The First Word of the Shahadah — أشهد

1. Meaning

The first word of the Shahadah is أشهد (ash-hadu).
It means: “I bear witness” or “I testify.”

So when you say it, you are starting the testimony of faith in Islam.

2. Reading the Word

Let’s sound it out slowly:

• أ = a (like the a in apple)
• ش = sh (like sh in she)
• ه = h (a soft “h” sound, like in hello)
• د = d (like d in dog)

Put it all together: ash-hadu → أشهد

3. Writing the Word (by hand)

Arabic letters connect like handwriting in English cursive.
Here’s how they appear in this word:

• أ → (a) the first letter, stands alone.
• ش → (sh) connects next. So it becomes شــ
• هـ → (h) comes after, written small and round. It connects to the previous and the next ــهــ
• د → (d) comes last, and it does not connect after it. Just before it ــد
• The “u” sound at the end comes from a short vowel mark in Arabic called ḍamma ( ُ ). It shows the grammatical case of the word. For now, you can think of it as a small ending vowel. So whether you say ash-had or ash-hadu, the meaning is the same — we’ll go deeper into this later.

So when you write it together, it looks like this: أشهد

4. Typing the Word (on computer/phone)

To type in Arabic, you’ll need to switch your keyboard to Arabic layout.
The letters are:

• أ = (Shift + H on Mac/PC Arabic keyboard)
• ش = (on the S key)
• ه = (on the I key)
• د = (on the D key)

Typed together → أشهد

Summary

Now you can:

• Say it: ash-hadu
• Write it: أشهد
• Type it: أشهد