Is there a specific sequence of Arabic words which is considered "the shahada"?
The shahada is a testimony of faith. Wikipedia lists it as:
لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله lā ʾilāha ʾillā-llāh, muḥammadur-rasūlu-llāh There is no god but God. Muhammad is the messenger of God.
Seen here in the form of a variant of Saudi Arabia's flag:
Question: Is there a specific sequence of Arabic words which is considered "the shahada"?
Basically, I want to know if لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله is "the shahada", and nothing else is "the shahada".
Would the following also be considered "the shahada":
أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ ashadu an la ilaha illa'llah wa ashadu anna muhammadan abduhu wa rasululu I testify that there is no god but God. I also testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God.
The aforementioned Wikipedia page writes:
In Shia Islam, the shahada also has a third part, a phrase concerning Ali, the first Shia Imam and the fourth Rashid caliph of Sunni Islam: وعليٌ وليُّ الله (wa ʿalīyyun walīyyu-llāh), which translates to "and Ali is the wali of God".
In the context of Shia Islam the same question applies, albeit to a different sequence of Arabic words.
