BERLIN — A video showing an elderly man reciting the Shahada, Muslims’ declaration of faith, on his deathbed has gone viral on the social media in the past few days, Khaleej Times reported on August 13.
According to Khaleej Times, the man in the video is a 75-year-old German who has converted to Islam on his deathbed.
The ailing man in the video was gravely ill when he decided to accept Islam, while his Muslim son was helping him to recite the Shahada (testimony): “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad (PBUH) is His messenger.”
After the testimony, the son recited the call to prayer (azan) in his dying father’s ear.
It’s not known when and where that video was recorded, but it has garnered thousands of views online over the weekend. AboutIslam.net could not verify the video from other sources.
The Shahada is an Islamic creed, one of the Five Pillars of Islam, declaring belief in the oneness of God (tawhid) and the acceptance of Muhammad as God’s prophet.
Recitation of the shahada in front of witnesses is also the first and only formal step in conversion to Islam. It’s a statement of both rituals and worshipping.
Islam’s monotheistic nature is reflected in the first shahada, which declares belief in the oneness of God and that he’s the only entity truly worthy of worship.
The second shahada indicates the means by which God has offered guidance to human beings. While the first part is seen as a cosmic truth, the second is specific to Islam.
Though the two phrases of the shahada are both present in the Holy Qur’an, they aren’t found in the Qur’anic verses side by side as in the shahada formula. Versions of both phrases began to appear in coins and monumental architecture in the late 7th Century.
According to Pew Forum, between 2010 and 2016, the number of Muslims living in Germany rose from 3.3 million (4.1% of the population) to nearly 5 million (6.1%), while the rest of the population shrank modestly from 77.1 million to 76.5 million.
Even if there is no more Muslim immigration to Germany, Muslims will continue to increase as a share of Germany’s population in future decades because German Muslims, on average, are much younger and have more babies than Germans as a whole.