declaration of faith

"To understand how this decisive formula ( the shahadah) is 

one must observe the place it occupies in the ordinary muslim, 

who will pronounce these words in every crisis and at every moment when the world threatens to overwhelm him, as he will when death approaches.

 A pious man, seized by rage, will appeal suddenly to have stopped in his tracks as he remembers the shahadah and, as it were, withdraws, putting a great distance between himself and his turbulent emotions.

 A women crying out in childbirth will suddenly fall silent, remembering; 

and a student, bowed anxiously over his desk in an examination hall, will raise his head and speak these words, and a barely audible sigh of relief passes through the whole assembly.

 This is the ultimate answer to all the questions. "

                                                             -Gai Eaten, Islam and the Destiny of Man