بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Objection: If the Arabic word ‘kalimah’ means ‘a word’, how can entire sentences be referred to as kalimahs?
Response: The Arabic word ‘kalimah’ has many applications. It is mentioned in the forty-volume classical Arabic dictionary, Tājul ʿUrūs by ʿAllāmah Zabīdī (رحمه الله), which is a commentary on the famous Al-Qāmūs by the Shāfiʿī muḥaddith and lexicographer, Al-Fayrūzʾābādī (رحمه الله) (d. 817 A.H.), that ‘kalimah’ means a word. However, it is metaphorically used to refer to an entire poem.[1] The early lexicographer, ʾAbū Manṣūr Al-ʾAzharī (رحمه الله) (d. 380 A.H.) mentioned in Tahdhībul Lughah: “Kalimah can be applied to mean one letter from the alphabet. It can be applied to mean one word which comprises of a combination of letters which has a meaning. It can be applied to an entire poem, and it can be applied to an entire speech (khuṭbah).”[2]
‘Kalimah’ can also refer to statements, sentences or phrases as will be highlighted from the Qurʾān and Sunnah.
The Prophet ﷺ used the word kalimah to refer to a stanza of a poem. He ﷺ said:
أصدق كلمة قالها شاعر كلمة لبيد: ألا كل شيء ما خلا الله باطل.
“The most truthful statement ever said by a poet was that of Labīd:
‘Listen! Everything apart from Allāh is baseless.’”[3]
Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar (رحمه الله) explained that in this statement, ‘kalimah’ can refer to half of the stanza which the Prophet ﷺ mentioned or the entire poem.[4]
Our beloved Nabī ﷺ also said:
إن العبد ليتكلم بالكلمة من رضوان الله تعالى ما يُلقي لها بالا يرفعه الله بها درجات
وإن العبد ليتكلم بالكلمة من سخط الله تعالى لا يُلقي لها بالا يَهوي بها في جهنم.
“A servant utters a word/statement that pleases Allāh and he does not even realise it, due to which Allāh elevates his ranks.
A servant utters a word/statement that angers Allāh and he does not even realise it, due to which he falls into Hell.”[5]
Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar (رحمه الله) explained that in this statement, ‘kalimah’ means: “Speech (kalām) which entails a good or bad meaning, whether short or long. For instance, it is said: ‘kalimah shahādah’ and a poem is called the kalimah of so-and-so.”[6]
عَنْ سُلَيْمَانَ بْنِ صُرَدٍ، قَالَ كُنْتُ جَالِسًا مَعَ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ وَرَجُلاَنِ يَسْتَبَّانِ، فَأَحَدُهُمَا احْمَرَّ وَجْهُهُ وَانْتَفَخَتْ أَوْدَاجُهُ، فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ: إِنِّي لأَعْلَمُ كَلِمَةً لَوْ قَالَهَا ذَهَبَ عَنْهُ مَا يَجِدُ، لَوْ قَالَ أَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ، ذَهَبَ عَنْهُ مَا يَجِدُ.
Sayyidunā Sulaymān ibn Ṣurad (رضي الله عنه) narrated: “I was once sitting with the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ when two men began to quarrel. The face of one of them had turned red and the veins on his neck were protruding. The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: ‘I know a statement which will cause his anger to subside if he says it. If he says: ‘I seek refuge in Allāh from Shayṭān, the accursed’, his anger will subside.’”[7]
عَنْ أَبِي مَحْذُورَةَ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ عَلَّمَهُ الأَذَانَ تِسْعَ عَشْرَةَ كَلِمَةً وَالإِقَامَةَ سَبْعَ عَشْرَةَ كَلِمَةً
The Ṣaḥābī ʾAbū Maḥdhūrah (رضي الله عنه) said: “The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ taught me the ʾadhān with nineteen phrases and the ʾiqāmah with seventeen phrases.”[8]
The Arabian Ṣaḥābī used the word ‘kalimah’ to mean each entire sentence in the ʾadhān. Two of those sentences are:
أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَّا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللّٰہُ and أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُوْلُ اللّٰہِ
Furthermore, both Allāh Taʿālā and His Messenger ﷺ have used the word ‘kalimah’ to mean the kalimah of tawḥīd. Allāh Taʿālā said:
إِذْ جَعَلَ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوْا فِيْ قُلُوْبِهِمُ الْحَمِيَّةَ حَمِيَّةَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ فَأَنْزَلَ اللّٰهُ سَكِيْنَتَهُ عَلَىٰ رَسُوْلِهِ وَعَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ وَأَلْزَمَهُمْ كَلِمَةَ التَّقْوَىٰ وَكَانُوْا أَحَقَّ بِهَا وَأَهْلَهَا. وَكَانَ اللّٰهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيْمًا
“When those who disbelieved had put into their hearts chauvinism – the chauvinism of the time of ignorance. But Allāh sent down His tranquillity upon His Messenger and upon the believers and imposed upon them the word/statement of taqwā, and they were more deserving of it and worthy of it. And ever is Allāh, of all things, Knowing.”[9]
Regarding the verse: “And imposed upon them the word of taqwā,” it is narrated that the Prophet ﷺ commented: “(It is): لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللّٰہُ.”[10]
Sayyidunā Ibn ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنهما) said: “The testimony (shahādah) of: لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللّٰہُ
َis the kalimah taqwā.”[11]
The Wāʿiẓ Tābiʿī, ʿAṭāʾ Al-Khurāsānī (رحمه الله) said: “It (kalimah taqwā) is:
لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللّٰہُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَّسُوْلُ اللّٰہِ
There is no god besides Allāh; Muḥammad ﷺ is the Messenger of Allāh.”[12]
The great Tābiʿī, ʿAṭāʾ ibn ʾAbī Rabāḥ (رحمه الله) said: “Kalimah taqwā is:
لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللّٰہُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيْكَ لَهُ، لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ، وَهُوَ عَلٰى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيْرٌ
There is no god besides Allāh, He is one. He has no partner.
