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AlGhazalisIhya-Book_of_knowledge, page : 27
The principals of practical religion, which a sane adult is obliged to observe deals
with three things: beliefs, works and prohibitions. For example, when a sane
individual attains puberty and comes of age, his first obligation is learning the two
phrases of the witnessing of faith (al shahadah) and understanding their
meaning. These two phrases are: „There is no god except Allah; Muhammad is
the Prophet of Allah.‟ He/she is not required to fully penetrate their significance
through scrutiny, investigation and research, but only to believe and
unequivocally bear witness to them without the least doubt or hesitation. The
latter is obtained by accepting on authority without any investigation or proof,
since the Prophet - may Allah praise and venerate him - required only the
acceptance and witnessing from the uneducated Arabs without their learning any
evidence. Thus in accepting and witnessing the two phrases, the person fulfills
an obligation, which is binding at that time. Accordingly, at that time, the branch
of knowledge, whose acquisition is Divinely ordained and binding upon every
Muslim, would consist in the learning and understanding the two phrases of the
witnessing of faith and at that stage it is sufficient for them. This is demonstrated
by considering that if a Muslim dies upon accepting and bearing testimony the
with three things: beliefs, works and prohibitions. For example, when a sane
individual attains puberty and comes of age, his first obligation is learning the two
phrases of the witnessing of faith (al shahadah) and understanding their
meaning. These two phrases are: „There is no god except Allah; Muhammad is
the Prophet of Allah.‟ He/she is not required to fully penetrate their significance
through scrutiny, investigation and research, but only to believe and
unequivocally bear witness to them without the least doubt or hesitation. The
latter is obtained by accepting on authority without any investigation or proof,
since the Prophet - may Allah praise and venerate him - required only the
acceptance and witnessing from the uneducated Arabs without their learning any
evidence. Thus in accepting and witnessing the two phrases, the person fulfills
an obligation, which is binding at that time. Accordingly, at that time, the branch
of knowledge, whose acquisition is Divinely ordained and binding upon every
Muslim, would consist in the learning and understanding the two phrases of the
witnessing of faith and at that stage it is sufficient for them. This is demonstrated
by considering that if a Muslim dies upon accepting and bearing testimony the