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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The shahada (Arabic الشهادة aš-šahādah) (from the verb شهد šahida, "to witness" or "to testify"), or Kalimat ash-Shahadah (Arabic: كلمة الشهادة), is an Islamic creed which declares belief in the oneness of God and acceptance of Muhammad as God's prophet. The declaration in its shortest form reads:
لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا الله مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ الله (lā ʾilāha ʾillā l-Lāh, Muḥammadur rasūlu l-Lāh) (in Arabic)
There is no god but God, Muhammad is the messenger of God. (in English)
In Shia Islam, the creed is expanded with the addition of a phrase concerning Ali at the end, although it is not obligatory:
وعليٌ وليُّ الله (wa ʿAliyyun waliyyu l-Lāh) ["and Ali is the wali (friend; viceregent) of God"].
The word shahādah (شَهادة) is a noun stemming from the verb shahada (شَهَدَ) , meaning "he observed, witnessed, or testified"; when used in legal terms, shahādah is a testimony to the occurrence of events, such as debt, adultery, or divorce. The shahādah can also be expressed in the dual form shahādatān (شَهادَتانْ, lit. "two testimonials"), which refers to the dual act of observing or seeing and then the declaration of the observation.The person giving the testimony is called a shāhid (شاهِد), with the stress on the first syllable. The two acts in Islam are observing or perceiving that there is no god but God and testifying or witnessing that Muhammad is the messenger of God. In a third meaning, shihādah or more commonly istishhād (إسْتِشْهادْ), means "martyrdom", the shahīd (شَهيد) pronounced with stress on the last syllable ("martyr") demonstrating the ultimate expression of faith. Shahīd can also be used in a non-Islamic religious context. Long before the advent of Islam, Christian Arabs of the Middle East used the word shahīd referencing to someone that was wrongly killed or someone that died for his family, his Christian faith or his country. The two words shāhid (شاهِد, "witness") and shahīd (شَهيد, "martyr") are pre-Islamic. Both are paradigms of the root verb (شَهَدَ, shahada, "he observed").
This declaration, or statement of faith, is called the kalimah (كَلِمة, lit. "word"). Recitation of the shihādah, the "oath" or "testimony", is the most important article of faith for Muslims. Non-Muslims wishing to convert to Islam do so by a public recitation of this creed. Most Muslims count it as the first of the Five Pillars of Islam, while the Twelver and Ismaili Shi'a connect it to their respective lists of pillars of the faith. The complete shahādah cannot be found in the Quran, but comes from hadiths.
More detail and references at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahada
Bill Garrison, 26 June 2013
Further information: Islamic flags
Flags reported as in use in Islam have been frequently displaying the shahada, usually on a black background, the time of Muhammad. The Taliban used a white flag with the shahada inscribed in black from 1997, until 2001 as the flag of their Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Flags showing the shahada, often written on a green background, have also been displayed by supporters of Hamas in rallies during the 2000s.
The shahada is referenced in the eighth stanza of the
Turkish national anthem, which can be translated as:
Oh
glorious God, the sole wish of my pain-stricken heart is that,
No heathen’s hand should ever touch the bosom of my sacred Temples.
These
ʾaḏāns,
whose shahadas are the foundations of my religion,
May their noble sound last loud and wide over my eternal homeland.
An Islamic flag is a flag that complies with Islamic rules. Traditionally Islamic flags were of solid colour. The most favoured colours were black, white, red and green. However, other plain colours can be adopted. A bi-colour or tricolour (triband) flag can also be adopted as an Islamic flag. An example of a traditional solid coloured Islamic flag would be the old flag of Libya under Gaddafi.
Early History
The early Muslim community did not use any designs or geometric shapes as symbols on their flags. During the time of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, Muslim armies and caravans flew simple solid-coloured flags (generally black or white) for identification purposes. In later generations, the Muslim leaders continued to use a simple black, white, or green flag with no markings, writings, or symbolism on it.
