سورة محمد

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Ubaydullah ibn al-Walid al-Wassafi narrated: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: 'Whoever says لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ [there is no god but Allah], a tree of red ruby is planted for him in Paradise, and the root of that tree is in white musk, and [its fruit] is sweeter than honey, whiter than snow, and more fragrant than musk. On those trees are [fruits] like the breasts of virgins, protruding from beneath seventy garments.' And he said: 'The best worship is saying لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ.' And he said: 'Seeking forgiveness (istighfar) is the best worship [meaning that the combination of these two is among the best acts of worship], and this is the saying of Allah the Mighty and Majestic in the Qur'an [where He says]: فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ لا إِلهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَ اسْتَغْفِرْ لِذَنْبِکَ [So know that there is no god but Allah, and ask protection for your fault].'

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Seeking forgiveness (istighfar) and the utterance of لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ [there is no god but Allah] is the best worship, for Allah, the Mighty, the Compeller, said: فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ لا إِلهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَ اسْتَغْفِرْ لِذَنْبِکَ [So know that there is no god but Allah, and ask protection for your fault].

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Seeking forgiveness (istighfar) is the best worship, and this is the saying of Allah the Mighty and Majestic in the Qur'an [where He says]: فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ لا إِلهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَ اسْتَغْفِرْ لِذَنْبِکَ [So know that there is no god but Allah, and ask protection for your fault].

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) narrated from the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) that he said: "The most virtuous worship is the remembrance لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَ لَا حَوْلَ وَ لَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللهِ [There is no god but Allah, and there is no power nor strength except by Allah], and the best supplication is seeking forgiveness." Then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) recited the verse: فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ لا إِلهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَ اسْتَغْفِرْ لِذَنْبِکَ [So know that there is no god but Allah, and ask forgiveness for your fault].

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): The most virtuous knowledge is tawhid (the oneness of Allah), and the best of supplications is seeking forgiveness. Then he recited the verse: فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ لا إِلهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَ اسْتَغْفِرْ لِذَنْبِکَ [So know that there is no god but Allah, and ask forgiveness for your fault].

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): Among the remembrances, there is nothing more virtuous than the remembrance لا إِلهَ إِلَّا اللهُ [There is no god but Allah], and among the supplications, there is no supplication more valuable than seeking forgiveness. Then he recited the verse: فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ لا إِلهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَ اسْتَغْفِرْ لِذَنْبِکَ [So know that there is no god but Allah, and ask forgiveness for your fault].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): And these are a favour from Allah upon the children of Adam. And the word whose beginning is disbelief and whose end is faith is the word لا إِلهَ إِلَّا اللهُ [There is no god but Allah].

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Abu Hamza said: I heard Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) saying: "There is nothing whose reward is greater than bearing witness to لا إِلهَ إِلَّا اللهُ [There is no god but Allah]; for nothing is equal to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and no one shares with Him in any matter."

Imam al-Rida (peace be upon him): The cause and philosophy of rulings which Fadl ibn Shadhan mentioned at the end of it, saying that he heard them from Imam al-Rida (peace be upon him) on various occasions and compiled them ... If someone says: "Why is it obligatory upon creation to affirm the oneness of Allah and to recognize His unity?" It is said: "For various reasons, among them this: that if this affirmation and recognition were not made obligatory upon them, it would be possible for them to imagine two directors [of the world] or more, and if such a thing were permissible, they would have no way to know their true Creator from another, because no human being would know, and would think that perhaps he is worshipping and obeying one who is not his Creator, and it would be unknown to anyone which of them created him, and whose command he must accept and obey, and from the prohibitions of which prohibitor he must abstain, since he cannot distinguish the real commander and prohibitor. And among the reasons is that if it were possible for there to be two gods, neither of them would be more worthy of worship and obedience than the other, and in the permissibility of obedience and submission to each of the two partners lies the permissibility of obedience to the other, and the result of this would be the certain permissibility of not obeying Allah, and that would be disbelief in Allah and in all the prophets and their heavenly books, and the affirmation of every falsehood and the abandonment of the fulfilment of all rights and considering all forbidden things lawful, and forbidding all permissible things, and committing all sins and transgressions, and departing from all acts of obedience, and permitting every corruption and depravity, and nullifying every right. And also, if it were permissible not to consider Allah as one and to consider another as god besides Him, then it would be permissible for Iblis to claim: 'I am that other god,' so that he could oppose Allah the Exalted in all rulings and call people to himself, and in this would be the greatest disbelief and the most severe hypocrisy."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Whoever says لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ [there is no god but Allah] without ostentation shall enter Paradise, and the sign of his sincerity is that لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ [there is no god but Allah] restrains him from acting upon what Allah has forbidden."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Anyone in whom four qualities are found will be within the radiant light of Allah; among them: one who testifies to the oneness of Allah and to my messengership.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Whoever gives up his soul while having testified to the oneness of Allah shall enter Paradise.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Tawhid (the oneness of Allah) is half of the religion.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said to some of the Jews who had asked him about certain matters: "As for the locks of the heavens, they are associating partners with Allah, and their keys are the saying of لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ [There is no god but Allah]."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): It has been narrated from Imam Rida (peace be upon him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Indeed, Allah has a pillar of red ruby, the top of which is beneath the Throne and the bottom of which rests on the back of a fish in the seventh, lowest layer of the earth. So when the servant of Allah says: لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ [There is no god but Allah], the Throne trembles and this pillar moves along with the fish. At that moment, Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: 'O My Throne, be still.' The Throne replies: 'How can I be still while You do not forgive the one who says: لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ [There is no god but Allah]?' At that moment, Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: 'O inhabitants of My heavens, bear witness that I have forgiven the one who says لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ [There is no god but Allah].'"

