:53, 34:19, 39:23, 45:6, 52:34, 53:59, 56:81, 66:3, 68:44, 77:50.
Then this makes one to blindly accept Hadith (words and deeds attributed to Muhammad) as divine and to follow it as a secondary source of Islam (warning! Or do you have another Book which you study?/ In it, you find all that you may wish to find? 68:37-38).
Through this anti-Quranic process, any manmade teaching or any idea or opinion of a particular interest group can be made ‘divine’ by falsely attributing it to the Prophet by fabricating various hadith hearsays. This creates pseudo-religions and thereby diverts people from the right path of Islam. And this is exactly what happened with Islam during the Umayyad and the earlier parts of the Abbasid period.
In brief, the traditionally established ‘divinity’ of Muhammad (though an un-Quranic and anti-Quranic concept) – constantly ‘certified’ by bearing witness about Muhammad IN ASSOCIATION WITH bearing witness about God – turns Muhammad the human into an ASSOCIATE WITH GOD and so a second author in divinity and divine legislation. Then this makes generations of Muslims to blindly follow hadith as a secondary authority of Islam and to remain misguided by its consequences, i.e. various pseudo-Islams.
Summary
Sectarian shahada was a later invention
Because no extended shahada as a religious formula is approved by the Quran, it must be an innovation, a later development.
It must have been formulated by Muhammadans after the Prophet’s death and during the first decades of the Islamic era in a specific environment – under the pressure of various socio-economic, political and psycho-theological factors – in order to serve, on the first place, specific purposes of various interest groups of that time.
There were real causes for development of sectarian shahada.
The causes include:
- There was a pagan urge for a mediator and intercessor.
- It was difficult to worship God without associate.
- Idolization of Muhammad was underway partly in response to Judaeo-Christian claims.
- Religious egotism required a slogan to differentiate Islam from other religions.
- A theological formula for conversion to Islam was felt necessary.
- Armed conflicts with non-Muslims demanded an ideological tool for military propaganda.
- Interest groups needed a ‘human god’ to give ‘divine authorization’ to their own ideas.
Lamp of Islam 