Dhikr · Muslim practice
La ilaha illa Allah
There is no god but God
لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ
Lā ilāha illā-llāh
The tahlīl — the declaration that there is no god but God. It is the first half of the shahāda, the statement by which a person becomes Muslim, and the phrase the ḥadīth calls the best of dhikr.
Source: Qur'an 37:35, 47:19; the first half of the shahāda
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لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ
Lā ilāha illā-llāh
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What the words say
Lā ilāha is an absolute negation: there is no god at all. Illā-llāh then makes the single exception. The sentence denies before it affirms, and Sufi commentary makes much of that order — everything is cleared away first, and only then is the one thing named.
Where it comes from
The phrase is Qur'anic and is the foundation of the creed. It is the central formula of dhikr across Sufi orders, where it is recited in assembly with the head and breath moving to it.
How it is practised
Recited on a misbaḥa, in gatherings of dhikr, and at the bedside of the dying, which is a use of particular weight. The count here is this app's goal; no fixed daily number is prescribed.
References
- Qur'an 37:35; 47:19
- Sunan al-Tirmidhī 3383, on the tahlīl as the best dhikr
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