بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
سُبْحَانَ اللّٰہِ، وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّٰہِ، وَلَا إِلٰهَ إِلاَّ اللّٰہُ، وَاللّٰہُ أكْبَرُ
وَلَاحَوْلَ وَلَاقُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللّٰہِ الْعَلِیِّ الْعَظِیْمِ
(الترمذي: 3471 و أبو داود: 832 و البخاري: 6384 و ابن ماجه: 3878)
Sub-ḥaa-nallāhi, wal-ḥamdu lil-laahi,
wa–laa ʾilaa-ha ʾillal laahu, wal-laahu ʾakbar.
Wa laa ḥawla wa laa quw-wata ʾil-laa bil-laa-hil ʿaliy-yil ʿadheem.
Perfect is Allāh, and all praise is due to Allāh. And there is no god besides Allāh, and Allāh is the Greatest. There is no power and no strength except with Allāh, the Most High, the All Mighty.
In this kalimah, the child will get a glimpse of some of the attributes of Allāh Taʿālā and a reference of that which every Muslim must believe about his/her Creator. These are beautiful words of praise and dhikr (remembrance of Allāh Taʿālā) and learning His kalimah is a beautiful way to inculcate the habit of engaging in dhikr within the child.
In this kalimah, the following points of ʿaqīdah (creed) are outlined:
- The tanzīh of Allāh Taʿālā. It declares that He is pure and free from all faults. Whatever falsehood the kuffār (disbelievers) and mushrikīn (polytheists) ascribe to Him is erroneous and Allāh Taʿālā is above it all.
- All praise is due to Allāh Taʿālā alone for every single blessing that He bestowed upon us and for everything that exists in the universe.
- Tawḥīd. The concept of tawḥīd was explained in the first kalimah.
- Allāh is the Greatest. In a world in which every false deity is inviting others to idolize them and claiming grandeur, it is imperative for us to believe in the Greatness of our Creator and express that nothing can compare to Him.
- Tawfīq (Divine ability) is from Allāh Taʿālā There is no power which can stop us from evil actions and no might which can cause us to do good except Allāh Taʿālā.
References
- Sayyidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn ʾAbī ʾAwfā (رضي الله عنه) narrated: “A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: ‘I am unable to memorise anything from the Qurʾān, so teach me what will suffice me in exchange.’ He replied: ‘Say:
سُبْحَانَ اللّٰہِ، وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّٰہِ، وَلَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللّٰہُ، وَاللّٰہُ أكْبَرُ، وَلَاحَوْلَ وَلَاقُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللّٰہِ
The man said: ‘O Messenger of Allāh, this is all for Allāh, so what is there for me?’ He said: ‘Say: اَللّٰهُمَّ ارْحَمْنِيْ وَارْزُقْنِيْ وَعَافِنِيْ وَاهْدِنِيْ (O Allāh, have mercy on me, and grant me sustenance, and grant me ʿāfiyah (well-being) and guide me).’
When the man stood up [to leave], he motioned with his two hands [as though he were taking something from the Prophet ﷺ]. So the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: ‘This person has indeed filled his hand with goodness.’”[1]
- The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: “Whoever wakes up at night and says upon awakening:
لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللّٰہُ وَحْدَهُ، لاَ شَرِيْكَ لَهُ، لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ، وَهُوَ عَلٰى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيْرٌ
سُبْحَانَ اللّٰہِ، وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّٰہِ، وَلَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللّٰہُ، وَاللّٰہُ أكْبَرُ، وَلَاحَوْلَ وَلَاقُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللّٰہِ الْعَلِيِّ الْعَظِيْمِ
and he thereafter supplicates [by saying:] رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِيْ (O Lord, forgive me), he will be forgiven.”[2] In a similar narration in Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, there is the following addition: “Or invokes [Allāh], he will be responded to and if he performs ablution [and performs ṣalāh], his ṣalāh will be accepted.”[3]
- The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: “Whoever glorifies Allāh [سُبْحَانَ اللہِ] a hundred [times] in the morning and a hundred [times] in the night, he is like one who performs Ḥajj a hundred times. And whoever praises Allāh [اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰہِ] a hundred times in the morning and a hundred in the night, he is like one who provided a hundred horses in the cause of Allāh.” – or he said – “fought in a hundred battles. And whoever declares the oneness of Allāh [لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللہُ] a hundred [times] in the morning and a hundred [times] in the night, he is like the one who freed a hundred slaves from the offspring of ʾIsmāʾīl, and whoever extols Allāh’s greatness [اللّہُ أَكْبَرُ] a hundred [times] in the morning and a hundred [times] in the night, none will bring on that day more than what he brought except the one who recited similar to what he said or increased upon that which he recited.”[4]
- The Prophet ﷺ said: “O ʿAbdullāh ibn Qays! Say, لَاحَوْلَ وَلَاقُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللّٰہِ, for verily, it is a treasure from the treasures of Paradise.”[5]
- The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ also instructed to recite it [لَاحَوْلَ وَلَاقُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللّٰہِ] constantly.[6]
And Allāh Taʿālā Knows best
[1] Sunan ʾAbī Dāwūd #832
[2] Sunan Ibn Mājah #3878
[3] Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī #1154
[4] Jāmiʿ Tirmidhī #3471
[5] Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī #6384, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim #2704
[6] See: Sunan Ibn Mājah #3826