The virtue of the words: There is none worthy of worship except Allah

It is narrated from Shaqiq (may Allah have mercy on him) that Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) met Sayyiduna Talhah (may Allah be pleased with him) and asked: "Why is it that I see you in a state of deep sorrow and dejection?" He replied: "It is nothing, except for one word which I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: 'It is certainly a word that makes (Paradise) obligatory,' but I was not able (out of extreme reverence or for some reason) to ask him (peace and blessings be upon him) which word it was." Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "But I know that word." He asked: "What is it?" Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) said: That word is "La ilaha illallah" (there is no god worthy of worship except Allah).
This chain is hasan (good) provided that Shaqiq's hearing from Sayyiduna Talhah (may Allah be pleased with him) is established, and this hadith is gharib (singular) as a narration of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him).
Furthermore, Ishaq narrated through Jarir, Mansur and Shaqiq that he said: I was told that Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) met Sayyiduna Talhah (may Allah be pleased with him), and then he mentioned it in the same way as the above report.

It is narrated from Malik bin Qays (may Allah have mercy on him) that Sayyiduna Uqbah bin Amir (may Allah be pleased with him) came to Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) in Iliya (Bayt al-Maqdis). Only a little while had passed when he left from there; he was searched for but was not found. The narrator said: Then we reached him and saw that he was performing the prayer in an open, exposed stretch of ground. He asked: "For what purpose have you come here?" We said: "We have come to renew our meeting with you, or to fulfil your right of being visited." Sayyiduna Uqbah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I have your reward and gift for you: we were with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." Then he mentioned a hadith and said: "Then Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) said: 'O Ibn Amir, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whoever bears witness that there is no god worthy of worship except Allah, in such a way that his heart fully confirms and supports his tongue, will enter Paradise by whichever of its gates he wishes.'"
Abu Ya'la recorded this hadith in his Musnad. Although Abd al-Rahman bin Ziyad bin An'um al-Ifriqi in its chain is da'if (weak) in terms of memory, this glad tiding of entering Paradise on the basis of Tawhid is established by other reliable and sahih hadith.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah and Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) delivered a sermon to us; then the narrator mentioned the full hadith, in which there were also these words: "O people, indeed whoever meets Allah Almighty in the state that he bears witness with sincerity that there is no god worthy of worship except Allah will enter Paradise." At this Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up and said: "O Messenger of Allah, may my father and mother be sacrificed for you! How does sincerity come about in this testimony? Does it mean that nothing else is mixed with it? Explain it to us so that we may recognise it." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "(Sincerity is) that there be no greed for the world, that it not be amassed through unlawful means, that one not become content and absorbed in it, and that one not become like those people who speak like scholars and pious elders but whose deeds are those of the wicked. So whoever meets Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, in the state that there is no trace of any of these (evil) traits in him, and he says 'La ilaha illallah' (there is no god worthy of worship except Allah), will enter Paradise."
Al-Harith narrated it in his Musnad. This report is mawdu', that is, fabricated, because its narrators Maysarah bin Abd Rabbih and Dawud bin al-Muhabbar are liars and fabricators of hadith.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Uqbah bin Amir al-Juhani (may Allah be pleased with him) that Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated to him that he heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Whoever dies while having complete faith in the Oneness of Allah Almighty and in the Last Day, it will be said to him (as an honour): Enter Paradise by whichever of the eight gates of Paradise you wish."
This hadith of Sayyiduna Uqbah from Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) is found in the books of Sahih with other wording than this context.

It is narrated from Sa'id bin Wahb al-Hamdani (may Allah have mercy on him) that Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) came to us in Yemen and said: "I have come to you as the envoy of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) (to convey to you this message): that you worship Allah Almighty and do not associate anything with Him, and that you obey me; I will spare no effort in wishing you well and guiding you. And (know) that the final return (of all) is to Allah Almighty, and to Paradise and Hell, where there will be a staying with no departure after it, and an eternity with no death after it."
This chain is sahih (authentic).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! I have not left any need, small or great, nor any craving for sin, without committing it (that is, I have committed every kind of sin)." He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked him: "Do you not bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is the Messenger of Allah?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked this three times. He said: "Yes, (I bear witness)." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This (testimony of faith) prevails over all of those (past sins) and wipes them out." This is the wording of Amr (bin al-Dahhak).
Imam al-Bazzar (may Allah have mercy on him) said: We do not know that Mastur narrated anything from Thabit other than this hadith.

