Page:Thomas Patrick Hughes - Notes on Muhammadanism - 2ed. (1877).djvu/123

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102

XVIII.—THE RECITAL OF THE CREED.

The Recital of the Kalimah, or Creed, is the first of the five foundations, or pillars of practice, in Islám. It consists of the following sentence, which is always recited in Arabic:—

Lá-iláha-il-lal-laho Muhanmad-ur-Rasúl-Ullah, "There is no deity but God, and Muhammad is the Apostle of God."[1]

When any one is converted to Islám he is required to repeat this formula, and the following are the conditions required of every Muslim with reference to it:—

1.—That it shall be repeated aloud, at least once in a life-time.


  1. We have here translated rasúl, "Apostle," although it is generally rendered "Prophet," which, however, is the more correct rendering of nabí, a word which also occurs in the Qurán. Both nabí and rasúl are translated into Persian and Hindustani by paighambar, which is translated into English by either Prophet, Apostle, or Mes-