Kalima List The six kalimas, their meanings and where their words come from

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The six kalimas, with their meanings and sources

Read them, learn them, and see where each one’s words are found in the Quran and the hadith.

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First kalima Learning plan

The six kalimas

  1. First kalima: Tayyib (the pure word)

    Lā ilāha illallāhu Muḥammadur rasūlullāh.

    There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

    Both halves are words of the Quran: “there is no god but Allah” is in Quran 47:19, and “Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah” opens Quran 48:29.

  2. Second kalima: Shahadah (the testimony)

    Ash-hadu an lā ilāha illallāhu waḥdahū lā sharīka lah, wa ash-hadu anna Muḥammadan ‘abduhū wa rasūluh.

    I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger.

    These are exactly the words said after wudu in Hisn al-Muslim 13, from Sahih Muslim 234, shown below in Arabic.

  3. Third kalima: Tamjid (glorification)

    Subḥānallāhi wal-ḥamdu lillāhi wa lā ilāha illallāhu wallāhu akbar, wa lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā billāhil-‘aliyyil-‘aẓīm.

    Glory be to Allah, praise be to Allah, there is no god but Allah, and Allah is the Greatest. There is no power and no strength except through Allah, the Most High, the Almighty.

    Every word is in the dhikr for waking in the night (Sahih al-Bukhari 1154); the first four phrases are “the four words most beloved to Allah” (Sahih Muslim 2137).

  4. Fourth kalima: Tawhid (the oneness of Allah)

    Lā ilāha illallāhu waḥdahū lā sharīka lah, lahul-mulku wa lahul-ḥamdu, yuḥyī wa yumītu, wa huwa ḥayyun lā yamūtu abadan abadā, dhul-jalāli wal-ikrām, biyadihil-khayr, wa huwa ‘alā kulli shay’in qadīr.

    There is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. His is the dominion and His is the praise. He gives life and He gives death, and He is the Living, who never dies, never, ever: the Lord of majesty and honour. All good is in His hand, and He has power over all things.

    The words are the dhikr for entering the market (Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi 3428); the taught kalima adds “abadan abada, dhul-jalali wal-ikram”.

  5. Fifth kalima: Astighfar (seeking forgiveness)

    Astaghfirullāha rabbī min kulli dhambin adhnabtuhū ‘amadan aw khaṭa’an, sirran aw ‘alāniyatan, wa atūbu ilayhi minadh-dhambil-ladhī a‘lamu wa minadh-dhambil-ladhī lā a‘lam, innaka anta ‘allāmul-ghuyūbi wa sattārul-‘uyūbi wa ghaffārudh-dhunūb, wa lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā billāhil-‘aliyyil-‘aẓīm.

    I ask forgiveness of Allah, my Lord, for every sin I have done, on purpose or by mistake, in secret or in the open, and I turn to Him in repentance from the sin I know of and the sin I don’t. You are the Knower of what is hidden, the One who covers faults and forgives sins. There is no power and no strength except through Allah, the Most High, the Almighty.

    The fifth kalima is a taught text rather than one hadith. Its meaning is that of Sayyid al-Istighfar (Sahih al-Bukhari 6306), shown below.

  6. Sixth kalima: Radd al-Kufr (rejecting disbelief)

    Allāhumma innī a‘ūdhu bika min an ushrika bika shay’an wa ana a‘lamu bih, wa astaghfiruka limā lā a‘lamu bih, tubtu ‘anhu wa tabarra’tu minal-kufri wash-shirki wal-kidhbi wal-ghībati wal-bid‘ati wan-namīmati wal-fawāḥishi wal-buhtāni wal-ma‘āṣī kullihā, wa aslamtu wa aqūlu lā ilāha illallāhu Muḥammadur rasūlullāh.

    O Allah, I seek refuge with You from knowingly joining anything with You, and I ask Your forgiveness for what I do not know. I repent of it, and I declare myself free of disbelief, of joining partners with Allah, of lying, backbiting, innovation in religion, tale-carrying, indecency, slander and every sin. I submit, and I say: there is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

    Its opening is close to the dua against hidden shirk taught to Abu Bakr (al-Adab al-Mufrad 716); the rest is a taught text.

The kalimas in numbers

  • 6 kalimas, in the set taught across South Asia A teaching tradition, not one narration
  • 2 halves of the first kalima, both words of the Quran Quran 47:19 and 48:29
  • 4 words of praise opening the third kalima, the four most beloved to Allah Sahih Muslim 2137
  • 12 weeks in our learning plan, one kalima at a time Our learning plan

Each kalima on its own page

What the six kalimas are

Six short statements many children learn by heart. Kalima means “word” (also spelled kalma). The first two declare faith, the third and fourth praise Allah and declare His oneness, the fifth seeks pardon, and the sixth rejects disbelief.

A South Asian teaching set. The six, with these names and in this order, come from the Indian subcontinent, not from one narration, which is why some Muslims have never heard of them.

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Where each kalima’s words come from

Mostly far older than the set. Both halves of the first are in the Quran (Quran 47:19 and 48:29). The second is word for word the dua after wudu (Sahih Muslim 234), and the third and fourth are found inside duas the Prophet ﷺ taught (Sahih al-Bukhari 1154, Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi 3428). The fifth and sixth are teaching texts; each page shows its source in Arabic.

Learning them

One at a time, meaning first. A child who knows what “la ilaha illallah” means will hold on to it. Switch on “Memorise” above to hide the words, tick each kalima when it is known, and follow the learning plan. Muslims Around the World explains the declaration at the heart of the first two in its guide to the shahada.

Kalima questions people ask

Is it kalima or kalma?

Both. The Arabic word is kalima; kalma is how it is often said in Urdu and Punjabi, so both spellings are common in the UK.

Are the six kalimas in the Quran?

Not as a set of six. The words of the first are in the Quran (Quran 47:19 and 48:29), and the second, third and fourth are in hadith (Sahih Muslim 234, Sahih al-Bukhari 1154, Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi 3428). The set itself was put together for teaching in South Asia.

Do I have to know all six to be a Muslim?

No. The heart of faith is to bear witness, sincerely, that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger (Sahih al-Bukhari 128), which is the meaning of the first two kalimas. The others are a good way to learn praise and remembrance.

Why don’t you show every kalima in Arabic?

We only show Arabic we can check letter for letter against a trusted source. The second kalima is exactly a dua in Hisn al-Muslim, so we show it; for the others, the taught wording differs a little from its source, so we show the source’s own Arabic instead.