The 6 Kalimas: Arabic, Transliteration, and Meaning

What are the six Kalimas?

The six Kalimas are a group of short Arabic phrases, each one a compact statement of belief, praise, repentance, or refuge. The word kalima simply means a word or a statement, and here it refers to a set expression that carries a whole meaning of faith in a few lines. When people talk about the 6 Kalimas, they mean this particular set of six, taught and numbered in order, that generations of Muslims have memorized as one of the first things they learn about their religion.

The six, in their usual order, are the Kalima Tayyib (the word of purity), the Kalima Shahadat (the word of testimony), the Kalima Tamjeed (the word of glorification), the Kalima Tawheed (the word of oneness), the Kalima Astaghfar (the word of seeking forgiveness), and the Kalima Radd-e-Kufr (the word of rejecting disbelief). Read down that list and you can already feel the shape of it: it opens with the plain declaration of who Allah is and who His Messenger is, moves through testimony and praise and the affirmation of Allah's oneness, and closes with turning back to Allah in repentance and disowning everything that contradicts pure faith.

This grouping is especially well known across the Indian subcontinent, in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and the wider South Asian Muslim diaspora, where the six Kalimas are a standard part of the madrasa syllabus and of what parents teach at home. Many people who grew up in these communities can still recite all six from memory decades later, because they learned them young, often before they could read, by repeating them after a teacher or a parent. That early, heartfelt memorization is part of why the six Kalimas hold such a warm place in so many hearts.

Each Kalima works on its own, and each is worth understanding line by line rather than reciting as a string of sounds. Some are drawn word for word from the plainest statements of Islam and from the wording of authentic supplications. Others are put together from phrases of remembrance that appear across the Quran and the Sunnah. In this guide we take them one at a time, give you the exact Arabic, a careful transliteration, and a clear meaning, and explain what each is saying and where it fits into a Muslim's worship and daily life.

An honest note: the words and the numbering

Before we go through the six one by one, it is worth being clear and honest about something, because it protects your understanding and it respects both you and the religion. Here is the plain truth in a sentence: the wordings of the Kalimas are grounded in the Quran and the Sunnah, but the packaging of exactly these six phrases into a numbered set called the six Kalimas is a later teaching tradition rather than a list that appears together in a single hadith. Both halves of that sentence are true, and holding them together keeps your practice sound.

Take the strongest case first. The First Kalima, la ilaha illallah Muhammadur rasulullah, is the very core of Islam, the statement a person affirms to be a Muslim, and it runs all through the Quran and the authentic Sunnah. The Second Kalima is the well-known wording of the testimony of faith, the shahadah, which is reported in authentic hadith and which every Muslim says in the sitting of every prayer. These first two are not in any doubt at all. They are as central and as established as anything in the religion.

The other four are built from phrases that are likewise rooted in the sources. The words of the Third Kalima, subhanallah, wal-hamdu lillah, wa la ilaha illallah, wallahu akbar, are among the most beloved and most rewarded phrases of remembrance taught by the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. The Fourth Kalima is made of established phrases affirming Allah's oneness and power, several of which appear in authentic supplications. The Fifth Kalima is a form of seeking forgiveness, and seeking Allah's forgiveness in such words is thoroughly encouraged. The Sixth Kalima is a supplication of renouncing shirk that closely echoes a well-known authentic dua about disassociating from associating partners with Allah.

So what exactly is the later part? It is the specific act of selecting these six, fixing their order, giving each one a name and a number, First through Sixth, and teaching them as one bundled set. You will not find a single narration in which the Prophet, peace be upon him, listed six named Kalimas in this arrangement. The arrangement grew up as a teaching device, a curriculum, a memorable ladder that lets a beginner, and especially a child, carry the essentials of faith, praise, repentance, and refuge in one easy-to-hold package. That is a genuinely useful thing, and nothing about naming its origin lowers the value of the words themselves.

