Lesson video

Hello and welcome students.

And today in our learning on Islam and practises, this new unit, we will be looking at the following.

So an introduction to the five pillars of Islam.

And today we'll be looking at the first pillar, which is the Shahadah.

So we'll be understanding what the Shahadah is and to explore how the Shahadah is shown in practise.

So we're now moving on from Islam beliefs to Islam practises and a really interesting unit in terms of the five pillars and certain other practises that we find in the religion of Islam practised by Muslims around the world.

So just to reminder of those five things that you need as always before our learning, you will need a exercise book or some lined paper, your black or blue pen, a different kind of pen for any corrections, those attentive ears, and that curious brain.

Now, once you have those five things, I'll see you in our learning for today.

Welcome to our learning for today, and just a reminder of what we will be doing in today's lesson.

An introduction to the five pillars, the five pillars of faith which are fascinating parts of the religion of Islam.

And it really does emphasise in terms of what is it that Muslims believe and how do they show this in practise.

Today we'll be looking at a small introduction of those five pillars, but today's main lesson we'll focus on the Shahadah, which is the first pillar of Islam.

So we'll be looking at it to understand what the Shahadah is and how is it shown in practise.

Now, just reminder, as always, those five things I said at the start of the learning.

Please ensure that you do have them.

If you do not have these five things on you now, it's a great opportunity for you to pause the video to get them.

If not, let's continue.

To start off with, I'd like for you to do the following.

As you can see, there's some images of pillars here.

What I'd like for you to do is to have a bit of an opportunity to have a thinking task.

So I've got three questions here for you.

What do pillars do? What is the purpose of pillars? And what happens if you remove one and you do not have any pillars for a structure? So for this task, I'd like to give you five minutes as always.

Now, I'd like for you to write down these questions and to write down your response to these questions.

And I'll see you in five minutes.

So could I please ask you to pause the video just now and then we'll get some feedback.

So welcome back.

How did you do? Let's look at our answers together.

So you should have had an answer such as the following.

If there's any corrections you need to make, please ensure you do.

So what do pillars do? Well, actually, they stabilise a structure, don't they? They ensure that the structure is upright and strong and it stabilises it.

So what's the purpose of it also? To uphold and to keep the structure upright.

Without it, the structure may fall.

Therefore, the building may collapse if you don't have any pillars or if you even remove one.

So from just this image, just here on the side, imagine we remove the two middle pillars.

Over time, it could mean that the whole building collapses.

Or if you destroy or remove the two on the far left side and the far right side? Likewise, the pillar and the structure of the building could collapse.

So we can understand, isn't it? Pillars are very important in terms of stabilising something and to keep something upright.

And we're going to see that link today in terms of the five pillars in Islam.

So what are the five pillars? The five pillars in Islam are core parts of faith, belief, and practise and they're known as the following.

The Shahadah, which we're looking at today, Salah, Zakah, Sawm, and Hajj.

So these are five pillars that we find in Islam.

So they're very important and they're very significant for many reasons.

So the Shahadah, the testimony of faith, which we observed today.

Salah, which is known as prayer.

Zakah, the purification of wealth.

Sawm, the act of fasting.

And the Hajj, the pilgrimage to both Mecca and Medina, the two sacred cities and going to visit the Kaaba, which is the house of God.

So what's the best way to understand the five pillars? I suggest the following.

The five pillars are, as I mentioned, a core part of faith.

But there has to be foundations.

For example, let's take the five pillars away for a moment.

And let's just think about the structure of a building.

If we're making a structure of a building and we have five pillars, we need to ensure that the foundations of the ground are good.

For example, it wouldn't it make sense to have a temple or to have a structure of a building that has five pillars on sand near the ocean.

'Cause over time, the sand and the ocean will come together and it may be that the actual structure erodes.

So we've got to think about the foundation.

The foundation has to be good.

Whether it's good soil or good concrete, it has to be strong.

And the foundation for the five pillars in Islam is that of faith.

So the faith is really important to ensure the upright holding of these five pillars that we find.

And then we have a roof, don't we? So with the five pillars that we have here, let's say there's a roof for our building.

Now what protects the roof? I've given you an example here.

We've got rain, thunderstorms, wind.

This, for example, signifies the ideas of sins.

So over time, rain may destroy, or we may destroy the roof of a place, whether it's a place of worship or just the house.

But if you've got a really strong roof, it wouldn't mean that it would just drop off, would it? So what consists of a strong roof in terms of the five pillars? The really important things is that of the actions and the practising of them, that will protect the five pillars.

So key thing here.

The five pillars aren't just five pillars of faith, but also they're seen as a practise and actions.

So there's many things that Muslims do to ensure that they're doing the five pillars.

So what is the first pillar? The first pillar that we have is the Shahadah.

Now you can see it here in Arabic.

