The True Meaning of “Whoever, with sincerity of heart, testifies that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and Muhammad(sa) is the Messenger of Allah, then Allah will surely safeguard him from the Hellfire.”
Hazrat Anas (ra) bin Malik relates that the Holy Prophet (sa) stated to Hazrat Mu‘az (ra) bin Jabal whilst he was sat behind the Holy Prophet (sa) on the saddle, “O Mu‘az bin Jabl!” “O Messenger (sa) Allah, I am here at your service”, responded Hazrat Mu‘az (ra) bin Jabal. The Holy Prophet (sa) stated, “O Mu‘az!” Again, he answered, “O Messenger (sa) Allah, I am here at your service.” The Holy Prophet (sa) again called his name and he submitted, “O Messenger (sa) Allah, I am here at your service.”
After calling his name out three times, the Holy Prophet (sa) said, “Whoever, with sincerity of heart, testifies that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and Muhammad (sa) is the Messenger of Allah, then Allah will surely safeguard him from the Hellfire.” Upon this, Hazrat Mu‘az (ra) submitted, “O Messenger (sa) of Allah, shall I not convey this to the others as it will be a source of joy for them?” The Holy Prophet (sa) replied, “Then they will only rely on this one thing and abandon all other virtues, therefore do not tell this to others.” Hazrat Mu‘az (ra) only revealed this saying of the Holy Prophet (sa) at the time of his demise, and even then, only did so lest he committed a sin for not having conveyed the words of the Holy Prophet (sa).
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Ilm, Bab man Khassa bi al-‘Ilm Qauman, Hadith 128)
Hazrat Mu‘az (ra) felt that he ought to convey this saying to the scholars of the time but did not do this while he was alive and in good health.
Hazrat Waliullah Shah Sahib (ra) has written about this in the commentary of Bukhari. There were certain Hadith in relation to a subject and whilst mentioning those, he also included this particular Hadith and stated: “This particular intellectual statement is only addressed to certain people because others could suffer greatly on account of failing to understand its proper meaning. It is not enough to simply proclaim that ‘there is none worthy of worship except Allah and Muhammad (sa) is the Messenger of Allah’ and then assume that there this no need to carry out any other deed.”
Hazrat Shah Sahib (ra) further writes: “This Hadith has explained that there is a particular context to such statements.”
He was mentioning various Ahadith and this particular Hadith was also included in that. He then further writes: “Hazrat Ibn Mas‘ud (ra) has recorded Hadith with the correct sanad [chain of narrators] in Sahih Muslim, which is as follows:
مَا اَنْتَ بِمُحَدِّثٍ قَوْمًا حَدِیْثًا لَا یَبْلُغُہٗ عُقُوْلُھُمْ اِلَّا کَانَ لِبَعْضِھِمْ فِتْنَۃٌ
“The gist of the aforementioned saying of the Holy Prophet (sa) is that one should address people in accordance to their intellect and level of understanding because certain statements can lead to fitnah.”
In any case, he further writes: “We see that how some people claim to be believers have made the mere verbal declaration of ‘there is none worthy of worship except Allah …’ as a way of freeing mankind from enduring the hardships of the Shariah by granting them a ‘certificate’ for their faith and whilst showing a complete disregard to all other religious obligations.”
Every maulvi [Muslim cleric] who delivers sermons from his pulpit claims that whoever offers their prayers behind him and recites the Kalimah he would be granted the certificate of faith and there is no need to do anything else.
He further writes: “It was in the presence of these very believers who had verbally testified their complete belief to whom the Holy Prophet (sa) stated that in the Latter Days, faith would neither be in the hearts, nor uttered from tongues of the people of that time; rather, it would ascend into the Pleiades. This was in reference to the Latter Days. Thus, it was in this context that the Holy Prophet (sa) mentioned this Hadith regarding the Kalimah.
Then Hazrat Waliullah Shah Sahib(ra) mentions the following narration:
مَنْ لَقِیَ اللّٰہَ لَا یُشْرِکُ بِہٖ شَیْئًا
“One who abstains from every kind of shirk [idolatry] right till his death, will enter paradise.”
He further writes: “The wisdom behind the Holy Prophet (sa) repeatedly calling Hazrat Mu‘az’s name and then remaining silent upon his response was in order to arouse his interest and passion to listen to the words of the Holy Prophet (sa). Thus, the Holy Prophet (sa) only told him this was once he was fully attentive and eager to listen.”
Shah Sahib (ra) further writes: “This was so that he would be able to truly understand what the Holy Prophet (sa) was going to say and so it would leave an impression on him. Thus, the Holy Prophet (sa) repeated his name three times in order to draw his attention on this matter. On the other hand, Hazrat Mu‘az (ra) greatly honoured what the Holy Prophet (sa) stated and did not disclose this to anyone, except towards the end of his life and even then it was only in fear of being held accountable by Allah the Almighty for not having conveyed something of knowledge to at least the scholars of the time.”
(Translation of Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 1, pp. 211-212, Nazarat Ishaat Rabwah)
In regard to the aforementioned Hadith – in which it states that Allah the Almighty would safeguard those from the Hellfire who recite the Kalimah – it also proves that the reward of this lies with Allah alone. It is not the duty of man to issue an edict regarding one who recites the Kalimah whether they are a Muslim or not. Such self-issued edicts are also against the Quranic teachings as well.