6th Kalma (Radde Kufr) in Arabic, English Meaning, Hadith & Benefits

By Effat Saleh · Founder of islamtics · Sources: Sunnah.com, Quran.com, IslamQA · Updated May 13, 2026

The 6th Kalma, called Radde Kufr (Arabic: Radd al-Kufr, “rejection of disbelief”), is the last of the Six Kalimas taught in classical Subcontinent Islamic education. It opens with a prophetic supplication recorded in Al-Adab al-Mufrad 716 — the du’a Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (RA) was taught to protect himself from both major and hidden shirk — and closes with a fresh declaration of the Shahada.

This guide gives you the Arabic text with tashkeel, the transliteration, the English meaning, a word-by-word breakdown, the hadith behind the opening clause, the Qur’anic verses that anchor it, the three types of shirk it protects against, and clear guidance on when to recite it.

What Is the 6th Kalma (Radde Kufr)?

The 6th Kalma is a compact supplication built around three movements: seeking refuge from shirk (known and unknown), disavowing a specific list of disbelief and major sins, and reaffirming the Shahada. It is also called Kalima Radd al-Kufr, and in Urdu / Subcontinent madrasa traditions it is known as Panjum Kalma Radd-e-Kufr (“the sixth kalma of rejecting disbelief”). Of the Six Kalimas, it is the only one that names the major sins of the tongue and heart by name — lying, backbiting (ghibah), innovation (bid’ah), tale-bearing (namimah), lewdness (fawahish), and slander (buhtan) — and explicitly renounces them.

Unlike the first kalma, which can be a one-line declaration, the 6th Kalma is meant to be recited deliberately. Its opening clause is taken directly from a sahih prophetic du’a (Al-Adab al-Mufrad 716, see below), making this not just a study text but an actual Sunnah supplication for protection from polytheism — especially the kind a Muslim might fall into without realising. Subcontinent scholars place it last in the curriculum because it presupposes the previous five: you have already declared Allah’s oneness (1st-4th kalmas), sought His forgiveness (5th kalma), and now you publicly reject everything that contradicts that creed.

6th Kalma in Arabic, Transliteration & English

اَللّٰهُمَّ اِنِّیْٓ اَعُوْذُ بِكَ مِنْ اَنْ اُشْرِكَ بِكَ شَيْئًا وَّاَنَآ اَعْلَمُ بِهٖ وَاَسْتَغْفِرُكَ لِمَا لَآ اَعْلَمُ بِهٖ تُبْتُ عَنْهُ وَتَبَرَّأْتُ مِنَ الْكُفْرِ وَالشِّرْكِ وَالْكِذْبِ وَالْغِيْبَةِ وَالْبِدْعَةِ وَالنَّمِيْمَةِ وَالْفَوَاحِشِ وَالْبُهْتَانِ وَالْمَعَاصِىْ كُلِّهَا وَاَسْلَمْتُ وَاَقُوْلُ لَآ اِلٰهَ اِلَّا اللهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَّسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ

Transliteration: Allahumma inni a’udhu bika min an ushrika bika shay’an wa ana a’lamu bihi, wa astaghfiruka lima la a’lamu bihi, tubtu ‘anhu, wa tabarra’tu min al-kufri wa-sh-shirki wa-l-kidhbi wa-l-ghibati wa-l-bid’ati wa-n-namimati wa-l-fawahishi wa-l-buhtani wa-l-ma’asi kulliha, wa aslamtu, wa aqulu: la ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadur rasul Allah.

English meaning: “O Allah, I seek refuge in You from knowingly associating any partner with You, and I seek Your forgiveness for what I do not know. I repent from it, and I disavow disbelief, polytheism, lying, backbiting, religious innovation, tale-bearing, lewdness, calumny, and all acts of disobedience. I submit and I declare: there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.”

Word-by-Word Breakdown

The 6th Kalma uses very specific theological vocabulary. Knowing each word turns the recitation from rote memorisation into a deliberate creedal statement.

