IMAN (Faith)
By accepting iman, one enters the fold of Islam. But iman is not simply the verbal recitation of the Kalima, the creed of Islam. According to the Quran, it is ma‘arifah (THE QURAN 5: 83), that is realization. Realization of truth is the door to Islam. When one discovers that Islam is truly God's religion and that it is the same truth that one has been seeking all along, one undergoes a unique experience of realization which is known in Islamic terminology as ma‘arifah.
Making any kind of discovery revolutionizes a person's life, but when this discovery is of the realities of our existence leading to an intellectual transformation, it becomes synonymous with the emergence of a new life for the individual.
This kind of intellectual revolution is no simple event. It turns a man into a superman, and gives him the greatest mission of his life. It regulates his life in such a way that no part of it remains unaffected. He begins to see all of humanity as his family and the entire universe as his abode. Such a discoverer becomes a maker of history, rather than a product of it.
There is no god' means that everything begins from here. When you say this, you mean that you have erased everything other than God from your mind. You have removed the greatness of everything else from your mind. Throughout history people have believed in God, but at the same time they glorify other things as well. This is shirk. People never refused to believe in God, but also gave an exalted status to people and things other than God. When uttering kalima-e-shahadat, you should first discover that greatness belongs only to God. Nobody has power or greatness of any kind. This is the beginning of kalima-e-tawhid, or la ilaha illallah. Illallah means to associate greatness only with God.
He is the Creator, Sustainer and Giver of blessings. He is the One who makes everything happen. A person should ask only from Him and develop attachment with Him. There is no source other than Him. The concept of intermediary is false. There is not intermediary between man and God. Those who seek intermediaries will be rejected by God. God will never accept them. God has said: Copy Arabic text (2:186) When My servants ask you about Me, say that I am near. We can establish a direct contact with God without any intermediary. The concept of intermediary is false. When a person discovers that no one has power other than God and everything belongs to God, he discovers tawhid, or monotheism. That is, to bear witness and discover that no one has power. Only the one God is all-powerful. In this way when you discover the truth, you discover tawhid. The other part of the kalima is: Copy Arabic text
That is, Muhammad is the messenger of God and His servant. This is also a matter of discovery. It is not about rendering lip service. You need to discover that the person whose name was Muhammad ibn Abdullah was given revelation by God. He was imparted truth by God. God told him the truth. He was a human being, not a supernatural being. People have developed false concepts about the Prophet. Those who sing eulogies for the Prophet have spread wrong notions. Muhammad is God's messenger and His servant. Copy Arabic text (17:93) Tell them, ‘Holy is my Lord. I am but a human being sent as a messenger.’
He is a human being, but his special quality is that God has chosen him to receive His revelations and so that he conveys it to the world. Apart from this, all the notions about the Prophet's greatness developed by people are false. God will never accept these notions. Some have even exalted the Prophet and given him God's status. All these notions will be rejected by God.
