Explanation of the Ḥadīth: “Whoever Says Lā Illāha Illá Allāh Truthfully Will Enter Paradise”
Imām Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī
A scholar’s explanation of the three categories of those who declare the testimony of faith and their reckoning on the day of judgement.
Allāh’s Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “Receive glad-tidings and give glad-tidings to the people! Whoever says Lā Illāha Illā Allāh [i.e., none is worthy of worship but Allāh], truthfully, shall enter Paradise.”[1]
Al-ʿAllāmah Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī said in explaining this ḥadīth, and those narrations similar to it:
What the soul finds peace in, and the chest feels relief by is that this ḥadīth is understood in light of three possible scenarios (through which the evidences harmonize and do not contradict):
The first: It refers to whoever says the two testimonies of faith, upholding its requirements by fulfilling its obligations and abandoning its prohibitions. In such a case, the ḥadīth is held upon its apparent meaning: The individual will enter Paradise and the Fire will be prohibited from him absolutely .
The second: It refers to whoever dies affirming the two testimonies, having fulfilled the five pillars of Islām. However, perhaps the individual was negligent in some obligations, falling into some prohibitions. Such a person would be among those who enter Paradise by Allāh’s will, whom He would pardon.
The third: It resembles the previous scenario (i.e., the second). However, the individual is not from those who upheld the testimonies’ requirements, nor did they prevent him from committing Allāh’s prohibitions. As occurs in the ḥadīth of Abū Dharr, which al-Bukhārī and Muslim report: “Even if he commits fornication and theft…?”[2] Moreover, the individual did not perform righteous deeds by which he is deserving of Allāh’s forgiveness. The Fire which is prohibited upon such a person is the (eternal) Fire of the unbelievers. So, even if he enters the Fire, he would not reside eternally therein alongside them. Rather, he would exit it by way of intercession or another means. Thereafter, he would enter Paradise. This is the Prophet’s explicit saying (صلى الله عليه وسلم): “Whoever says Lā Illāha Illā Allāh, it will benefit him one day (by saving him from the Fire), no matter what befalls him before that (of punishment)”[3], and it is an authentic ḥadīth.[4]
Endnotes
[1] Authentic: Collected by Imām Aḥmad in al-Musnad: 19689. Refer to al-Silsilah al-Ṣaḥīḥah: 1314.
[2] Authentic: Collected by al-Bukhārī: 5827 and Muslim: 94. On the authority of Abū Dharr: “The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: ‘Nobody says: Lā Illāha Illā Allāh and dies while believing in that, except that he will enter Paradise.’ I said: ‘Even if he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and theft?’ He said. ‘Even if he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and theft…’”
[3] Authentic: Collected by al-Bayhaqi in Shuʿab al-Īmān: 96 and others. See al-Ṣaḥīḥah: 1932.
[4] Al-Silsilah al-Ṣaḥīḥah 3: 299-300.
Translated by Omar ibn Bilal
