The Shahada

أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا الله، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ الله

Ash hadu an laa ilaaha illallah, wa ash hadu anna Muhammadar Rasoolullah

Two sentences. The first is a witness about Allah: no one and nothing is worshipped by right but Him. The second is a witness about His Messenger ﷺ: the one we follow in how to worship Him.

The Prophet ﷺ said Islam is built on five, and the first of them is this testimony, before the prayer, the zakat, the Hajj and the fast of Ramadan.

Sahih al-Bukhari 8

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Line by line

أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا الله

Ash hadu an laa ilaaha illallah

أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ الله

Ash hadu anna Muhammadar Rasoolullah

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Where you will say it

In the Adhan and the Iqamah, twice each in the Adhan. And in the Tashahhud, the sitting of every prayer, where it closes At-Tahiyyat.

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What it means

1. Ash hadu: I bear witness. A witness speaks about what he knows, not what he guesses. This is not "I think" or "I hope." It is testimony.
2. an laa ilaaha: that there is no god. An ilah is the one who is worshipped: the one you love most, fear most, obey and turn to. The sentence starts by clearing the ground of every other.
3. illallah: except Allah. Then it gives that place to the only One who deserves it. A denial, then an affirmation, and nothing is left standing beside Him.
4. wa ash hadu anna Muhammadar Rasoolullah: and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. The first half tells you whom to worship. The second tells you how: the way he ﷺ taught it and lived it.

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Why it matters

It is the first of the five on which Islam is built. The prayer, the zakat, the Hajj and the fast all stand on it.

Sahih al-Bukhari 8

Allah does not only ask us to say it. He says: so know that there is no god but Allah (Muhammad 47:19). Know it, then live by it.

Quran 47:19

The Prophet ﷺ called it the best remembrance, and he said that whoever's last words are la ilaha illallah will enter Paradise. A man says it all his life so that it is on his tongue at the end.

Jami at-Tirmidhi 3383 · Hasan (Darussalam) · Sunan Abi Dawud 3116 · Sahih (Al-Albani)

And you renew it five times a day, in every Adhan, every Iqamah and every Tashahhud. The testimony you entered Islam with is the testimony you keep repeating.