Shahada

Shahada has 24 Letters and 7 words each letter forgives every hour of each day, and the 7 words forgive the 7 ways one sins. 'La ilaha illa'llah, Muhammad rasulu'llah (There is no divinity but God, Muhammad is the Messenger of God) consists of twenty-four letters; the hours of the day and night are of the same number. It is as if it were said, "Every sin which I have committed, whether great or small, secretly or openly, accidentally or intentionally, by word or by deed during these hours is pardoned by these words",' Also the phrase La ilaha illa'llah, Muhammad rasulu'llah consists of seven words. The servant has seven organs and hellfire has seven doors. Each of these seven words closes one of the seven doors to one of the seven organs "La ilaha illallah" possesses secrets among which are the following: - All its letters are palatal (hurufuha jawfiyya), which is a subtle indication that to utter it is an act that proceeds from one's innermost, which is the heart. - None of its letters is dotted, a subtle indication of its freedom from any deity other than God. - It has twelve letters (l-a-i-la-ha-i-ll-a-a-l-la-h), which is the number of the months of the year, four of which are sacred, and that is the Name of Majesty (a-l-la-h).One letter stands alone (a), three are connected (l-la-h), and the four together are the best of the twelve, just as the sacred months are the best of the year: dhu al-Qi`da, dhu al-Hijja, al-Muharram, and Rajab (three of them consecutive, and Rajab standing alone). Therefore whoever says it sincerely, his sins for the entire year are forgiven. The night and the day are twenty-four hours, and the two Phrases of Witnessing aretwenty-four letters: l - a i - la - ha i - ll mu - ha - mma - dun ra - s - u - l u - l - la - h a a l la h

Each letter thus forgives the sins of an hour. - They are seven words in all, and the entrances to heaven are seven: each word thus blocks one entrance for the person who utters them. Lengthening the Pronounciation of LA ILAHA ILLALLAH Ibn `Abbas said - may God be well pleased with him and his father - that the Prophet said: "The day God created the heavens and the earth He created an angel and ordered him to say: "There is no god except God alone" (LA ILAHA ILLALLAH). The angel lengthens his delivery as he utters it and will not rest from this until the trumpet is blown."

One of the Companions said that whoever says: "No god except God" and lengthens his pronounciation intending thereby to magnify God, God will forgive for himFour thousand grave sins with it, and if he did not commit Four thousand, God will forgive the difference for his family and neighbors. It is related in the hadith: "Whoever says "No god except God" and lengthens his pronounciation intending thereby to magnify God, Four thousand of his sins are astruck thereby from the register of his sins." Hence it is praiseworthy to lengthen one's pronounciation upon uttering it, as Nawawi said, may God the Exalted have mercy upon him. The Prophet also said: "Whoever lengthens his pronounciation upon saying "No god except God," God will make him dwell in Paradise in the Abode of Majesty by which he has named Himself when He said: "There remaineth but the countenance of thy Lord of Might and Glory" (55:27), and God will grant him to behold His gracious countenance." Whoever says "No god except God" in astonishment at something, God creates from each letter of his utterance a tree with as many leaves as the days of this world, each leaf asking forgiveness for him and praising God on his behalf until the Day of judgment."... It has been related that this phrase has on the side of Iblis the effect which a gangrenous sore would have on the side of a human being. God has created a pillar made of ruby and light whose foundation is the pillar beneath the seventh earth and whose top winds around the base of God's throne. Every time a servant of God says: "There is no god but God, Muhammad is the Messenger of God," the earth, the whale , and the throne move, and God says: "Be still!" and the throne replies, "By Thy might, not until you forgive the one who said "La ilaha illallah."" But God says: "Be still, for I have made a covenant with Myself before I created My creation, whereby I shall not cause it to be spoken by the tongue of a servant of Mine except that I have forgiven him even before he says it."