Kalima Tayyibah — The Holy Words

Overview

Kalima Tayyibah — The Holy Words is an English translation of the well-known study by Maulana Muhammad Abdur-Raheem, explaining the first pillar of Islam — laa ilaaha illallahu muhammadur rasulullah — not merely as a sentence to be recited but as a creed to be understood, loved, and lived. The book argues that a person truly enters Islam only when the meaning and the demand of the kalima take root in the heart, the way a plant grows from a sound seed.

Chapters

1. The commencement — the kalima as the root declaration of Islam and the duty to understand it.
2. Meaning of the holy words — the two halves of the kalima, tawhid and the rejection of shirk, and the seven conditions of the kalima.
3. The lineage of the holy words — every prophet, from Nuh to Muhammad ﷺ, called to the same declaration.
4. Obstacles to preaching the kalima — why prophets who were once loved were opposed by their own people once they proclaimed it.
5. The true God — the identity and attributes of Allah as drawn from the Qur’an.
6. The disbelievers’ idea of god — how the polytheists associated partners with Allah while still acknowledging Him.
7. Shirk and present-day Muslims — intercession, shrines, and blind obedience weighed against the Qur’an.
8. The real reason the holy words are opposed — the enduring divide between iman and kufr, and the meaning of jihad.
9. The lesson of the kalima — what the one who accepts it commits to.
10. The second half of the kalima — obedience to the Messenger ﷺ in every sphere of life.
11. The Prophet’s work — why the messengers both preached the law and were the first to live it.
12. The completion of the kalima — the finality of prophethood, and the Qur’an and Sunnah as preserved guidance.
13. Last words — carrying the kalima from personal life into family, society, and the state, and guarding against shirk.

About this edition

• Original author: Maulana Muhammad Abdur-Raheem
• Translator: Muhammad Tamjidul Hasan
• Language: English (translated from Bangla)
• Format: 13 short chapters

Note: this English translation is a working draft and is still being edited for language and Qur’anic referencing.