The Six Kalimas
Question:
We read six kalimas in Islam. These kalimas tell about Allah and our holy prophet. I want to ask question whether six kalimas exist as separate entity. Is there any hadith that these are six kalimahs, you should remember them. Do these six kalimas were existing as kalimas at the time of holy prophet or these were introduced later on as a separate entity.
Answer:
What is known as the Six Kalimas has no origins in Islam as a separate entity. In fact not even all Muslim countries know these statements as Six Kalima. This seems to be mostly popular in South Asian Muslim countries. It seems like these six statements were put together for educational purposes but later found more significance in the view of some Muslims to the extent that knowing them is perceived an obligation ad the sign of faith by some. This of course is wrong.
The six statements however are very educational and helpful for a Muslim. The first two are in fact declaration of faith, as a Muslim, the next two are very popular words of remembrance (Azkar) and the last two are very nice supplications for God's forgiveness. All or parts of these statements can be found in the Qur'an or the Hadith.
However, as I wrote above, we do not have any reliable textual evidences that put these six statements together and we do not have any references to the phrase 'Six Kalima' either.
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April 2013
We read six kalimas in Islam. These kalimas tell about Allah and our holy prophet. I want to ask question whether six kalimas exist as separate entity. Is there any hadith that these are six kalimahs, you should remember them. Do these six kalimas were existing as kalimas at the time of holy prophet or these were introduced later on as a separate entity.
Answer:
What is known as the Six Kalimas has no origins in Islam as a separate entity. In fact not even all Muslim countries know these statements as Six Kalima. This seems to be mostly popular in South Asian Muslim countries. It seems like these six statements were put together for educational purposes but later found more significance in the view of some Muslims to the extent that knowing them is perceived an obligation ad the sign of faith by some. This of course is wrong.
The six statements however are very educational and helpful for a Muslim. The first two are in fact declaration of faith, as a Muslim, the next two are very popular words of remembrance (Azkar) and the last two are very nice supplications for God's forgiveness. All or parts of these statements can be found in the Qur'an or the Hadith.
However, as I wrote above, we do not have any reliable textual evidences that put these six statements together and we do not have any references to the phrase 'Six Kalima' either.
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April 2013
