people saying something, so I said it.’” This is why He said:

“Except those who bear witness to the truth knowingly.”

Ibn ‘Abbās’s statement has already been cited: “This means those who say, ‘There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah’”—meaning, sincerely from their hearts.

All the authentic hadiths concerning intercession make clear that intercession is only for those who profess, “There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah.” It is established in Sahīh al-Bukhārī that Abū Hurayrah asked the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“Who will be most fortunate in receiving your intercession on the Day of Resurrection?”

He replied: “Abū Hurayrah, I expected that no one would ask me about this hadith before you, given the eagerness for hadith I have seen in you. The most fortunate in receiving my intercession on the Day of Resurrection will be those who say, ‘There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah,’ with sincerity from within themselves.”

He thus made clear that those who profess it with inward sincerity are more fortunate in receiving his intercession, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, than others who say it with their tongues while their words and deeds belie it.

These, then, are those who bear witness to the truth: they bear witness that “there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah,” just as Allah bears witness to this concerning Himself, as do His angels and those endowed with knowledge:

“Allah bears witness that there is no god except