Now this in Arabic says which means there is no God, but Allah and the prophet Muhammad is the messenger of God.

Now we can actually find this on many flags.

So for example, Saudi Arabia, which is a country, predominantly Muslim, it has the testimony of faith, the Shahadah on it's flag.

So this is the first of the five pillars.

And it's declaring something, isn't it? So it's a declaration of faith, it's a testimony of faith.

And proclaims, as we've learned previously, concept of tawhid, the oneness of God, there is no God but Allah.

And also it proclaims the following, the message of the prophet Muhammad, which links to God the idea of Qur'an, the revelation.

So it's really important it signifies two very important things which uphold and affirm the belief of a Muslim.

Belief in God and belief in the prophet Muhammad as the final messenger and gave the revelation of the Qur'an.

The Shahadah is also seen as a form of guidance.

It guides people throughout their life.

So today we've been looking at how it guides people in terms of the practises as well.

Now let's look at what the Shahadah is.

On the top, we have the Arabic and on the bottom, just there below, we have the English.

There is no God but Allah.

Muhammad is the final messenger.

So what's really important here is this is a declaration of faith.

So this statement, the Shahadah, is said when someone wants to revert or convert to Islam.

And it's also said at the birth rites of a Muslim as well.

So these simple words are said in order to become a Muslim.

But let's look how it links to some key terms that we've learned previously.

So there is no God but Allah.

This relates to the concept of tawhid, the oneness and the unity of Allah.

'Cause this statement here, this testimony, is stating the following.

There's only one God, and God has no other forms. God is deemed as responsible for all of creation and he is our creator according to Muslims. And also this tells us that it rejects the concept of shirk.

Remember, what shirk is? It's that major sin associating God or someone else with God and that you should only worship God.

And on the second part of the Shahadah, we have Muhammad is the final messenger, Risalah.

So this emphasises the communication between God and humans pass through the messengers or the prophet and is passed in the holy book of the Qur'an.

And this testimony is declaring that Muhammad is the final messenger of God and he was a prophet of God and accepting his revelation that he received from Allah through the angel Jibreel.

And this also affirm in the seal of prophets that Muhammad received the final revelation, and this has all the guidance a Muslim needs.

So it's really important when we look and extract the information here from what the Shahadah actually is, we can find the Shahadah has the concept of tawhid.

It rejects the concept of shirk, the biggest sin.

It affirms the belief in Risalah and it also affirms the belief in the seal of the prophet.

So now we've looked at what the Shahadah is and I have the following task for you to do now.

So what I'd like for you to do is to answer these following recap questions.

The Shahadah is one of the? It translates as? And how does it link to tawhid? So for this task, I like to give you six minutes.

Now if needed to be, you just need to re-watch the previous slide, feel free to do so.

If you feel you like you're ready to go, please ensure that you pause the video now, and I'll see you in six minutes.

So welcome back.

This was the answer that you should have had.

The Shahadah is one of the five pillars of faith.

And it translates as there is no God but Allah and the prophet Muhammad is the messenger of God.

And it also links to tawhid as it says no God should be worshipped but Allah, so only Allah should be worshipped and worshipped alone.

So remember, that's a key and fundamental belief found in Islam, the concept of tawhid, the oneness and the unity of God and nothing should be worshipped beside God.

God has no partners.

The worship should only be to God and God alone.

Now, if there's any corrections you need to make, please ensure you do.

If not, let's continue.

So just a bit of a recap there.

So far, we've looked at what the testimony of faith is, the declaration of faith also known as the Shahadah and we kind of looked at the terminology that's used.

But now let's look at how the Shahadah is shown in practise.

So the Shahadah is actually shown in practise many times during the life of a Muslim.

And it really starts with the birth rites.

So this is a very key and significant thing that occurs for the Muslim family.

For the mother and father that want to bring up their child as a Muslim, the Shahadah is whispered into the ears of a newborn.

It shouldn't be the first thing that they hear, that there is no God but Allah and the prophet Muhammad is his final messenger.

So this is really important.

But the first thing that a Muslim child should hear as soon as they're born is the Shahadah, the testimony of faith.

And this really declares that they are born as a Muslim.

Likewise, we find that actually the Shahadah is very important for someone who wants to convert to Islam.

Now, many Muslims actually use the term revert because there's this belief that everyone is actually born a Muslim and later on in their life they can continue to choose to become a Muslim and follow the way of the Qur'an and the sunnah or to be of other religion or to be agnostic or atheist.

And this is a key thing that we find in Islam.

So when Allah created all of humanity, he asked us all to submit and all the souls submitted.

So this idea, we actually find in philosophy as well.

So we look up, for example, a philosopher like Rene Descartes it's idea that belief is innate.

Now moving on from a bit of philosophy, let's look at what the Shahadah is in terms of converting to Islam.