It is narrated from Isma'il bin Abi Khalid that Marwan bin al-Hakam said to Ayman bin Khuraym: "Will you not come out and fight alongside us?" He replied: "Indeed, my father and my uncle were present at the Battle of Badr with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and the two of them took a firm pledge from me that I would never fight anyone who bears witness to the oneness of Allah. So if you bring me a guarantee of deliverance from the Fire of Hell, I will fight alongside you." Marwan said: "Go away from here; we have no need of you."
Imam Abu Ya'la (may Allah have mercy on him) related that it is narrated from Amir al-Sha'bi that when Marwan bin al-Hakam fought al-Dahhak bin Qays, he sent word to Ayman bin Khuraym al-Asadi: "We would like you to fight alongside us." He replied: "Indeed, my father and my uncle took part in the Battle of Badr, and the two of them took a pledge from me that I would not fight anyone who bears witness to the oneness of Allah. So if you bring me a deed of release from the Fire, I will fight alongside you." Marwan reviled him and sent him away, upon which Ayman bin Khuraym composed these verses: "I will never kill a man who prays, merely so that another man of Quraysh may hold power; he will have his authority, and the burden of sin will be upon me. From ignorance and rash anger I seek refuge with Allah, 'Ma'adh Allah' (I seek Allah's refuge); shall I kill a Muslim without just cause? If I did so, then the comforts of my life would bring me no benefit for as long as I live."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The people of the word of tawhid, 'La ilaha illallah', will have no loneliness, terror or desolation of any kind in their graves, and it is as though I can see the people of 'La ilaha illallah' [on the Day of Resurrection] coming out shaking the dust from their heads, with these words on their tongues: 'Alhamdu lillahil-ladhi adhhaba 'annal-hazan' (All praise belongs to Allah, who has removed grief from us) [Surah Fatir: 34]."
Imam Abu Ya'la al-Mawsili recorded this hadith in his Musnad.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The word 'La ilaha illallah' (there is no god worthy of worship except Allah) protects the servant from the displeasure and wrath of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, as long as people do not begin to prefer their worldly interests and their love of them over their religion. When they do that (putting the world before religion) and then say 'La ilaha illallah', Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, says: 'You have lied.'"
Takhrij and grading: Imam al-Bayhaqi recorded this hadith in Shu'ab al-Iman (2866); its chain contains weakness because of a narrator named Umar bin Hamzah.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Umm Hani' (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever says one hundred times 'La ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lah, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamd, wa huwa 'ala kulli shay'in qadir' (There is no god worthy of worship except Allah, He is alone, He has no partner; to Him belongs the dominion and to Him belongs all praise, and He has perfect power over all things), no sin will pursue him that day (that is, it will not harm him), and no deed will surpass him (in reward and merit)."
Its chain contains a narrator named Amr bin al-Husayn, who is matruk (abandoned), and Abdullah bin Abd al-Malik, who is da'if (weak); however, the virtue of saying these words one hundred times is established through other chains in the authentic narrations of the two Sahihs (Bukhari and Muslim).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him): We were with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) when he (peace and blessings be upon him) descended a mountain pass; at that time the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was walking alone. When the road opened up and became level before him (peace and blessings be upon him), he (peace and blessings be upon him) smiled and said "Allahu Akbar"; so because of his (peace and blessings be upon him) takbir, we also said the takbir. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) went on a short distance further, smiled again and said the takbir; so we too said the takbir, following him (peace and blessings be upon him). Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) went on a little further, then smiled and said the takbir, and we said the takbir at his (peace and blessings be upon him) takbir. Then when we reached him (peace and blessings be upon him), the Companions said: "We said the takbir because of your takbir, but we could not tell what you were smiling at?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Jibril (peace be upon him) came to me, and when the road opened before us, Jibril (peace be upon him) turned to me and said: Glad tidings to you, and give glad tidings (to your Ummah as well), that whoever says 'La ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lah' (There is no god worthy of worship except Allah, He is One, He has no partner) has entered Paradise, and the Fire has been made forbidden for him."
Takhrij: Musnad Abi Ya'la: 2868, Musnad al-Bazzar: 6714; there is criticism of Salamah bin Rawh in its chain, but supporting evidence for the virtue of the word of tawhid is abundant in other books of hadith.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked a man: "O so-and-so! Did you do such-and-such?" He said: "No, by the One besides whom there is no god worthy of worship, I did not do it", although the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) knew that he had done it. He (peace and blessings be upon him) repeated the question to him several times, and each time he kept saying: By 'La ilaha illallah' (there is none worthy of worship except Allah)! I did not do it, while the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) knew that he had done that deed. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "Because of your affirmation and truthfulness in saying 'La ilaha illallah' (there is no god worthy of worship except Allah), the expiation for this sin of yours has been made (that is, it has been forgiven)."
Imam Musaddad said: Al-Harith bin Ubayd narrated it to us from Thabit al-Bunani, from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him); Imam Abd bin Humayd also narrated it from Muslim bin Ibrahim, from al-Harith; likewise Imam Abu Ya'la related it from Abu al-Rabi', from al-Harith; and Imam al-Bazzar also narrated it through this same chain and indicated that al-Harith bin Ubayd is alone in narrating it. I (Ibn Hajar) say: Hammad bin Salamah contradicted him; Imam Ahmad narrated it through his route, saying that Thabit narrated it from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), while Hammad said that Thabit did not hear it from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) himself; rather, there is a narrator between them.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abi Awfa (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever says these words eleven times: 'La ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lahu, ahadan samadan, lam yalid wa lam yulad wa lam yakun lahu kufuwan ahad', that is: 'There is no god worthy of worship except Allah, He is One, He has no partner, the One, the Self-Sufficient; He neither begets nor was He begotten, and there is none equal or comparable to Him' [Surah al-Ikhlas: 3-4], Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, writes for him two million good deeds."
Imam Ahmad bin Mani' narrated it from Abu al-Nadr, Abd bin Humayd from al-Hasan bin Musa, and Abu Ya'la from Abu al-Nadr al-Tammar, all of them through Hammad bin Salamah.