The structure moves from negation (refuge from shirk) to repentance (tubtu), to disavowal (tabarra’tu) of a named list, and finally to affirmation (aslamtu + Shahada). It is, in effect, a renewal of Islam in a single breath.

The Hadith Behind the 6th Kalma

The opening clause of the 6th Kalma — “Allahumma inni a’udhu bika an ushrika bika wa ana a’lam, wa astaghfiruka lima la a’lam” — is a verbatim prophetic supplication. It is recorded by Imam al-Bukhari in Al-Adab al-Mufrad (Book 31, Chapter 296, Hadith 716) and graded sahih by Shaykh Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani. The same hadith is also reported by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad.

The narration runs as follows: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, “O Abu Bakr, shirk among you is more concealed than the crawling of an ant.” Abu Bakr asked, “Is there shirk other than associating partners with Allah?” The Prophet ﷺ replied, “By Him in whose hand is my soul, shirk is more hidden than the crawling of an ant. Shall I not teach you something that, if you say it, will protect you from minor and major shirk?” Then he said: “Say — O Allah, I seek refuge in You from knowingly associating partners with You, and I seek Your forgiveness for what I do not know.” (Sunnah.com reference: Al-Adab al-Mufrad 716.)

This single hadith does two things at once. First, it establishes that shirk has degrees — including a “hidden” form that even a sincere believer might fall into unaware. Second, it gives the textual basis for the 6th Kalma’s existence as a Sunnah practice: rather than waiting to detect hidden shirk in the heart, the believer pre-emptively asks Allah for protection from it. The rest of the 6th Kalma was assembled by classical Subcontinent scholars by combining this hadith with the Qur’anic vocabulary of tawba (repentance) and bara’ah (disavowal).

Qur’anic Foundations: Why Shirk Is the One Unforgivable Sin

The 6th Kalma is built on a Qur’anic doctrine stated twice in Surah An-Nisa: shirk is the only sin Allah does not forgive without repentance. Verse 4:48 reads: “Indeed, Allah does not forgive associating others with Him in worship, but forgives anything else of whoever He wills. And whoever associates others with Allah has indeed committed a grave sin.” The same statement is repeated in verse 4:116 for emphasis. (Source: Quran.com, Surah An-Nisa 4:48 and 4:116, Sahih International translation.)

The Qur’an describes shirk in even sharper language elsewhere. In Surah Luqman verse 31:13, the prophet Luqman counsels his son: “O my dear son, never associate anything with Allah in worship, for associating others with Him is truly the worst of all wrongs.” — calling shirk the gravest injustice (zulm ‘azim) a human being can commit. The wording matters because it identifies shirk not just as a creedal error but as an act of cosmic wrong against Allah’s exclusive right to be worshipped.

The 6th Kalma is not despair, though — it ends with submission and the Shahada precisely because the Qur’an also opens the door wide for those who turn back. Surah Az-Zumar 39:53 says: “Say, O My servants who have exceeded the limits against their souls, do not lose hope in Allah’s mercy. For Allah certainly forgives all sins. He is indeed the All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” And Surah Al-Furqan 25:70 promises that for those who repent, believe, and do good deeds, “Allah will replace their evil deeds with good ones. For Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” Read together, these verses explain the shape of the 6th Kalma: refuge from shirk, repentance for what is known and unknown, disavowal of what is wrong, and active submission. (Source: Quran.com, Surah Az-Zumar 39:53 and Surah Al-Furqan 25:68-70.)

Types of Shirk: Akbar, Asghar, and Khafi

Classical Sunni scholarship distinguishes three categories of shirk. The 6th Kalma’s “knowingly / unknowingly” structure maps directly onto them. The summary below follows IslamQA fatwa 34817 by Shaykh Muhammad Salih al-Munajjid, citing al-Lu’lu’ al-Makeen min Fatawa Ibn Jibreen (p. 53).

