Islam > Glossary > Slaa alshahd
Discover the meaning of the term Slaa alshahd (صلاة الشاهد) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 2 min readThe prayer of the witness (salat al-shahid): the maghrib prayer and the dawn prayer. Ash-shahadah: the verbal noun of direct witnessing; informing of what one has seen. In the Noble Book: 'And do not conceal the testimony: whoever conceals it has a sinful heart. And Allah knows what you do' (Al-Baqarah, 283); acknowledging what one knows; the decisive report; the evidence (bayyinah); the totality of what is perceived by the senses. Hence: the world of witness ('alam al-shahadah): the world of visible forms, as opposed to the world of the unseen. In the Noble Quran: 'Say: work! Allah will see your work, as will His Messenger and the believers, and you will be returned to the Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, and He will inform you of what you used to do' (At-Tawbah, 105). In legal terms: informing truthfully, to establish a right, with the formula of testimony, before the judge (al-Tamartashi). In legal terms: informing of what one has seen with one's eyes, with the formula of testimony, before the judge, concerning a right of another against someone (al-Jurjani). According to the Shafi'is: what is said before a judge, or one who deputises for him, after a claim has been presented, with the words: 'I bear witness.' In the Mejelle (article 1684): it is the report with the formula of testimony, that is, by saying 'I bear witness', to establish a right consisting in transferring upon another an obligation, in the presence of the judge and face to face with the two parties. The one who informs is called: shahid (witness); the one in whose favour he informs: mashhud lahu; the one against whom he informs: mashhud 'alayhi; the right: mashhud bihi. See the root sh-h-d.