The Six Kalmas ( Arabic : ٱلكَلِمَات ٱلسِتّ al-kalimāt as-sitt , also spelled qalmah ), also known as the Six Traditions or the Six Phrases , are six Islamic phrases ( prayers ) often recited by South Asian Muslims. The phrases are taken in part from hadiths .
25-1091: Recitation of the Six Kalimahs is taught in South Asian Muslim schools. The importance of learning the Six Kalimahs is disputed, with some regarding them as essential phrases to be memorised and others arguing that they are not present in the Quran or substantiated by Muhammad. Kalimat aṭ-Ṭayyibah (Word of Purity ) كَلِمَاتْ اَلشَّهَادَة Kalimat ash-Shahādah (Word of Testimony ) كَلِمَاتْ اَلتَّمْجِيدْ Kalimat at-Tamjīd (Word of Majesty ) كَلِمَاتْ اَلتَّوْحِيدْ Kalimat at-Tawḥīd (Word of Oneness ) كَلِمَاتْ إِسْتِغْفَارْ Kalimat ʾIstighfār (Word of Penitence ) كَلِمَاتْ رَدّْ اَلْكُفْرْ Kalimat Radd al-Kufr ("Word of Rejection of Disbelief ") Shahada The Shahada ( Arabic : الشَّهَادَةُ aš-šahādatu ; Arabic pronunciation: [aʃʃahaːdatʊ] , 'the testimony'), also transliterated as Shahadah ,
50-576: A flag featuring the Shahada in white script centered on a red background. In 2006, the Islamic State of Iraq designed its flag using the Shahada phrase written in white on black background. The font used is supposedly similar to the font used as seal on the original letters written on Muhammad's behalf . Tahlil The Tahlil ( Arabic : تَهْلِيل , tahlīl , Arabic pronunciation: [tah.liːl] ), also spelled Tahleel ,
75-407: A hundred good deeds will be recorded to his credit, hundred of his sins will be blotted out from his scroll, and he will be safeguarded against the devil on that day till the evening; and no one will exceed him in doing more excellent good deeds except someone who has recited these words more often than him Malik ibn Anas reported from Talha ibn Ubaydullah ibn Kariz that Muhammad said, "The best dua
100-470: Is a form of dhikr that involves the praising of God in Islam by saying "There is no god but Allah. He has no partner with Him" ( لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له ). The word Tahlil is the verbal noun of the form 2 verb Hallala ( هَلَّلَ ) which means '"to praise" or "to acclaim". Traditionally, the utterance of the sentence is part of the shahada performed by somebody converting to Islam . It
125-570: Is an Islamic oath and creed , and one of the Five Pillars of Islam and part of the Adhan . It reads: "I bear witness that there is no deity but God , and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God ." The Shahada declares belief in the oneness ( tawhid ) of God and the acceptance of Muhammad as God's messenger. Some Shia Muslims also include a statement of belief in
150-460: Is clear that the sentiments it expresses were part of the Quran and Islamic doctrine from the earliest period. The Shahada has been traditionally recited in the Sufi ceremony of dhikr (Arabic: ذِکْر , " remembrance "), a ritual that resembles mantras found in many other religious traditions. During the ceremony, the Shahada may be repeated thousands of times, sometimes in the shortened form of
175-429: Is more common among Muslims who are followers of the traditionalist Nahdlatul Ulama movement. According to Abu Huraira , Muhammad said He who utters a hundred times in a day these words: 'there is nobody worthy of worship except Allah. He is One and He has no partner with Him; His is the sovereignty and His is the praise, and He is Omnipotent),' he will have a reward equivalent to that for emancipating ten slaves,
200-401: Is no deity but Him) much more often. It appears in the shorter form lā ʾilāha ʾillā huwa (There is no deity but Him) in many places. It appears in these forms about 30 times in the Quran. It is never attached with the second part, and any mention of Ali, who is particularly important to Shia Muslims, is absent from the Quran. Islam's monotheistic nature is reflected in the first sentence of
225-423: Is no god but God. Muhammad is the messenger of God." In English, capitalization of a word's initial letter indicates that it is a proper noun ; that is, the name of a unique entity. If it is a noun with a lower case initial letter it is a "common noun"; that is a name which is not unique to an entity, but, instead, could apply to a number of members of a set. The orthography of the translation therefore replicates
250-450: Is recommended for tahlil to be uttered as the last words of a dying person as a hadith states that the person who dies uttering the tahlil (with conviction in the words) will certainly enter Jannah. In Indonesia and Malaysia , ritualized repetitive chanting of the tahlil is part of the tradition of kenduri , which is common during death rituals. The custom is known locally as majlis tahlil "assembly to perform prayers". This practice
275-489: Is the Messenger of God. The above two statements are commonly prefaced by the phrase ašhadu ʾan ('I bear witness that'), yielding the full form: أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ ٱللَّٰهِ I bear witness that there is no deity but God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God. Audio The Shahada can be translated into English as "There
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#1732771771262300-467: Is used in the Quran as one of the " titles of God ". In Sunni Islam , the Shahada has two parts: 'lā ʾilāha ʾillā -llāh' ("There is no deity except God"), and 'muḥammadun rasūlu llāh' ("Muhammad is the Messenger of God"), which are sometimes referred to as the first Shahada and the second Shahada . The first statement of the Shahada is also known as the tahlīl . In Shia Islam ,