• Shirk akbar (major shirk). Ascribing to anyone or anything other than Allah what belongs only to Him — lordship, divinity, the divine names and attributes. This includes worshipping idols, calling on the dead for help that only Allah can grant, or believing creation can independently create or sustain. Major shirk takes a person out of the fold of Islam if they die upon it without repentance.
• Shirk asghar (minor shirk). Anything the Qur’an or Sunnah describes as shirk but which does not reach the level of major shirk. The Prophet ﷺ specifically named riya (showing off in worship) as minor shirk. Other examples in the hadith literature: swearing by other than Allah, the phrase “by Allah and by you” (masha’a Allahu wa shi’ta), wearing amulets as causes in themselves, and belief in tiyarah (superstitious omens).
• Shirk khafi (hidden shirk). Inner shirk of the heart — hypocrisy, ostentation in private worship, or relying inwardly on something other than Allah while outwardly performing the act for His sake. This is the type the Prophet ﷺ described to Abu Bakr as “more concealed than the crawling of an ant” in Al-Adab al-Mufrad 716. It is the exact threat the 6th Kalma was designed to neutralise.

The two clauses “min an ushrika bika shay’an wa ana a’lamu bihi” (“from knowingly associating any partner with You”) and “lima la a’lamu bihi” (“for what I do not know”) cover all three categories in one stroke. The first asks for protection from shirk akbar and conscious shirk asghar; the second seeks forgiveness for whatever shirk khafi may have slipped past the believer’s awareness.

Benefits of Reciting the 6th Kalma

The benefits flow from the texts above rather than from any single virtue-narration about the kalma as a compiled set. Five of the most direct:

1. Sunnah protection against hidden shirk. The opening clause is the exact du’a the Prophet ﷺ taught Abu Bakr (Al-Adab al-Mufrad 716, sahih). Reciting it is acting on a direct prophetic instruction.
2. Renewal of iman. The closing line repeats the Shahada, which classical scholars in Sahih Muslim and Sahih al-Bukhari describe as the practice the Prophet ﷺ used to refresh weakening faith.
3. A structured tawba. Naming the sins out loud (kufr, shirk, lying, backbiting, innovation, tale-bearing, lewdness, slander) satisfies the classical conditions of valid tawba: regret, immediate cessation, resolve never to return, and — for the rights of people — restitution.
4. Guarded speech. Of all the Six Kalimas, this is the one that drills into sins of the tongue. Daily recitation conditions a Muslim to recognise and avoid ghibah, namimah, kidhb, and buhtan.
5. A death-bed reaffirmation. Because the 6th Kalma packages repentance, disavowal, and the Shahada in one sentence, Subcontinent scholars have historically recommended it as a talqin (prompting) text for someone close to death — so the last words are both a renunciation of falsehood and an affirmation of Tawheed.

When and How to Recite the 6th Kalma

There is no fixed daily count tied to the 6th Kalma as a compiled text. Treat it as a Sunnah supplication you weave into your existing dhikr practice:

• Once daily, morning and evening. Add it to your adhkar al-sabah wal-masa’ (morning and evening remembrance) as a fixed-text refuge from shirk.
• After every prayer. Recite at least the opening clause — the Sunnah du’a from Al-Adab al-Mufrad 716 — among your post-salah adhkar.
• Whenever you suspect hidden shirk. If you catch yourself in riya, swearing by other than Allah, or relying inwardly on a created thing, recite the full kalma immediately as both refuge and repentance.
• As part of teaching children. In the classical curriculum, all Six Kalimas are taught together to children early. The 6th specifically builds awareness that sins of the tongue and ostentation in worship are spiritually serious.
• At the death-bed. For yourself or for a dying Muslim, the 6th Kalma serves as a talqin — the final disavowal of falsehood and affirmation of the Shahada that the Sunnah encourages to be a person’s last words.

Pronounce each phrase deliberately. The structure rewards slow recitation: pause after “wa ana a’lamu bihi” (“while I am aware of it”) to feel the weight of conscious shirk being repudiated; pause again after “tabarra’tu” (“I disavow”) before the list of sins; and let the closing Shahada land as a public re-entry into Islam.

The 6th Kalima and the Six Kalimas of Islam

The 6th Kalma is the closing piece of six classical declarations taught as a unit in Subcontinent madrasa education. