Are you supposed to pronounce the haa at the end of Allah. And if a person mispronounces the shahada, does it count?

Question Summary

Does a person’s testification of faith (shahada) count if they mispronounced it? Also, is the letter haa at the end of the Name of Allah Most High supposed to be pronounced?

Question Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

A person is considered to have entered the fold of Islam when they accept belief in the proper tenets of Islam (which includes relinquishing any erroneous beliefs) in their heart.

The testification of faith (shahada) is a condition for the person to be considered a Muslim and treated thus, especially regarding various things pertaining to Muslims: being buried in the Muslim cemetery, being washed, and shrouded, etc…

The mispronunciation of the shahada does not affect their Islam.

Correct Pronunciation

The letter haa at the end of the Name of Allah Most High must be pronounced. However, it is not a requirement that one pronounces the voweling at the end. Merely stopping on the last letter is allowed.

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and some texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.