Muhammad used flags of different colours in different
Ghazwat (or
campaigns commanded by Muhammad himself) and Saraya (or campaigns
commanded by any
Sahaba, the companions of Muhammad). The major flag of Muhammad was
known as Al-Uqab (The Eagle); it was
pure black, without symbols or markings.
Its name and colour was derived from the flag of the
Quraysh, an
Arabian tribe, whose flag, also called Al-Uqaab, was black with an eagle.
Bill Garrison, 26 June 2013
Unless one takes a plain green banner (similar to Libya's) as a broad representation of Islam (said to have been borne by the
Prophet Muhammad PBUH), there is not an Islamic flag.
The best representative body here would be the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 1990. Photos from that time show a green flag, edged all around with white (though this may simply be a fringe, the sort of wide fringe often seen on Saudi flags), with a large white circle in the center, upon which is a red crescent, points up, and within the crescent the name of the body in calligraphic Arabic.
Beyond this, there is of course the Arab League, but this is "Arab" and not "Islamic."
Ed Haynes 6 October 1995
The international Red Crescent flag (used in Moslem countries where a Red Cross would not accord with Community Standards) could be considered as "representing Islam".
Will Linden 6 October 1995
Unlike the practice in most Western nations, flags are usually depicted in Islamic countries with the staff to the right. This is analogous to the right-to-left form of most Arabic and Arabic-influenced scripts. This can make for confusion when flag images are shown without an accompanying flagstaff, as it may not be immediately obvious which way around the flag is being depicted.
In keeping with
Islamic law, Muslim flags generally do not bear any representations of live
creatures, though some Arab flags have the Eagle of
Saladin that
are used as supporters on the
Coats
of Arms. These flags are not necessarily Islamic in their nature; rather
they more likely to derive from the
Pan-Arabist
movement. It is rare to find plants depicted on flags of Muslim nations, even
though this is permissible under Islamic guidelines. Some state and royal flags
of Saudi Arabia depict palm trees.
Bill Garrison, 26 June 2013
![Hajj pilgrimage participant flag]](../images/r/rel_hajj.jpg)
image located by Bill Garrison, 14 September 2022
From a letter and photo sent to me from a resident in Iraq:
A devout
Muslim tries at least once during their life to visit Mecca/Maccah, Saudi Arabia
(KSA), and walk around their holy Kaaba shrine (among other side trips). [al-Kaaba:
'The Cube" -- the shape of the shrine.] This pilgrimage is called "the Hajj." A
Muslim male who completes this pilgrimage is given the honorific title "Hajji"
(one who has performed the Hajj), while a woman is called a "Hajjan". They often
add this to their name as al-Hajji or al-Hajjan. This is a white-field flag with
a black image of the Kaaba shrine, along with black-letter slogans that read:
"An accepted Hajj, a commendable endeavor, and a sin forgiven if God wills". By
performing the Hajj a Hajji may have some of their sins vacated by their god:
Allah (inshallah: if God wills). A Hajji could fly this flag outside their house
to inform/(brag) to their neighbors that they have performed/completed the Hajj.
Bill Garrison, 14 September 2022
![Eid Milad flag]](../images/r/rel-milad.jpg)
image by Bill Garrison, 22 November 2022
A green-field flag with a crescent-moon logo encircling the Arabic word for the
Muslim prophet "Mohammed", and "Mohammed" appearing in each for the four
corners, along with I believe "Eid Milad" or "Happy Birthday" just below
Mohammed's name in the circle. Conservative/orthodox (Sunni) Muslims (in Saudi
Arabia) do not celebrate Mohammed's birthday, as they consider such celebrations
to be "bida" or a non-Muslim "(bad) invention" or "western idolatry". But
Shia-Muslims (in Iraq), and Muslims living further away from Saudi Arabia, seem
to be more tolerant of such birthday celebrations.
Source: flag purchased in
Iraq
Bill Garrison,
22 November 2022
![Funeral flag]](../images/r/rel-is-fun.jpg)
image located by Bill Garrison, 19 July 2019
This Muslim funeral flag was located on Ebay - its age and usage are unknown.
Bill Garrison, 19 July 2019
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