Why say all this plainly? Because Islam is careful about the difference between what came from revelation and what people arranged to help teach it. The six Kalimas sit comfortably on the right side of that line as long as you understand them correctly: you are reciting statements of faith and phrases of remembrance whose wordings are grounded in the Quran and Sunnah, organized into a helpful teaching set. A problem would only arise if someone believed the number six itself, or this exact bundle, was a fixed prophetic ritual with a promised reward attached to the packaging. It is not, and it does not need to be. The reward is in the meanings and in reciting the established words with sincerity. For any question of ruling, follow the guidance of qualified scholars.

First Kalima: Tayyib (the word of purity)

The First Kalima is called the Kalima Tayyib, which means the pure or good word. It is the short, core statement of Islam, the sentence around which the entire religion turns. If you learn only one thing from this whole guide, learn this one, because everything else is built on it.

Transliteration: La ilaha illallah, Muhammadur rasulullah.

Meaning in English: There is none worthy of worship except Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

Look at how much this small sentence carries. Its first half, la ilaha illallah, denies that anything at all deserves worship, and then affirms that Allah alone does. It is a clean sweep followed by a single truth: nothing, nothing, nothing is worthy of your worship except the One. Its second half, Muhammadur rasulullah, affirms that Muhammad, peace be upon him, is the Messenger of Allah, so that you take your religion from what he taught. Belief in Allah's oneness and belief in the Prophet's message are joined here into one breath.

This is the phrase a person says, understanding and meaning it, to enter Islam, and it is the phrase a Muslim keeps on their tongue and in their heart for the rest of their life. It is a statement of tawheed, the oneness of Allah, which is the foundation of everything. When you recite the Kalima Tayyib, you are declaring where all your worship, hope, fear, and love ultimately belong. To go deeper into these very words and how a person takes them, see our full guide to the Shahada.

Second Kalima: Shahadat (the word of testimony)

The Second Kalima is called the Kalima Shahadat, the word of testimony or witnessing. It takes the belief of the First Kalima and frames it as something you personally bear witness to, and it adds a little more detail about Allah and about the Prophet, peace be upon him.

Transliteration: Ash-hadu an la ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh.

Meaning in English: I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, alone, without any partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger.

Notice the two differences from the First Kalima. First, it opens with ash-hadu, I bear witness, which turns the statement from a fact you affirm into a testimony you actively give, the way a witness stands and testifies to what they know for certain. Second, it spells out two things that guard the meaning: wahdahu la sharika lah, that Allah is alone, without any partner, closing the door on associating anything with Him, and that Muhammad is His abd, His servant, before he is His Messenger, which keeps our love for the Prophet within its proper limit, honoring him as the greatest of servants and not raising him beyond that.

These are the very words you already say sitting in prayer, inside the Tashahhud, after every two rak'ahs and at the end of the prayer. So the Second Kalima is not something distant; it is woven into the daily prayer of every Muslim. If you want to see exactly where it sits within the recitation of the sitting, our guide to Attahiyat (the Tashahhud) walks through the whole passage line by line.

Third Kalima: Tamjeed (the word of glorification)

The Third Kalima is called the Kalima Tamjeed, the word of glorification and magnifying. Where the first two are about testifying to faith, this one is pure praise of Allah, made from some of the most loved phrases of remembrance a Muslim can say.

Transliteration: Subhanallahi, wal-hamdu lillahi, wa la ilaha illallahu, wallahu akbar, wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa billahil-aliyyil-azim.

Meaning in English: Glory be to Allah, and all praise is for Allah, and there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and Allah is the Greatest. And there is no power and no strength except with Allah, the Most High, the Most Great.

Every phrase in this Kalima is a treasure on its own. Subhanallah declares Allah free of every flaw and imperfection. Alhamdulillah gives all praise back to Him as the source of every good. La ilaha illallah repeats the core of faith. Allahu akbar affirms that Allah is greater than everything. These four together, sometimes called the baqiyat as-salihat, the enduring good deeds, are among the phrases the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, described as most beloved to Allah. The closing phrase, la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah, admits that no one has any power to do good or avoid harm except by Allah's help, and it is described in authentic reports as a treasure from the treasures of Paradise.

