“Whoever testifies that there is no god but Allah, sincerely from his heart—or with certainty in his heart—will not enter the Fire,” or, “will enter Paradise.” On one occasion he said: “He will enter Paradise, and the Fire will not touch him.” Its chain of transmission is authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhari and Muslim.
Al-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, entitled the hadith of Mu'adh: “Chapter: Specifying certain people, rather than others, with knowledge, lest they fail to understand it.” Ali said: “Narrate to people what they know. Would you like Allah and His Messenger to be called liars?” He then cited its chain of transmission accordingly. Adam ibn Abi Iyas added in his Book of Knowledge: “And leave aside what they would reject,” meaning, that whose meaning they may find difficult to understand.
Similar is the statement of Ibn Mas'ud: “Whenever you relate a hadith to people which their minds cannot comprehend, it will surely be a trial for some of them.” Muslim recorded it (1/9).
Al-Hafiz said: “Among those who disapproved of narrating certain reports to some people rather than others were Ahmad, regarding hadiths whose apparent meaning suggests rebellion against the ruler; Malik, regarding hadiths concerning the divine attributes; and Abu Yusuf, regarding uncommon reports. Before them was Abu Hurayrah, as mentioned previously in connection with the two vessels, one of which referred to events that would occur during times of tribulation. Something similar is related from Hudhayfah. It is also reported from al-Hasan that he objected to Anas narrating the story of the Uraniyyun to al-Hajjaj, because he used it as a pretext for the excessive bloodshed he habitually committed, based on his flimsy interpretation of it.
“The governing criterion is that the apparent meaning of a hadith lends support to an innovation, while that apparent meaning is not actually intended. Thus, withholding it from one who is feared to take it according to its apparent meaning is called for. And Allah knows best.”
Scholars have differed greatly over the interpretation of the hadith of this chapter and similar reports stating that the Fire is forbidden to one who says, “There is no god but Allah.” Al-Mundhiri mentioned some of these views in al-Targhib (2/238); the rest may be found in al-Fath. The view that reassures the heart, opens the breast, and reconciles the evidence without contradiction is that these reports are understood in accordance with three cases:
The first: one who fulfills the requirements of the two testimonies by observing the obligatory duties and avoiding prohibited acts. In this case, the hadith is understood according to its apparent meaning: he will enter Paradise, and the Fire is forbidden to him without qualification.
The second: one who dies upon it, having observed the five pillars, but who may perhaps have been lax