Joe Bradford - 7-4-25

The Greatest Word: La Ilaha Illallah

The greatest word that a Muslim can say is لا إله إلا الله. This phrase Allah said to Musa alayhi salam himself.

Indeed, I am Allah. There is no one worthy of worship but me. Therefore worship me and establish the prayer for my remembrance.

It's narrated in the Sahih of Ibn Hibban as well as the Mustadrak of Al-Hakim. And Al-Hafidh Ibn Hajar graded it as an authentic hadith. That the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said as is narrated from his companion Abu Sa'id al-Khudri.

(Sahih Ibn Hibban and Mustadrak Al-Hakim)

The Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said: "Musa said: My Lord, teach me something that I can remember you by and that I can call upon you with."

Allah said, "Oh Moosa, say لا إله إلا الله - There is no one worthy of worship but Allah."

Moosa عليه السلام he said, يا رب كل عبادك يقولون هذا - "My Lord, all of your servants say this."

Allah سبحانه و تعالى then said to him: "Say لا إله إلا الله. Oh Moosa, if the heavens and the earth and everyone in it were placed in one side of the scale and لا إله إلا الله was placed at the other side of the scale then لا إله إلا الله would be the heavier of the two."

Moosa عليه السلام he wanted something special for himself but Allah سبحانه و تعالى said Oh Moosa عليه السلام: لا إله إلا الله would be the heavier of the two.

La Ilaha Illallah: The Foundation of Creation and Worship

لا إله إلا الله is the word for which sake the heavens and the earth and everything was created. Allah سبحانه و تعالى says:

لا إله إلا الله - Allah is unique in His oneness and exalted in Himself سبحانه above having any partners, any equals, any counterparts, any children, any intermediaries or any spouses. He commanded His servants to worship Him alone and He made singling Him out and worship the foundation and basis of our religion.

لا إله إلا الله is the first pillar of Islam. Jibreel عليه السلام came to the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم and he said أخبرني عن الإسلام - "Tell me about Islam."

(Sahih Muslim)

He said that you witness, that you bear witness that there is no one worthy of worship but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.

لا إله إلا الله is the sum of all goodness, so no good deed is accepted without it and a little bit of work that one puts in while being a person of tawheed is multiplied. But without it, without the statement of لا إله إلا الله, then all good deeds are rendered void even if they were like mountains.

The Call of All Prophets

لا إله إلا الله is the first call of all of the prophets and messengers and for its sake they were sent. Allah سبحانه وتعالى says:

We never sent before you any messenger except that we revealed to him that there is no one worthy of worship except me so therefore worship me alone.

لا إله إلا الله is a word that every single verse of the book of Allah states explicitly or points to implicitly.

لا إله إلا الله is the first command that we find in the Qur'an. Allah سبحانه وتعالى says:

O mankind, worship your Lord.

A Covenant with Allah

لا إله إلا الله is a covenant. A Muslim makes a covenant with his Lord to uphold it in every prayer when he says:

You alone we worship and you alone we seek help from.

لا إله إلا الله is Allah's right over His servants and the first obligation upon them from any religious duties. When He ﷺ sent Mu'adh to Yemen, He said to him:

(Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim)

You're going to, O Mu'adh, you're going to a people from the people of the book so let the thing that you first call them to be the testimony that there is no one worthy of worship but God alone.

لا إله إلا الله is the first thing that we will be asked about when we enter our graves when the angels say to us مَنْ رَبُّكَ - "Who is your Lord?"

The Testament of All Prophets

لا إله إلا الله - There's no path to pleasing Allah without saying this phrase. The leader of all monotheists Ibrahim ﷺ supplicated for himself and his children and their offspring to remain steadfast upon this word and its meaning:

Lord, make us a Muslim nation in submission to you and make our progeny in submission to you as well.

لا إله إلا الله is what Yusuf ﷺ called the people to and called upon Allah with when he said:

Cause me to die as a Muslim and allow me to join with the righteous.

لا إله إلا الله is the testimony and the testament of all of the messengers and all of the prophets:

And Ibrahim instructed his sons and so did Jacob saying: "Oh my sons, indeed Allah has chosen for you this religion so do not die except while you are Muslims."

لا إله إلا الله - Allah commanded us not to die except upon it when he said:

Oh you who believe, be mindful of Allah as He should be minded and do not die except as Muslims.

The Source of Peace and Relief

لا إله إلا الله - Through it and by singling out worship to Allah alone, the chest expands, the heart feels peace and one frees themselves from servitude to the creation. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

So whoever Allah wants to guide He expands his chest to Islam.

لا إله إلا الله - Through it our sorrows are relieved and our distress is removed. Listen to the dua, the supplication of Yunus Alayhi Salaam while he was in the belly of the whale:

He called out within the darkness saying: "There is no one worthy of worship except for you. Glory be to you. I have indeed been from the wrongdoers."

The Cause of Good Life

لا إله إلا الله is the cause for a good life. Indeed there is no happiness in this world except through it. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

Whoever does righteous deeds, whether male or female, while he is a believer, we will surely cause him to live a good life.

لا إله إلا الله is the foundation of the life that all souls seek. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

So whoever follows my guidance will neither go astray nor will they suffer.

The Word That Unites All Muslims

لا إله إلا الله is the word, the phrase that unites all Muslims - Arab and non-Arab, Black and white and red and yellow, In East and West. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

Indeed, this Ummah of yours is one Ummah. This community and faith of yours is one community of faith. And I am your Lord, so worship me.

