How do we teach an elderly person who recites "La ilaha illa Allah" without understanding its meaning?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, what about the one who does not know the meaning of the phrase "La ilaha illa Allah" and is content with merely reciting it without understanding its meaning? How do I teach him, given that he is advanced in age?
Answer:
Teach him the meaning of "La ilaha illa Allah," which is the belief in the invalidity of worshipping anyone other than Allah. If he is upon shirk (associating partners with Allah), he must abandon the shirk and repent from it. As for if he does not worship anyone other than Allah but is ignorant of the meaning of "La ilaha illa Allah," clarify to him that its meaning is the belief in the invalidity of worshipping anyone other than Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Yes.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, what about the one who does not know the meaning of the phrase "La ilaha illa Allah" and is content with merely reciting it without understanding its meaning? How do I teach him, given that he is advanced in age?
Answer:
Teach him the meaning of "La ilaha illa Allah," which is the belief in the invalidity of worshipping anyone other than Allah. If he is upon shirk (associating partners with Allah), he must abandon the shirk and repent from it. As for if he does not worship anyone other than Allah but is ignorant of the meaning of "La ilaha illa Allah," clarify to him that its meaning is the belief in the invalidity of worshipping anyone other than Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [74 -521] كيف نعلم كبير السن الذي ينطق "لا إله إلا الله" دون فهمٍ لمعناها؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.