Can La Ilaha Illa Allah Muhammad Ar Rasool Allah Be Changed?
Ali Hussain from Sahiwal, Punjab (Pakistan) asks,
‘Is it permissible to add ‘Ali Wali Allah (Ali is the Saint of God) to the Motto of Faith?’
Look, there are two things to understand here because the question is very sensitive,
therefore, the answer has to be very sensible.
It is a very sensitive question, a question which the religious clergymen do not have the answer to
whether they are from the Barelvi sect or the Shiite sect.
The clerics from the other sects have always said whatever comes to their mind anyway,
so they could do the same thing here.
But let me tell you the truth about this.
Now, the Motto of Faith La Ilaha Illa Allah (There is no Creator except God).
This is the original Motto of Faith.
It cannot be changed.
It does not change.
The second part of the Motto of Faith represents a Messenger or Prophet.
For instance ‘Adam Safi Allah (Adam the Eminent One)’.
When the second Messenger arrived,
the first part remained the same while the second part changed
and became ‘Ibrahim Khalil Allah (Abraham is the Friend of God)’.
Now, I would like to address the religious clergymen here
and ask them to pay close attention because you say the Motto of Faith has been changed.
This is the Motto of Faith.
This here is not part of the Motto of Faith.
There is no ‘taghayur’ in this.
Taghayur means change.
It does not change.
The other part changes every time a new Messenger is introduced in this world by God.
It changes.
When Adam came, his name was attached to the Motto of Faith; when Abraham came, his name was attached.
The first part remained the same.
The second part changed every time a new Messenger came.
So you cannot say the Motto of Faith has been changed.
So what happened then?
The Last Messenger and Last Prophet came
with the Motto La Ilaha Illa Allah Mohammad Ar Rasool Allah (Mohammad is the Messenger of God).
So what happened here?
Now, there was no change to the first part of the Motto
and since there would be no messenger or prophet after Prophet Mohammad,
the second part of the Motto was then unchanged.
Since there would be no prophet or messenger after Prophet Mohammad, the second part will not be changed.
So the second part was not changed because there were no more prophets or messengers
so where did people obtain guidance from?
‘If I am your Guardian, Ali is your Guardian too’ (Prophetic Tradition).
Now just as the railway tracks change, from here to here, now there was a change.
The Prophet handed over the Guardianship to Ali.
As the Guardianship is handed over, Prophethood and Messengerhood come to an end.
Guardianship began and Ali was granted the true Sainthood.
So now if we say La Ilaha Illa Allah Muhammad Ar Rasool Allah Ali Wali Allah, of course, it is the truth.
It is the truth and since it is the truth then why don’t we say it?
Why can’t we say it?
But the problem is that is Ali the only saint of God?
We will have to add the names of all the saints that came after Ali.
Sainthood was not terminated.
Sainthood began with Ali and it extended far and wide.
It was due to Sainthood that Islam was practised worldwide.
Then Sainthood was distributed among all the Sufi Orders like Chishti, Qadri, Soharwardi, Naqshbandi.
It went everywhere.
Just as the second part of the Motto changed with every new Messenger and Prophet.
This part did not remain the same, it changed.
The second part of the Motto about Prophethood and Messengerhood changed every time,
so if we add Sainthood, it will also have to change with every new saint.
If we add the name of Ali to the Motto, after him we have to add the name of Hassan Basri.
Isn’t that right?
Then Imam Zain ul Abideen’s name should be added as he is also a saint of God.
Then Imam Jaffar Sadiq’s name should be added as he too is a saint of God.
And then Lal Shahbaz Qalandar’s name.
We are talking about Sainthood now.
When it was about Prophethood, the names of all the prophets was added to the Motto.
So when it comes to Sainthood, the names of all the Great Saints should also be added.
Of course, you can add it.
La Ilaha Illa Allah Muhammad Ar Rasool Allah Ali Wali Allah.
You can add it.
And then add the name of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar too.
Every time a new saint is introduced, their name should be added to the Motto.
No one can stop you.
But the original Motto does not change. This is the Motto here.
There is no change in this.
This remains unchanged.
This.
Because in the end when Imam Mehdi arrives,
the Motto will be La Ilaha Illa Allah Mehdi Khalifatullah (Imam Mehdi is the Caliph of God).
Now, the addition of Mehdi Khalifatullah
it should have been La Ilaha Illa Allah Mohammad Ar Rasool Allah Mehdi Khalifatullah but that’s not what it is.
Instead, it is La Ilaha Illa Allah Mehdi Khalifatullah.
So, it means that La Ilaha Illa Allah Muhammad Ar Rasool Allah Ali Wali Allah is a Silsila;
the ultimate source of mediumship is still Prophet Mohammad.
However, when the Office of Mehdi took place of Prophethood,
it means now the entire humanity will obtain guidance from Imam Mehdi, not from the mediumship of Prophethood.
Now the intermediary is Imam Mehdi.
This is why the Motto is La Ilaha Illa Allah Mehdi Khalifatullah.
So when the title of Imam Mehdi is added
where is this Motto La Ilaha Illa Allah Mehdi Khalifatullah?
It is mentioned in Prophetic Traditions.
Since Imam Mehdi’s title is added to the Motto anyway, if you add ‘Ali Wali Allah’ to the Motto, it does not alter the Motto
because this is the original Motto of Faith, the rest of it are the names of the intermediaries.
This is the original Motto.
This remains unchanged while this changes constantly.
But since there cannot be another prophet or messenger after Prophet Mohammad, therefore his Motto did not change.
It remained unchanged.
Prophet Mohammad remains to be the intermediary but you may add Ali Wali Allah to the Motto.
However, this is the main Motto of Faith.
The second sentence is not a part of the Motto of Faith regardless of what people say.
You will be asked about the Motto of Faith before you enter paradise.
Will the Christians also be asked about La Ilaha Illa Allah Muhammad Ar Rasool Allah?
When everyone will be asked about the Motto, it is going to be about the main Motto La Ilaha Illa Allah.