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Seeking forgiveness is the best supplication.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): There is no believer who commits forty major sins in a day and a night, and then, out of remorse, turns to the divine court and says: "I seek forgiveness from the divine presence; there is no god but Allah, the One, the Living, the Sustainer, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, the Possessor of Majesty and Honour. I ask Him to send blessings upon Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and the family of Muhammad (peace be upon them) and to accept my repentance," but that Allah forgives his sins. But as for one who each day is stained by more than forty major sins, there is no good left in him.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Harith ibn Mughira narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that he said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) would seek forgiveness from the court of Allah the Mighty and Majestic seventy times each day." I asked: "Would he say: أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهُ وَ أَتُوبُ إِلَیْه [I seek forgiveness of Allah and turn to Him in repentance]?" He said: "Seventy times he would say: أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهُ، أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهُ [I seek forgiveness of Allah, I seek forgiveness of Allah], and seventy times he would say: أَتُوبُ إِلَی اللهِ، أَتُوبُ إِلَی اللهِ [I turn to Allah in repentance, I turn to Allah in repentance]."

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) - Hudhayfah said: I was a man who was sharp-tongued with my family, so I said to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): "I fear that my tongue will drag me into the Fire." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) rose from his place and said: "Then why do you not seek forgiveness? Indeed, I seek forgiveness from Allah a hundred times every day."

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) - Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) would not rise from any gathering without seeking forgiveness from Allah twenty-five times.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Whenever a servant increases his seeking of forgiveness, his book of deeds is raised up while it shines with light.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Whoever says أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهُ [I seek forgiveness from Allah] a hundred times in a day, Allah the Mighty and Majestic forgives him seven hundred sins; and there is no good in a servant who commits seven hundred sins in a day.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Indeed, the believer commits a sin [and forgets it], then after twenty years [have passed] he remembers it and seeks forgiveness from Allah for that sin, and Allah forgives him; and indeed Allah reminded him of the sin only so that [he might repent and] He might forgive him. And indeed, the disbeliever commits a sin and forgets it that very hour.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Whoever commits a bad deed or sin is given a respite of seven hours of the day; so if he says three times: أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ الَّذِی لا إِلهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الحَیُّ الْقَیُّوم [I seek forgiveness from Allah, other than whom there is no god, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting], that sin is not written against him [provided he truly repents and observes its conditions].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Any believer who commits a sin is granted a respite from morning until evening; if he repents, his sin is not written against him.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The example of istighfar (seeking forgiveness) [and the shedding of sins by it] is like a leaf on a tree which [in the season of autumn] is shaken and the leaf falls; and the one who seeks forgiveness for a sin and then commits it again is like one who mocks his Lord.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ لا إِلهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَ اسْتَغْفِرْ لِذَنْبِکَ وَ لِلْمُؤْمِنِینَ [So know that there is no god but Allah, and ask forgiveness for your fault and for the believing men]; the believing men means Ali (peace be upon him) and his companions, and وَ المُؤْمِناتِ [and the believing women] are Khadija (peace be upon her) and her friends.

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Ishaq ibn Rahawayh said: When Imam Rida (peace be upon him) arrived in Nishapur and wished to go to Ma'mun, the scholars of hadith gathered around him and said: 'O son of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! Are you leaving us without narrating for us a hadith from which we may benefit?' The Imam (peace be upon him), who was seated in the litter, put his head out and said: 'I heard my father Musa ibn Ja'far (peace be upon him) say: I heard my father Ja'far ibn Muhammad (peace be upon him) say: I heard my father Muhammad ibn Ali (peace be upon him) say: I heard my father Ali ibn al-Husayn (peace be upon him) say: I heard my father Husayn ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) say: I heard my father Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) say: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) say: I heard Jibra'il say: I heard Allah the Great say: لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ [There is no god but Allah] is My fortress; whoever enters My fortress is safe from My punishment.' When the Imam's mount had moved on, he called out to us: 'With its conditions, and I am among its conditions.'

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Ali ibn Bilal narrated from Imam Rida (peace be upon him), from Musa ibn Ja'far, from Ja'far ibn Muhammad, from Muhammad ibn Ali, from Ali ibn al-Husayn, from Husayn ibn Ali, from Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon them), from the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), from Jibra'il, from Mika'il, from Israfil, from the Tablet, from the Pen, that Allah says: "The wilayah (guardianship) of Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) is My fortress. Whoever enters My fortress will be safe from My fire."