The Good Tree

لا إله إلا الله is the word of Tawheed. And it's the lofty word whose root is firm and whose branches are in the sky. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

Have you not considered how Allah presents an example? A good word is like a good tree whose roots are firmly fixed and whose branches reach high in the sky.

لا إله إلا الله is from the branches of faith. Indeed, it is one of the greatest branches of faith. The Prophet ﷺ said as is recorded in Sahih Muslim:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 35)

Iman is seventy some branches. The highest branch is the statement لا إله إلا الله - There is no one worthy of worship but God alone.

The Best of All Words

لا إله إلا الله - Mouths have never been perfumed nor lips moved with anything better than it. He ﷺ said:

(Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3585)

The best of what I and the prophets before me have said is لا إله إلا الله alone. He has no partner. His is the dominion and His is all praise. And He is over all things powerful.

لا إله إلا الله is the eternal word that Allah ﷻ promised to those who say it that it will remain amongst them and amongst those that they teach it to. When He said:

And He made it a word remaining amongst His descendants.

لا إله إلا الله is the firm statement that Allah ﷻ refers to when He says:

Allah keeps firm those who believe with the firm word in this worldly life as well as in the hereafter.

The Greatest Cause for Forgiveness

لا إله إلا الله is the most hopeful to receive Allah's forgiveness. The person who says لا إله إلا الله is the most hopeful to receive Allah's forgiveness. He ﷺ said that Allah ﷻ said in the hadith Qudsi:

(Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3540)

If you came to me with sins as great as the earth and then you met me not associating anything with me, I would come to you with forgiveness nearly as great as it or greater than it.

Tawheed, monotheism, singling out Allah for worship is the greatest cause. Whoever lacks it will lose his chance at forgiveness. But whoever comes with tawheed then he comes with the greatest cause to be forgiven.

لا إله إلا الله - according to the degree of a person's tawheed, Allah's defense of him increases.

Indeed Allah defends those who believe.

لا إله إلا الله - Whoever realizes its meaning and comes with the tawheed of Allah then Allah is his protector from destructive sins and indecencies. He said about Yusuf عليه السلام, Yusuf عليه السلام who was tested and tried and accused:

And it is this way that we averted from him evil and immorality. Indeed he was one of our chosen sincere servants.

Ibn Al-Qayyim رحمه الله تعالى he said: "The weaker the heart is in its tawheed and the greater it is in its shirk, then the more indecent it becomes."

Security and Guidance

لا إله إلا الله bequeaths the one who says it in this worldly life tranquility and peace, and he is secure according to the degree of his faith. Allah سبحانه وتعالى says:

Those who believe and do not mix their belief with injustice - those will have security and they will be rightly guided.

The Key to Paradise

لا إله إلا الله - Allah gave glad tidings of paradise to whoever says it. He ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 93)

Whoever dies not associating any partners will enter paradise.

And he ﷺ said:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 3116)

Whoever's last words are لا إله إلا الله will enter into paradise.

The Intercession of the Prophet

لا إله إلا الله - No one can receive the intercession of our beloved Prophet ﷺ except the people of Tawheed. Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates he said to the Prophet ﷺ:

"Who are the people who will be happiest with your intercession on the Day of Judgment, O Messenger of Allah?"

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 99)

He said: "The happiest people with my intercession on the Day of Judgment are those who said لا إله إلا الله sincerely from their hearts."

Second Khutbah

Understand brothers and sisters that being a person of Tawheed, being able to say that there is no one worthy of worship but God alone and affirming all of your acts of devotion and adoration and worship to Him سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى is one of the greatest favors that Allah has and He gifts to whomever He wills from amongst His servants.

Therefore we should strive to achieve this in our daily lives, to implement it in everything that we do, to teach it to our children, to our relatives and to all that we know.

لا إله إلا الله is the declaration of Allah's absolute oneness and His exclusive right to worship. It negates any right to worship and devotion from anything else, whether false deities or ideologies, and it affirms that Allah alone is the only one that can be worshipped and the only one has right to all of our devotion as Allah has no partner, no equal, no counterpart, no rival or no equivalent.

This testimony, shahada, necessitates that we single out Allah for all types of worship and devotion and it liberates us from the servitude of everything other than Allah and makes us servants to Him alone.

So one of the greatest ways that we can show gratitude for this blessing is by learning more about it, by calling the creation to it, and by warning against every affliction that contradicts it.

Means of Remaining Steadfast Upon Tawheed

From the means of remaining steadfast upon tawheed is to become a person of worship, to become a person of steadfastness, to stay away from innovations and doubts and desires, to increase in our acts of worship, to acquire knowledge about our faith and about Islamic sciences, and to ask God-fearing scholars about those things that are unclear to us.

The Day of Ashura

The Prophet ﷺ as is narrated by Ibn Abbas radiallahu ta'ala anhu in Sahih Bukhari that he came to Al-Madina and he found the people fasting the 10th of Muharram and he said, "What is this day that they fast?" He said, "This is the day that Allah saved Musa and his people from Pharaoh." He ﷺ said, "We have more right to Musa than they do."

So he ordered the people to fast this day and he fasted it himself and this was the first obligatory fast in Islam. After this, the Prophet ﷺ made it optional and for those who choose to fast the day of Ashura, the 10th of Muharram which will be tomorrow inshallah ta'ala. He ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1162)

"I hope and I count to Allah that it will forgive the sins of the previous year."

May Allah ﷻ make us from amongst the people of tawheed and make us from amongst the people that gained that great blessing.

Oh Allah, allow us to die upon tawheed. Oh Allah, allow us to die worshippers of You. Oh Allah, allow us to die as Muslims - us and our children and our children's children يا رب العالمين.

عباد الله