First Pillar of Islam Question!

[Morningstar]

As-Salāmu `Alaykum,

I would like to remember Allah often during the day, so I would like to recite the proper Shahada!
However, I am a little bit confused how the proper Shahada is written and how it is pronounced?

The first version I became acquainted with was during Khutba and Imam said:
La ilaha il Allah, Muhammad-ur-Rasool-Allah

Then online I read:
ašhadu ʾan lā ʾilāha ʾilla (A)llāh, wa ʾašhadu ʾanna Muḥammada(n) rasūlu (A)llāh

Finally why learning Tashahhud I read:
Ash-hadu 'an laa 'ilaaha 'illallaahu
wa 'ash-hadu 'anna Muhammadan 'abduhu
wa Rasooluhu.
(Link: Islamawareness Dua Fortress/022 )

So which one should I use to recite daily Shahada? First, second or third?
Also should I use the same one for the Tashahhud or should I for some reason use the above mentioned one?

Thank you,
Stargazer

[Abu-Abdullah]

Salamualikum wr wb

anyone of them can be recited; their all extremely benificial and affirm the first pillar of Islam

the first one means; there is no God but ALlah and muhammad [saw] is Allah's messenger

the second one: i testify that there is no God but ALlah and I also testify that Muhammad [saw] is ALlah's Messenger

third one: I testify that there is no God but ALlah and I also testify that Muhammad [saw] is Allah's slave and messenger.

Salam!

[abjad]

THE MEANING OF KALIMA TAYYIBA

Brethren-in-Islam!
You know that a man becomes a Muslim by reciting a formula which is very elaborate but consists of a few words only : La Illaha Illallah Muhammadur Rasullullah.
" There is no god but God: Muhammad is the Prophet of God".
On uttering these words called Kalima a man undergoes a remarkable transformation. From a Kafir he turns into a Muslim. He was impure before and now he is pure. From being liable to Divine wrath, he becomes a beloved of God. He was destined for Hell before but now the gates of heaven are open for him. The process does not end here. Due to this Kalima a great change takes place between man and man. Those who recite it are consolidated into one community, while those who reject it constitute another community. If a father recites it and his son refuses to do so, the father is no longer a father and the son no longer a son. The son will not inherit the property of the father. Even his mother and sister will observe pardah and keep away from him. If an outsider who recites the Kalima marries a daughter of a Muslim family, he and his children will get inheritance from that family but, in contrast to it, a son born in a Muslim family loses all relationship with that family because of refusal to believe in the Kalima. This indicates that the Kalima is a phenomenon which conjoins one stranger with another and cuts asunder one relative from another. The power of this Kalima is so strong that it supersedes blood and family relationships.

Why such a big difference?

Now consider this point as to why should such a big difference occur between man and man? What is there in the Kalima? It contains a few letters only like, K.A.L.I. and some letters more. If these letters are joined together and expressed from the mouth, does it work like magic so as to produce such a radical change in a man? Can such a small thing create a difference of heaven and earth between man and man. My brethren! With a little sense of understanding your mind will itself tell you that mere opening the mouth and uttering a few syllables can never produce such a big effect. Idol-worshipping atheists no doubt believe that by reciting a Mantra a mountain can be moved, earth can be split and fountain can gush out of it, though nobody knows the meaning of that Mantra. This is because they believe that all the charm lies in alphabets. No sooner these come out of the mouth, the gates of magic are thrown open. Not so in Islam. Here the principal thing is the meaning. The effect of words lies in the meaning. If they have no meaning and do not go deep into the heart, and if they do not produce a powerful impact so as to effect a change in your thoughts, in your morals and in your actions, then an utterance of mere words will be totally ineffectual.
I would like to explain this point by a simple example. Suppose you are shivering in the cold weather and if you start shouting: Cotton, quilt, cotton, quilt, the effect of cold will not be lessened though you may count the whole night these words a million times on the beads or a rosary. Of course, if you prepare a quilt stuffed with cotton and cover your body with it, the effect of cold will stop. Or suppose you feel thirsty and shout the whole day water, water, your thirst will never be quenched. Of course, if you get hold of water and take a draught, all the rigour of thirst will subside. Or, again suppose you are suffering from cold and fever and you go on just chanting for a remedy only the names of these herbs which are boiled and drunk to cure it. Obviously, you will never recover, but if you actually boil these herbs and drink their decoction, fever and cold will disappear. This is exactly the position of the Kalima. A mere verbal expression of six or seven words cannot bring about such a big change as to transform a Kafir into a Muslim, or an impure person into a pure one, or a ****ed person into a beloved one, or an infernal creature into a heavenly being. This metamorphosis is only possible when you first grasp the meaning of these words and then make it permeate your mind. Then when you them while understanding their meaning, you should fully realise what a big commitment you are making before your God before the whole world as also what a great responsibility is devolving on you as a result of this declaration. Then after an understanding of the implications involved in this affirmation, it must control your entire life with the result that no idea opposed to this Kalima should enter your mind. Then you must irrevocably decide for all times that whatever runs counter to the Kalima is false and the Kalima alone is true. Then this Kalima must reign supreme in all affairs of your life. After affirming this Kalima you will not be free, like the unbelievers, to do as you like. Now being bound by this Kalima, you will have to follow its dictate and shun what it forbids. If an affirmation of the Kalima is made in this manner, a man becomes a true Muslim. Through such a process alone that big difference occurs between man and man I have just told you about.

