—peace and blessings be upon him—and it is as though the Prophet handed him the two sandals as a visible sign that his message was genuine. For the glad tiding itself is tremendous: whoever testifies, “There is no god but Allah,” while his heart is certain of it, will enter Paradise. A person who makes this declaration with full conviction must necessarily carry out Allah’s commands and avoid His prohibitions, for he is proclaiming that none is rightfully worshiped except Allah. Because of the gravity of this statement, he must devote his worship to Allah alone, without partner.

By contrast, the one who utters it only with his tongue, while his heart lacks certainty—may Allah protect us—will gain nothing from it. Look at the hypocrites: they bear witness that there is no god but Allah, yet they remember Allah only seldom. They stand to pray, but theirs is the prayer of hypocrites; the prayer weighs heavily upon them, and the most burdensome of all are the ‘Ishā’ and Fajr prayers. They even come to the Messenger—peace be upon him—saying, “We bear witness that you are indeed the Messenger of Allah,” and they affirm it emphatically. Nevertheless, Allah says, “Allah knows that you are truly His Messenger, and Allah bears witness that the hypocrites are surely liars” (Qur’an 63:1).

Their hearts never held certainty about “There is no god but Allah” or “Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,” so the words did not benefit them. Only the person whose heart is sure receives this glad tiding. Moreover, it is impossible that someone who is truthful in saying, “I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,” would then neglect the obligatory duties. Hence, this ḥadīth cannot be taken as evidence that a person who abandons the prayer is not deemed an unbeliever; it contains no such proof, because the one who forsakes the prayer