For Him is the Kingdom and for Him is all praise. And He has power over everything.”[13]
عَنْ حُمْرَانَ بْنِ أَبَانَ، أَنَّ عُثْمَانَ بْنَ عَفَّانَ، رَضِيَ اللّٰہُ عَنْهُ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللّٰہِ ﷺ يَقُولُ إِنِّي لَأَعْلَمُ كَلِمَةً لَا يَقُولُهَا عَبْدٌ حَقًّا مِنْ قَلْبِهِ إِلَّا حُرِّمَ عَلَى النَّارِ فَقَالَ لَهُ عُمَرُ بْنُ الْخَطَّابِ رَضِيَ اللّٰہُ عَنْهُ أَنَا أُحَدِّثُكَ مَا هِيَ. هِيَ كَلِمَةُ الْإِخْلَاصِ الَّتِي أَعَزَّ اللّٰہُ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى بِهَا مُحَمَّدًا ﷺ وَأَصْحَابَهُ وَهِيَ كَلِمَةُ التَّقْوَى الَّتِي أَلَاصَ عَلَيْهَا نَبِيُّ اللّٰہِ ﷺ عَمَّهُ أَبَا طَالِبٍ عِنْدَ الْمَوْتِ شَهَادَةُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللّٰہُ.
Sayyidunā ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (رضي الله عنه) said: “I heard the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ say: ‘I know a statement. Any servant who utters it sincerely from his heart will be forbidden to the Fire.’ ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (رضي الله عنه) said to him: ‘I will tell you what it is: it is the word of al-ikhlāṣ by means of which Allāh Taʿālā caused Muhammad ﷺ and his companions to prevail and it is the kalimah of taqwā that the Prophet ﷺ of Allāh urged his uncle, ʾAbū Ṭālib to say when he was dying, the testimony (shahādah) of لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللّٰہُ – ‘there is no god but Allāh.’”[14]
From the above-mentioned aḥādīth and ʾāthār, it becomes evident that naming these seven statements, sentences, and phrases as a ‘kalimah’ is not only correct from a linguistic perspective, but some of them have also been called such in the Qurʾān, Sunnah and statements of the Salaf of the ʾUmmah.
May Allāh Taʿālā guide us to the Ḥaqq (Truth) and protect us from the deception of charlatans. ʾĀmīn.
[1] Tājul ʿUrūs min Jawāhiril Qāmūs Vol.33 Pg.371
[2] Tahdhībul Lughah Vol.10 Pg.265
[3] Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī #3841, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim #2256b
[4] Fatḥul Bārī bi-Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī Vol.11 Pg.287 [Risālah Edition]
[5] Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī #6478
[6] Fatḥul Bārī bi-Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī Vol.20 Pg.173 [Risālah Edition]
[7] Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī #3282, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim #2610
[8] Sunan ʾAbī Dāwūd #502, Jāmiʿ Tirmidhī #192, Sunan Ibn Mājah #709
[9] Sūrah Al-Fatḥ: 26
[10] Jāmiʿ Tirmidhī #3265, Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān #218, Tafsīr Ṭabarī, Al-ʾAsmāʾ waṣ Ṣifāt by Bayhaqī #197
[11] Ibn Jarīr Ṭabarī r in his Tafsīr Vol.21 Pg.311, Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr Vol.13 Pg.113
[12] Ibn Jarīr Ṭabarī r in his Tafsīr Vol.21 Pg.313, Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr Vol.13 Pg.113
[13] Ibn Jarīr Ṭabarī r in his Tafsīr Vol.21 Pg.314, Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr Vol.13 Pg.113
[14] Musnad Ahmad #447