Because it is built from these phrases, the Third Kalima is a wonderful thing to keep on your tongue through the day, on a tasbih, while walking, or in any quiet moment. If you would like to sit with two of its phrases more closely, our guides to Subhanallah and the wider meaning of praise will deepen what you feel when you recite this Kalima.

Fourth Kalima: Tawheed (the word of oneness)

The Fourth Kalima is called the Kalima Tawheed, the word of the oneness of Allah. It is a fuller declaration of who Allah is: one, without partner, the owner of all dominion, the giver of life and death, the ever-living, and the one with power over all things.

Transliteration: La ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lah, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamd, yuhyi wa yumitu wa huwa hayyun la yamutu abadan abada, dhul-jalali wal-ikram, biyadihil-khayr, wa huwa ala kulli shay'in qadir.

Meaning in English: There is none worthy of worship except Allah, alone, without any partner. To Him belongs the dominion, and to Him belongs all praise. He gives life and He gives death, and He is Ever-Living and will never die, ever. Owner of Majesty and Honor. In His hand is all good, and He has power over all things.

Read the meaning slowly and you can see why it is called the Kalima of tawheed. It begins with the same affirmation of oneness, then piles up the qualities that belong to Allah alone. All kingship and ownership are His. All praise is His. He alone gives life and takes it, while He Himself never dies. He is the Owner of Majesty and Honor, a name of Allah that appears in the Quran. Every good is in His hand, and He is able to do anything He wills. Reciting this is like taking a slow, deliberate look at the greatness of your Lord, one attribute after another, until your heart settles on how completely everything depends on Him.

The phrases here are not random. Much of this Kalima matches the wording of a well-known form of remembrance that the Prophet, peace be upon him, taught as a hugely rewarded thing to say, particularly the passage lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamd, yuhyi wa yumitu, wa huwa ala kulli shay'in qadir. So when you recite the Fourth Kalima, you are reciting phrases that carry great weight in the Sunnah, gathered here into one flowing declaration of Allah's oneness and power.

Fifth Kalima: Astaghfar (seeking forgiveness)

The Fifth Kalima is called the Kalima Astaghfar, the word of seeking forgiveness. After the first four have grounded you in faith, praise, and Allah's oneness, this one turns you toward Allah as a servant who sins and needs His pardon, and it does so beautifully, covering every kind of sin you might carry.

Transliteration: Astaghfirullaha rabbi min kulli dhanbin adhnabtuhu amadan aw khata'an, sirran aw alaniyah, wa atubu ilayhi minadh-dhanbil-ladhi a'lamu wa minadh-dhanbil-ladhi la a'lam, innaka anta allamul-ghuyubi wa sattarul-uyubi wa ghaffarudh-dhunub, wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa billahil-aliyyil-azim.

Meaning in English: I seek forgiveness from Allah, my Lord, for every sin I committed knowingly or by mistake, secretly or openly, and I turn to Him in repentance from the sin that I know and from the sin that I do not know. Indeed You, You are the Knower of all that is hidden, the Concealer of faults, and the Great Forgiver of sins. And there is no power and no strength except with Allah, the Most High, the Most Great.

What makes this Kalima so complete is how it leaves no sin outside its reach. It asks forgiveness for what was done on purpose and by accident, in private and in public, and for the sins you are aware of and the ones you have forgotten or never even noticed. Then it praises Allah with three names that fit the moment perfectly: the One who knows all that is hidden, the One who veils and conceals faults rather than exposing them, and the One who forgives sins again and again. It closes, like the Third Kalima, by admitting that even turning back to Allah happens only by His help.

