Reports on the virtue of "La ilaha illallah"

Sayyiduna Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I said: "O Messenger of Allah, give me some counsel." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When you commit an evil deed, follow it with a good deed; it (the good deed) will wipe it (the evil deed) out." The narrator says: I said: "O Messenger of Allah, is 'La ilaha illallah' (none is worthy of worship except Allah) among the good deeds?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It is the most excellent of good deeds."
Ahmad recorded it, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy), except that the narrator Shimr bin Atiyyah
recorded it from his teachers from Sayyiduna Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him), and he did not name any of his teachers.

Ya'la bin Shaddad narrates: My father, Sayyiduna Shaddad bin Aws (may Allah be pleased with him), narrated this hadith to me, while Sayyiduna Ubadah bin al-Samit (may Allah be pleased with him) was also present there and confirmed what my father said. He said: "We were with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: 'Is there any stranger among you?' The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) meant: is anyone from the People of the Book present? We said: 'No, O Messenger of Allah.' The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered the door to be shut and then said: 'Raise your hands and say 'La ilaha illallah' (none is worthy of worship except Allah).' We kept our hands raised for a while, then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) lowered his blessed hand and said: 'All praise belongs to Allah Almighty. O Allah, You sent me with this word, You commanded me with it, and You promised me Paradise for it, and indeed You do not break Your promise.' Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Receive the glad tidings that Allah Almighty has forgiven you.'"
Ahmad recorded it; its chain contains Rashid bin Dawud, whom more than one declared trustworthy, and there is weakness in him. The rest of its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Renew your faith!" It was said: "O Messenger of Allah, how shall we renew our faith?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Say 'La ilaha illallah' (none is worthy of worship except Allah) abundantly."
Ahmad and Tabarani recorded it; Ahmad's narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Bear witness abundantly that there is none worthy of worship except Allah Almighty, before a barrier (of death) comes between you and it."
Abu Ya'la recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih, except Dimam bin Isma'il, and he is thiqah (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: "The keys of Paradise are bearing witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah Almighty."
Ahmad recorded it, and its narrators have been declared trustworthy, except that the narrator Shahr did not hear from Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him).

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) said: 'O my Lord, teach me something by which I may remember You and supplicate to You.' The Lord said: 'O Musa, say 'La ilaha illallah' (none is worthy of worship except Allah).' Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) said: 'All Your servants say this.' Allah Almighty said: 'Say La ilaha illallah.' Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) said: 'There is none worthy of worship except You; I want something that You grant to me specially.' Allah Almighty said: 'O Musa, if the seven heavens and all who inhabit them besides Me (that is, all the creation in them) and the seven earths were all placed in one pan of the scale, and La ilaha illallah were placed in the other pan, the pan of La ilaha illallah would outweigh them.'"
Abu Ya'la recorded it, and its narrators have been declared trustworthy, and there is weakness in them.

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever says 'La ilaha illallah' (none is worthy of worship except Allah) at any hour of the night or day, the sins in his record are wiped out, until an equal number of good deeds are recorded."
Abu Ya'la recorded it; its chain contains Uthman bin Abd al-Rahman al-Zuhri, who is matruk (abandoned).

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah Almighty has made a pillar of light in front of the Throne. When a servant says 'La ilaha illallah' (none is worthy of worship except Allah), that pillar begins to shake. Allah Almighty says to it: 'Be still!' It says: 'How can I be still when You have not forgiven the one who said it?' Allah Almighty says: 'I have forgiven him.' At that, the pillar becomes still."
Al-Bazzar recorded it; its chain contains Abdullah bin Ibrahim bin Abi Amr, who is extremely da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "On the Day of Resurrection the scales will be set up. A man will be brought and placed in one pan, and whatever has been counted against him will be placed in the other pan, and that pan (of sins) will become heavier. The man will be sent towards Hell. When he heads that way, a caller from the Most Merciful will call out loudly: 'Do not hasten! Do not hasten! For something remains in his favour.' Then a card will be brought on which La ilaha illallah (none is worthy of worship except Allah) is written. It will be placed with the man in his pan, and his pan (of good deeds) will become heavier."
(Allamah Haythami says:) I say:
Tirmidhi recorded this report in abridged form.
Ahmad recorded it; its chain contains Ibn Lahi'ah, whose hadith is hasan (good). The rest of its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Ma'qil bin Yasar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Everything has a key, and the key of the heavens is reciting 'La ilaha illallah' (There is no deity except Allah)."
Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Aghlab bin Tamim, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The people of 'La ilaha illallah' (There is no deity except Allah) will feel no loneliness in the grave, nor when they are raised again (on the Day of Resurrection). It is as though I can see the people of 'La ilaha illallah' even now, shaking the dust off their heads and saying: "All praise belongs to Allah Almighty, who has removed grief from us."
Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat.

