It is my honor to be here
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Peace sister,
I don't think that would have been part of what he taught as, from my perspective, it goes against the Quran. There may be others who disagree possibly, although I'm not sure on here. I don't know why he would say that and then in the Quran it only says that there is no God but The God. There's also the issue of the second shahadah that you mention appearing in 631 and its related to the hypocrites.
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To add to my last post, because this is an important issue for me and I can't modify that post any longer 631 is related to a type of hypocrite. The Quran mentions other types of hypocrities, such as those who say all the right sounding things but in actual attitude and behaviour they do something else. I should add that this doesn't make being a pracitising believer a difficult thing to reach. In fact, it's very natural and easy since we were born aligned to God's will and designs. It is just that there are people who knowingly and deliberately want to pretend to some to do good but then they spread corruption, in the verse in question it refers to spreading corruption through unlawful killing of livestock and destroying crops.
So from the Quranic perspective, it wouldn't just be some of the 'hadithers' that can be labelled 'hypocrities'. Sorry to be pedantic, but I think it's an important issue that requires a bit of caution.
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Salam Aleikum,
I've always wondered about this, did the prophet (saw) teach the shahada during his life as we know it today (including declaring himself as a prophet of God?) The answer is probably yes, but it still sounds odd to me, the thought of him saying 'There is no god but God, and I am the messenger of God.' He seemed too humble for that.
Please forgive me if I have said something out of ignorance, I've only been a practicing muslim for a few years, and as a busy stay-at-home mom I find it hard to find time to study and increase my knowledge.
It's a very interesting point, indeed! And I think there is a very fine line in understanding the shahadah and what is the key to understanding the difference between the message and the messenger. supportpeacenotwar gave a very good reply, and I wanted to just say that Muhammad did say he was a messenger of God.
It's a little bit confusing, honestly, but first and foremost, we must remember what each and every messenger preached. Every messenger came with the one true declaration "There is no God but God." Naturally, these prophets did declare themselves as prophets of God, as they were ordained to - how can the people believe in the message without believing in the messenger? This is also where the fine line comes in between "following" the messenger. To follow a messenger means to follow the message. Many people find validity in following hadith because they attempt to portray the lifestyle of the person, but we should take an analogy to understand a key issue
If I take my stubborn friend to the doctor and tell him to "obey the doctor," I mean obey the doctor's orders under his medical expertise. I do not mean obey the human being in entirety (ie on orders outside the medical domain). Similarly, obeying the messenger means to follow the message, as the messenger's role is solely to deliver the message. Outside this message, the messenger is just a human being, prone to errors, mistakes, etc.
The true shahadah is "There is no God but God." It is perfectly acceptable to say "and Muhammad is His messenger," as it is also perfectly acceptable to declare that "Jesus is His messenger," and so on and so forth. All messengers delivered the same message, and all messengers are of equal level to BELIEVERS. In the Qur'an, Allah SWT says that He has preferred some messengers to others in terms of blessings, but FOR BELIEVERS, we are not permitted to make distinctions between any of them. Each and every messenger is equal. The "preference" issue is not the "I like this one more than that one," - it is more about the blessings given to certain prophets over others relevant to the delivery of the message. Prophet Isa was given powers of miracles, while Muhammad was unable to perform miracles.
I hope these points help to shed light on the issue. Peace )
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Peace,
I doubt Muhammad ever added his name of the shahada. It is probably a later invention. If it was not it is an intensifier not needed today 1400 years later.
God bless you