This is a Kalima to reach for whenever your heart feels heavy, and a lovely habit to say daily. Seeking forgiveness, or istighfar, is one of the most freeing acts in Islam, and the Prophet, peace be upon him, sought Allah's forgiveness often even though his past and future faults were already pardoned. To understand the meaning and virtues of this seeking of forgiveness more fully, read our guide to the meaning of Astaghfirullah, which pairs naturally with this Kalima.

Sixth Kalima: Radd-e-Kufr (rejecting disbelief)

The Sixth Kalima is called the Kalima Radd-e-Kufr, the word of rejecting or repelling disbelief. It is the longest of the six, and it is a powerful supplication in which you seek refuge from shirk, ask forgiveness for it, and openly disown disbelief and a whole list of sins, sealing it with the core statement of faith.

Transliteration: Allahumma inni a'udhu bika min an ushrika bika shay'an wa ana a'lamu bih, wa astaghfiruka lima la a'lamu bih, tubtu anhu wa tabarra'tu minal-kufri wash-shirki wal-kidhbi wal-ghibati wal-bid'ati wan-namimati wal-fawahishi wal-buhtani wal-ma'asi kulliha, wa aslamtu wa aqulu la ilaha illallah Muhammadur rasulullah.

Meaning in English: O Allah, I seek refuge in You from knowingly associating anything as a partner with You, and I seek Your forgiveness for that which I do not know of it. I repent from it, and I free myself from disbelief, from associating partners with You, from lying, from backbiting, from innovation, from tale-bearing, from immoral deeds, from slander, and from all acts of disobedience. And I submit to You, and I say: There is none worthy of worship except Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

The heart of this Kalima is its opening, which is very close to a well-known authentic supplication about shirk. Because associating partners with Allah is the gravest of sins, and because a person can slip into a hidden form of it without realizing, this Kalima guards you from both sides: it asks refuge from any shirk you might commit knowingly, and forgiveness for any you commit without knowing. Then it goes further, having you actively disown a list of major sins one by one, so that you are not merely avoiding them but declaring yourself free of them. It ends by affirming that you submit to Allah, and it returns you home to the First Kalima, the plain statement of faith.

Reciting the Sixth Kalima is like cleaning the slate of your belief and re-committing to pure monotheism. It is a beautiful thing to say when you want to renew your faith, guard your heart against pride and hidden shirk, and remind yourself of the sins to keep far away from. As with all matters of belief and repentance, if you have specific worries or questions, take them to a qualified, trustworthy scholar rather than carrying them alone.

The six Kalimas at a glance

Here is the whole set in one place, so you can see the shape of the six together. Notice how they move from declaring faith, to testifying it, to praising Allah, to affirming His oneness in full, to seeking His forgiveness, and finally to rejecting everything that opposes pure faith. It is a small curriculum of belief, arranged to carry a person from the first word of Islam to a complete renewal of it.

Keep this table as a quick map. If you ever forget which Kalima is which, glance back here and the order will settle again. And remember the honest framing from earlier: the first two are the plainest, most central statements of Islam, straight from the Quran and Sunnah, and the phrases of the others are drawn from established remembrance and supplication, while the numbering of the set is a teaching arrangement to help you learn them all.

When are the six Kalimas recited?

Because the six Kalimas are a teaching set rather than a legislated ritual with fixed times, there is no rule that you must recite all six at a set hour the way the five daily prayers are fixed. That freedom is a gift, not a shortcoming. It means you can weave them into your day wherever they fit, and their individual phrases already live inside your worship whether you think of them as Kalimas or not.

Many families recite the six together as a daily habit, often teaching them to children in the same sitting so the young ones learn by hearing them repeated. People also turn to specific Kalimas for specific moments. The Second Kalima, the testimony, is part of the sitting in every single prayer. The phrases of the Third Kalima are among the best things to say on a tasbih and in idle moments. The Fifth Kalima is a natural reach when you feel the weight of a mistake and want to seek forgiveness. The Sixth Kalima is recited to renew faith and disown disbelief, and it is a comforting thing to say when you fear you may have slipped toward pride or hidden shirk.