325-564: Is whispered into the ear of a dying person. The five canonical daily prayers each include a recitation of the Shahada. Recitation of the Shahada is also the only formal step in conversion to Islam . This occasion often attracts witnesses and sometimes includes a celebration to welcome the converts into their new faith. In accordance with the central importance played by the notion of intention (Arabic: نِيَّة , niyyah ) in Islamic doctrine,
350-403: The wilayat of Ali , but they do not consider it as an obligatory part for converting to Islam . A single honest recitation of the Shahada is all that is required for a person to become a Muslim according to most traditional schools . The declaration reads: لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ There is no deity but God . مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ ٱللَّٰهِ Muhammad
375-527: The Shahada also has an optional third part, a phrase concerning Ali , the first Shia imam and the fourth Rashidun caliph of Sunni Islam : وَعَلِيٌّ وَلِيُّ ٱللَّٰهِ ( wa ʿaliyyun waliyyu llāh [wa.ʕa.lijːun wa.lijːu‿ɫ.ɫaː.h] ), which translates to "Ali is the wali of God". In the Quran, the first statement of the Shahadah takes the form lā ʾilāha ʾillā llāh twice ( 37:35 , 47:19 ), and ʾallāhu lā ʾilāha ʾillā huwa (God, there
400-403: The Shahada , which declares belief in the oneness of God and that he is the only entity truly worthy of worship. The second sentence of the Shahada indicates the means by which God has offered guidance to human beings. The verse reminds Muslims that they accept not only the prophecy of Muhammad but also the long line of prophets who preceded him. While the first part is seen as a cosmic truth,
425-539: The Arabic script in particular, as indicated by its use, without concern for its content, in painting, architecture and book illustrations. The Shahada is found on some Islamic flags . For an example Wahhabis have used the Shahada on their flags since the 18th century. In 1902, Ibn Saud , leader of the House of Saud and the future founder of Saudi Arabia , added a sword to this flag. The modern Flag of Saudi Arabia
450-656: The Hadiths. Versions of both phrases began to appear in coins and monumental architecture in the late seventh century, which suggests that it had not been officially established as a ritual statement of faith until then. An inscription in the Dome of the Rock (est. 692) in Jerusalem reads: "There is no deity but God alone; He has no partner with him; Muhammad is the Messenger of God". Another variant appears in coins minted after
475-423: The first phrase where the word 'Allah' ("God") is replaced by 'huwa' ("Him"). The chanting of the Shahada sometimes provides a rhythmic background for singing. The Shahada appears as an architectural element in Islamic buildings around the world, such as those in Jerusalem , Cairo , and Istanbul . Late-medieval and Renaissance European art displays a fascination with Middle Eastern motifs in general and
500-521: The month of Ramadan , and making a pilgrimage to the Kaaba : the Five Pillars of Islam are inherent in this declaration of faith. Including: Recitation of the Shahadah is the most common statement of faith for Muslims. Sunnis, Shia Twelvers , as well as Isma'ilis consider it as one of the Five Pillars of Islam . It is whispered by the father into the ear of a newborn child, and it
525-575: The original Arabic meaning so that god is a common noun and God is a unique proper name. The noun shahādah ( شَهَادَة ), from the verb šahida ( [ʃa.hi.da] شَهِدَ ), from the root š-h-d ( ش-ه-د ) meaning "to observe, witness, testify", translates as "testimony" in both the everyday and the legal senses. The Islamic creed is also called, in the dual form, shahādatān ( شَهَادَتَان , literally "two testimonies"). The expression al-šahīd ( ٱلْشَّهِيد , "the Witness")
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#1732771771262550-437: The recitation of the Shahada must reflect understanding of its import and heartfelt sincerity. Intention is what differentiates acts of devotion from mundane acts and a simple reading of the Shahada from invoking it as a ritual activity. Though the two statements of the Shahada are both present in the Quran (for instance, 37:35 and 48:29 ), they are not found there side by side as in the Shahada formula, but are present in
575-455: The reign of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan , the fifth Umayyad caliph : "Muhammad is the Servant of God and His messenger". Material evidence from the 690s documents the existence of differing versions of the Shahada in different regions as opposed to what would standardize into a uniform version in later periods. Although it is not clear when the Shahada first came into common use among Muslims, it
600-416: The second is specific to Islam, as it is understood that members of the older Abrahamic religions do not view Muhammad as one of their prophets. The Shahada is a statement of both ritual and worship. In a well-known hadith , Muhammad defines Islam as witnessing that there is no deity but God and that Muhammad is God's Messenger, giving of alms ( zakat ), performing the ritual prayer , fasting during
625-581: Was introduced in 1973. The Flag of Somaliland has a horizontal strip of green, white and red with the Shahada inscribed in white on the green strip. The flag of Afghanistan under the Taliban is a white flag with the Shahada inscribed in black. The various jihadist black flags used by Islamic insurgents since the 2000s have often followed this example. The Shahada written on a green background has been used by supporters of Hamas since about 2000. The 2004 draft constitution of Afghanistan proposed
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