So in order to be a Muslim, it's a very simple procedure.

There has to be an intention and has to be an understanding of what you're saying.

So the Shahadah is said out loud, and it's repeated in both Arabic and also many times the mother tongue of the person.

Now, why is this such an important event? Because it's a testimony, isn't it? It's that declaration that they're making.

They are declaring and they are affirming that they believe in one God, which is Allah and other no other gods and they're declaring and affirming that the prophet Muhammad is the final messenger and the messenger of God.

So a very key and very important part of being a Muslim in terms of if you're going to convert.

So as a reminder, you have to have the intention.

It doesn't make sense, for example, after this video if you just said it for the sake of it.

You have to have intention.

You have to declare it as a belief.

So remember, that's a very important thing.

So moving on from the Shahadah in terms of converting, we also hear the Shahadah every day if you are a Muslim 'cause it said in the adhan.

Now the adhan is a call to prayer.

The first person who did the call to prayer was one of the prophet's companions known as Bilal.

He's a very important and significant companion.

So what did he do? He called it adhan and he was known for his very beautiful voice.

So when a Muslim is hearing the call to prayer, the adhan, they can hear the Shahadah.

So there's no God but Allah and the prophet Muhammad is the final a messenger.

This is recited in the call to prayer.

So Muslims are reminded of the Shahadah, the testimony of faith, not only when they're born, not only if they decide to convert to Islam, but also in the daily five prayers.

Before the five prayers, they may hear from the minarets, as you can see from this image.

In many Muslim countries, you can hear it out loud or they can say it themselves for their prayer.

So this is a reminder to their submission to Allah and Allah alone and to follow the path of the prophet Muhammad and his teachings.

So you can see how important it is.

It's repeated daily as well in the life of a Muslim.

We also find that in the following, in the last words of a Muslim being.

So it's practised and it should be the last thing that a Muslim being says before they die.

So this is really, really important because there's many a themes that speak about the great importance of saying the Shahadah of the one who dies on this affirmed belief is someone who will go to paradise.

So it reminds them of holding onto that belief throughout their whole life from the moment they were born to the moment that they die.

And it's their aim for paradise.

So it was really interesting.

We can see there, the Shahadah in practise is found from birth, for the person who converts to Islam, and the five daily prayers when they here it through the adhan, and also it should be the final thing that a Muslim should say as well.

So to the final thing that a Muslim should say is there is no God but Allah and the prophet Muhammad is his final messenger.

So this should be the final thing that a Muslim should try to say just before their death.

Now what I'd like for you to do now is the following.

I would like for you in one paragraph to summarise how the Shahadah is shown in practise.

I mentioned some key things there, just as a reminder.

Birth, revert or convert, should I say, someone who does the five prayers, and also during the death, the death rites as well.

So for this task, I'd like to give you five minutes and I'd like for you to pause the video now, and in one paragraph to summarise how the Shahadah is shown in practise.

And I'll see you in five.

Welcome back.

How did you do? Let's go over this answer together.

So the Shahadah is one of the five pillars of faith.

It is shown in practise in relation to four different times or matters.

Firstly, it shown during the birth rites, which is whispered into the ears of a newborn.

This shows that is the first thing that a newborn should hear declaring that they are Muslim.

Secondly, for someone who wants to convert to Islam, they recite the Shahadah and affirm the belief with the correct niyyah, niyyah meaning intention.

Thirdly, Muslims hear it daily with the adhan, the call to prayer which states the Shahadah.

And finally, it should be the last thing that a Muslim says before they die.

And what does it really show? It shows tawhid and the belief in the prophet Muhammad and that these two key things are practised during the whole life of a Muslim which is very important.

Now if there's any corrections that you need to make, please look at the colours in bold.

Please ensure that you use different coloured pen to do so and pause the video now.

But if not, let's continue.

So moving on.

The Shahadah, very important within Islam, but also within the Shi'a tradition, there's something that's included with the Shahadah.

Remember this statement, there is no God but God and the prophet Muhammad is his final messenger.

Now in the Shi'a tradition, this statement is added, this additional phrase.

And Ali is the wali, vice-regent, friend, leader of Allah.

So how does this relate to Shi'a teaching in Islam? Now, if you are someone that's looked at the learning or imamate of Sunni and Shi'a Islam in the unit on Muslim beliefs, this should be a bit of a recap.

If you're a student who didn't, that's no problem.

So in the Shi'a tradition, we have to remember that Ali is a very important individual.

He's a cousin and the son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad.

He's also part of Ahl al-Bayt, the household, the family of the household.

Remember, a imamate is this idea of a key thing that the 12 imams who are from the blood of the prophet should have been the first leaders of Islam after the death of the prophet.

And they're seen as infallible, to have knowledge, and they're seen as the authority chosen by Allah the prophet Muhammad.