A gentle word on numbers. You may hear people attach particular counts or promised rewards to reciting a certain Kalima a set number of times. Since the grouping is a teaching tradition, treat such specific claims with care and do not build a belief on a fixed count unless it traces to an authentic source for that particular phrase. Recite the Kalimas with understanding and sincerity, let them shape how you see Allah and yourself, and that presence of heart is worth far more than any tally.

How to memorize the six Kalimas

If you cannot yet recite all six from memory, do not worry at all. They are short, they build on one another, and steady practice fixes them faster than you expect. Here is a simple way to learn them well.

Go in order, one at a time. Start with the First Kalima and do not move on until it is solid, then add the Second, and so on. The order is designed to help you: the First and Second are short and share words, the Third is made of phrases you may already say daily, and each later one leans on what came before. Trying to swallow all six at once is what makes people give up.

Learn by ear, not only by eye. Transliteration is a helpful bridge, but Arabic has sounds that English letters cannot fully capture, such as the letters written with an apostrophe. Listen to a clear reciter say each Kalima slowly and repeat after them out loud. Your ear will catch what the page cannot show you, and your pronunciation will come out far cleaner.

Study the meaning alongside the sound. Use the meanings in this guide so you are memorizing sense, not just syllables. Words you understand are much easier to hold, and they also do their real work on your heart, which is the whole point. Knowing that the Fifth Kalima covers even the sins you have forgotten, for instance, changes how it feels to say it.

Use small, daily repetition. A few careful minutes every day beats a long cram once a week. Recite what you know from memory, glance at the text for the rest, and lean on the text a little less each day. Attaching the Kalimas to a fixed anchor, such as after a particular prayer or on your commute, helps them become automatic.

Be patient and ask for help. If your recitation is rough at first, that is completely normal and nothing to be embarrassed about. Ask a knowledgeable teacher, an imam, or a confident family member to listen and correct you, since a person can catch a slip that a written guide cannot. Allah knows your effort and your intention, and consistency matters more than speed.

Teaching the Kalimas to children deserves a special mention, because that is how most people first learned them. Keep it light and warm. Say a Kalima together a little each day, celebrate small progress, and let the meaning grow with the child over the years. A phrase learned young, with love, tends to stay for life.

How Niyyara helps you learn them

Learning the six Kalimas well comes down to two things: having the words and their meanings in front of you in a form you can actually use, and building a gentle daily habit so they settle into memory and into your heart. Niyyara is built to help with both, and it does so for free, with no ads and no subscriptions coming between you and your worship.

Niyyara is a free, private, ad-free companion for a practicing Muslim. Inside it you have the complete Quran in Arabic with audio recitation and translation, so you can trace the phrases of the Kalimas back to their roots and understand them deeply, whether it is the testimony you say in prayer or the praises of the Third Kalima. It carries a collection of everyday duas, the 99 names of Allah with their meanings, a tasbih for keeping phrases of remembrance on your tongue, accurate prayer times with the azan, an exact Qibla compass, the Islamic calendar, and a worship tracker to help you see your consistency grow over time.

Because it is completely free and private, nothing pulls your attention away from the words you are learning. Worship should never feel like a product being sold to you. Niyyara stays quiet and out of the way, and simply keeps the Quran, the duas, and the tools of remembrance close at hand so that learning the Kalimas, reciting them, and passing them to your children becomes a natural part of your day.

The six Kalimas, in the end, are a small ladder that carries the essentials of faith in a handful of lines. Now you have each one in Arabic, a careful transliteration and meaning, a short explanation of what it says and when it is recited, and the honest truth that the first two are drawn straight from the Quran and Sunnah while the numbering into six is a later teaching tradition. Learn them slowly, understand every phrase, and let them shape how you see your Lord and yourself. May Allah make them easy on your tongue and heavy on your scale. Start with the First Kalima today, and build from there.