The Language of the Future
Sufi Terminology
by Murshid F.A. Ali ElSenossi
shahadah (kalimah)
Testimony of Faith
(Shahadah). The witnessing or testimony or word. The supreme witnessing that defines Unity is the Islamic Testimony of Faith (Shahadah). 'There is no god other than Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah'.
(La ilaha il Allah). These words which form the first part of the Islamic Testimony of Faith could be paraphrased as 'there is no reality, only Reality' or 'there is no truth, only Truth' or 'there is no love, only Love'. The phrase is the supreme declaration of Unity. "There is no god" (La ilaha) is the negation of everything that is other-than-Allah while "only Allah" (il Allah) is the affirmation that there is only Allah. Through the dhikr of "La ilaha il Allah" the one who remembers uses the word of negation - 'la' - to sweep away all of the inner debris which is defiling his heart, the Sacred Centre. Ultimately, by the Grace of Allah, the phrase "La ilaha il Allah" is replaced by the Word of the Essence Itself - Allah. Everything other-than-Allah has been negated. Allah is affirmed.
There is no divinity save the sole Divinity. The Principle insofar as It excludes and annuls the illusory World, while at the same time affirming the unique and supreme Reality. The mystery of Negation and of Affirmation of Reality (Nafy wal Ithbat).
