The Shahada or Shahadah (“testimony”) is a statement of Islamic belief. It is the first of the Five Pillars of Islam.
The Shahada says (in English translation): “I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah (God), and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.”
In the first part of the Shahada, a person says they believe in one God.
In the second part, a person says that they believe Prophet Muhammad is God’s messenger. This part does two things. It reminds people of the importance of Muhammad. It also reminds people that Muhammad is only a messenger (so Allah alone is God).
When someone wants to convert to Islam, reciting the Shahadah starts their life as a Muslim. Shahada is also said at many other times, like during adhan (call to prayer) and salat (daily prayer).
The Shahada is inscribed on the national flag of Saudi Arabia, shown here.
Text adapted from English Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0.
Flag of Saudi Arabia via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