...........to be continued..Inshaa ALLAH.

Purport of ' Kalima'

Now let me tell you the purport of the Kalima as also what actually

[Morningstar]

Thank you very much brothers, I appreciate your responses :)!

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[abjad]

Purport of ' Kalima'

Now let me tell you the purport of the Kalima as also what actually does a man affirm by reciting it and what obligations devolve on him after this affirmation ?
The meaning of Kalima is that there is no god save Allah and Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the Messenger of Allah. The word " Allah " found in the Kalima means God. Now, that being is called God Who is Master, Creator, Nourisher, and Sustainer, Who listens to our prayers and grants them, and Who is worthy of our worship.


Now that you have said : La ilaha illallah, it would mean that, firstly, you have acknowledged that this world has not come into being without the creative power of God, nor is it a fact that it has many gods. Actually, it does have a God and that God is just one, and there is no other being except Him Who wields Divine power. Secondly the other point which you affirmed on reciting the Kalima is that this very God Who is your God, is also God of the whole world. Each and every thing owned by you and by the world belongs to Him. It is He Who is the Creator and the Nourisher. Life and death are under His command. Trouble and comfort are also from Him. Whatever one gets, is really given by Him. Whatever is taken away from anybody, is in reality due to His command. He alone should be feared. He alone should be entreated to fulfil our needs. Before Him alone we should bow our heads. He alone deserves to be worshipped. We are not slaves or servants of anybody save Him, nor is anyone our Master or Sovereign. Our real duty is to exclusively comply with His orders and obey His laws.

Covenant with Allah

This is the covenant which you make with Allah as soon as you recite La ilaha illallah, and in so doing you make the whole world your witness. If you violate this covenant, your hand and feet, the minutest hair on your body and every particle of the earth and the heaven before which you made that fake declaration, will render evidence against you in the court of Allah where you will be in the dock in such a helpless condition that not a single defense witness will be available to you. No Advocate or Barrister will be there to plead your case. In fact, Advocates and Barristers, who in the court of this world used to play ducks and drakes with law, will themselves be standing there like you in the same helpless condition. That court is not such as would acquit you on the basis of wrong pleading, perjury and production of forged documents. You can hide your crimes from the Police of this world but you cannot do so from the Police of God. The Police of this world takes bribe but Allah's Police is not corrupt. A witness of this world can give false evidence but Allah's witnesses are inviolably truthful. The rulers of this world can commit injustice but Allah is not a ruler Who would do any injustice. And then there is no escape from the jail where Allah imprisons the culprits. It is a great folly, may the greatest of all follies to enter into false covenant with Allah. While making the covenant, think thoroughly over it and then scrupulously fulfil it, otherwise there is no compulsion on you that you should willy-nilly make a verbal affirmation, because an empty and hollow assertion is quite useless.


...to be continued ...Insha ALLAH...


Acceptance of Prophet's guidance

After (La ilaha illallah) you recite (Muhammadur Rasulullah) which means that you accept Muhammad (peace be upon him) as the Prophet through whom Allah has sent you His legal code. After acknowledging Allah as our Master and Sovereign it was necessary to know what are is Commandments. What deeds should we perform so as to please Him and from which deeds should we refrain t