So this statement here, and Ali is the wali, the friend or vice-regent of Allah, this is an important thing because it relates to the Shi'a tradition for the following.

For Shi'a Muslims, you need to believe that Ali was the rightful leader after the death of Muhammad.

So a very important thing there.

Now there's Shahadah in other traditions as well.

We have Sunni, we have Shi'a, and we also have the Sufi tradition.

And the Sufi tradition itself is really interesting and really important.

Predominantly, we can find it in countries such as Turkey, Pakistan, India, but also in the countries such as Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and in the North African countries as well, such as Egypt, Morocco, and so forth.

So the Sufi tradition is a very mystic and aesthetic tradition.

The Sufi tradition doesn't necessarily add anything to the Shahadah as found with the Shi'a tradition, but a statement within the Shahadah.

There is no God but Allah is often said in dhikr and dhikr is an utterance or remembrance of God.

As you can see from this imagery are prayer beads.

And previously mentioned, prayer beads are a good way that Muslims remember and recite the names of Allah and his other names.

So many Sufi will continue to recite the Shahadah daily.

Maybe after their prayers, maybe before prayers, and it's really remembering something, it's remembering God, it's having God-consciousness, also known as taqwah.

So you can understand that within the Sufi tradition, their practise with the Shahadah is found daily as a remembrance of God.

So how else is the Shahadah shown in practise? We show it in the five pillars and in the second pillar of the five, Salah.

Muslims pray to God and God alone when they're praying.

And also as part of their regards, they send peace and blessings upon the prophet Muhammad's family, which is very important.

And it's also shown in the reciting of the word of Allah.

When Muslims recite the Qur'an, they're showing the concept of Shahadah.

They're reciting the word of the oneness of God.

It is also shown, as I mentioned before, having taqwah, being mindful of God while having God-consciousness.

And it also is shown by avoiding things, such a shirk.

So not, for example, associating the greatness of God with something else.

Not, for example, associating and praying to something beside God.

These things, and avoiding these things, show the practises of the Shahadah, that you believe and affirm the belief in one God and one God alone and the prophet Muhammad is the final messenger of God.

So we can see it through prayer, through reciting the Qur'an, the holy book, the word of God, and in taqwah, and also from avoiding shirk as well.

So other ways that the Shahadah is practised.

So for this task, I'd like for you to do the following.

You have 10 minutes for this task and I'd like for you to answer the following recap questions.

What phrase is added on within the Shi'a tradition and why? What is dhikr it that good and how does it link to Sufism? And how else does the Shahadah link to practise? So for this task, 10 minutes.

Could I please ask you to pause the video? And I'll see you in 10 minutes.

Welcome back.

How did you do? Let's look at our answers.

So for the first question.

Within the Shi'a tradition, the following additional statement is added to Shahadah.

Ali is the wali of Allah.

And this relates to Shi'a teachings of imamate.

For Shi'a, it's the belief that Ali was the rightful leader after the death of the prophet Muhammad.

Now the second question.

Within the Sufi tradition, we find the reciting of the Shahadah, we find it with dhikr.

And dhikr means utterance and remembrance and its purpose is fitted to develop your God-conscious known as taqwah and to know and to understand God.

And the final question.

It is shown through Salah, through prayer, reciting the Qur'an, the word of God, having taqwah, being mindful of Allah, having God-consciousness, and also to avoid shirk, to not associate anything with God.

So many different ways that you show in your practise and also looking how it's observed within the other religious traditions that we find within Islam.

You have Sunni, Sufi, and Shi'a.

So we just kind of recapped how it's found within the Shi'a tradition and also in the Sufi tradition.

So in summary, we've learned the following today.

The Shahadah is a testimony of faith and is the first of the five pillars.

It's not just a statement, but it's found in practises throughout the life of a Muslim.

In the birth rites, for the one who converts, for the one doing Salah, before Salah hearing the adhan, which says the Shahadah, through dhikr, and also before they die.

And it reminds Muslims of tawhid and the significance of the prophet Muhammad as the final messenger of Allah.

And there's also an act of submission.

So submitting yourself to that belief.

It's not just believing it.

It's submitting through practise, submitting through worshipping God and God alone, submitting through reciting the names of God, submitting through reciting the Qur'an, the word of God.

Really important, the first pillar of Islam, the Shahadah.

So that leaves me with just one final note.

As always, there's an opportunity for you to share your work.

Please ask your parent or carer to show your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter @OakNational or #LearnwithOak.

And it gives me an opportunity to see your fantastic work in the first pillar of the five, the Shahadah.

And as always, one final thing, there's a quiz for you to do, so ensure that you have a go at the exit quiz, which has five questions.

And I'd love to know how you did at the end.

And on that note, I will see you soon, take care.