Quran Talk Blog · Article · August 15, 2023
The translations of the inscriptions are given below:
Inscription A
Inscription B
On the issue of the name Yazīd bin ʿUmayr al-Anṣārī, it is believed that Yazīd bin ʿUmayr’s father was a contemporary of Prophet Muḥammad and Yazīd’s son was known as a reliable transmitter of prophetic traditions in the 2nd century AH. These inscriptions again provide a variation of the Sahadatan.
The earliest inscription to date of the full Shahadatan comes to us in the following inscription dated 78 AH / 697-698 CE.
This inscription is one of more than 60 early Islamic inscriptions that were found in the region of Ḥuma al-Numoor, northwest of Ṭāʾif, Saudi Arabia. This inscription also marks the historical reconstruction and remodeling of al-Masjid al-Ḥarām in Makkah.
Umayyad caliph ʿAbd al-Malik b. Marwān started the reconstruction of al-Masjid al-Ḥarām in the year 75 AH after it sustained damage by the catapults of al-Ḥajjāj b. Yūsuf during his siege and brutal slaying of ʿAbdullāh b. al-Zubayr ( d. 73 AH / 692 CE). This inscription most likely commemorates the completion of the reconstruction and remodeling of al-Masjid al-Ḥarām and is located off the modern highway linking Makkah and Ṭāʾif, about 75 km from the former. As for the mention of renovations to al-Masjid al-Ḥarām in the historical sources, both al-Fākihī and al-Azraqī, historians from the 9th century CE, record this event. The historical records indicate that it started around 75 AH and reached completion around 80 AH.
Here is the copy of the text and corresponding transcription in modern script:
The translation of the inscription is:
What we can conclude from these findings is that the Shahada of the prophet, as stated in the Quran, was simply:
أشْهَدُ أنْ لا الهَ الاّ الله ašhadu ʾan lā ʾilāha ʾillā -llāh “I bear witness there is no god beside God.”
Additionally, we can see that it was not until the reign of the fifth Umayyad caliph, Abd al-Malik (r. 685-705), that the dual Shahada, the Shahadatan, first came to circulation by the caliphate.
أشْهَدُ أنَّ مُحَمَّداً رَسُولُ اللّه ašhadu ʾanna muḥammadan rasūlu -llāh “I bear witness Muhammad is the messenger of God.”
Furthermore, the first inscription of this full Shahadatan, as it stands today, was not found until the year 78 AH / 697 CE as part of the commemoration of the rebuilding of the Kaaba, which Abd al-Malik’s troops destroyed after their siege on Mecca.
This shows that the people today who choose to uphold the Shahadatan, as opposed to the Shahadah, are following an innovation that came almost 65 years after the prophet’s death as opposed to the prophet’s own example.
See the following articles for more information on how the Shahadatan goes against the Quran.
About this work
| Kind | Article |
|---|---|
| Author | Quran Talk Blog |
| Publisher | Quran Talk |
| Published | August 15, 2023 |
| Collection | Quran Talk Blog |
| Topics | Muhammad, God's Oneness, Idolizing the Prophet, The First Pillar |
| Standing | Commentary or other writing |
Identifiers
| Address | https://www.wikisubmission.org/library/work/shahada-to-shahadatan-03ca432389b0fdcc |
|---|---|
| ID | 01a127b6-406b-7998-b00a-00c47bf9bda7 |