In one narration the wording is: "The people of 'La ilaha illallah' (There is no deity except Allah) will feel no loneliness at the time of death, nor in the grave." In the first narration there is a narrator, Yahya al-Himmani, and in the other a narrator, Mujashi' bin Amr, and both of them are da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) states that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked a man: Did you do such-and-such (that is, a sinful deed)? He replied: No! By the One besides whom there is no deity, O Messenger of Allah, I did not do it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Yes, you did do it, but you have been forgiven because of sincerity (that is, reciting the declaration of Tawhid).

In one narration the wording is: "Sayyiduna Jibril (peace be upon him) told the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): This man did do it, but he has been forgiven because of his reciting 'La ilaha illallah' (There is no deity except Allah)."
Ahmad recorded it, and Abu Ya'la recorded something similar; the narrators of both are the narrators of the Sahih, except that Hammad bin Salamah says:
Thabit did not hear this narration from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both); there is another person between them.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) states: Two men brought their dispute before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and taking an oath became binding on one of them. So he swore by Allah, besides whom there is no deity, and said: "There is nothing of his with me." Sayyiduna Jibril (peace be upon him) came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "He is lying; payment is owed by him." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered him to make that payment, "and the expiation of his oath is that he knows that there is no deity except Allah Almighty (the narrator is in doubt; perhaps the wording is:) that he has testified to it (that is, that there is no deity except Allah Almighty)."
(Allamah Haythami says:) I say:
Abu Dawud recorded this narration in abridged form.
Ahmad recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Ata' bin al-Sa'ib, who suffered from confusion in his memory (ikhtilat).

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O so-and-so, have you done such-and-such?" He replied: "No! By the One besides whom there is no deity, I did not do it." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) knew that he had done it, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) repeated this to him several times. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This sin of yours has been forgiven because of your affirming 'La ilaha illallah' (There is no deity except Allah)."
Bazzar recorded it, and Abu Ya'la recorded something similar, except that he recorded these words: "Allah Almighty has removed your lie from you (that is, forgiven it) because of your affirming 'La ilaha illallah'." The narrators of both narrations are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) reports from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "A man swore a false oath by Allah, besides whom there is no deity, yet he was forgiven."
Tabarani recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) states: A man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, I have committed every kind of evil." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do you not testify that there is no deity except Allah Almighty and that Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is the Messenger of Allah?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked this three times. The man said: "Yes (I do testify to it)." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This will come over that (that is, this testimony will wipe out those sins of yours)."
Abu Ya'la recorded it, and Bazzar recorded something similar, and Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Saghir and al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; the narrators of these narrations are thiqat (trustworthy). (Allamah Haythami says:) I say: Various chains of this narration have already passed in the Book of Faith, in the chapter: "Islam wipes out what came before it (that is, sins)."

Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) states: I came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and some men of my people were with me. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Receive the glad tidings, and give these glad tidings to those behind you as well: whoever truthfully testifies that there is no deity except Allah Almighty will enter Paradise." We left the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to give the people the glad tidings, and we met Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him). He took us back with him to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, in that case people will rely on this alone." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) remained silent.
Ahmad and Tabarani recorded it, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy). Various chains of this narration have already passed in the Book of Faith, in the chapter: "Whoever testifies that there is no deity except Allah Almighty."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Shall I not tell you about the counsel that Sayyiduna Nuh (peace be upon him) gave his son?" The people said: "Yes, indeed!" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Sayyiduna Nuh (peace be upon him), counselling his son, said to him: 'O my son, I enjoin two things upon you, and I enjoin you to refrain from two things. I enjoin you to recite La ilaha illallah (There is no deity except Allah), for if it were placed in one pan of the Scale and the heavens and the earth were placed in the other pan, its pan would be heavier; and if there were a ring (around them), it would cut through it and reach Allah Almighty. And recite Subhanallahil-'Azimi wa bihamdihi (Glory be to Allah the Magnificent, and praise be to Him), for it is the worship of the creation, and by it their provision is distributed. And I enjoin you to refrain from two things: associating partners with Allah (shirk) and arrogance, for these two keep one away from Allah Almighty.' The narrator states: It was asked: 'O Messenger of Allah, is it part of arrogance that a man brings food and a group comes to eat it, or that a man wears clean clothes?' The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'That is not it (that is, it is not arrogance). Arrogance is that you turn away from the truth and look down on people.'"
Bazzar recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Muhammad bin Ishaq, who is a mudallis, and he is thiqah (trustworthy); the rest of its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.
(Allamah Haythami says:) I say: Before this, in the Book of Wills, the hadith narrated by Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) has already passed, concerning the counsel of Sayyiduna Nuh (peace be upon him); peace be upon our Prophet and upon him!

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "No remembrance is more excellent than 'La ilaha illallah' (There is no deity except Allah), and no supplication is more excellent than 'Astaghfirullah' (I seek forgiveness from Allah)." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recited this verse: "Know that there is no deity except Allah Almighty, and seek forgiveness for your sin and for the believing men and the believing women."
Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains al-Ifriqi and other da'if (weak) narrators.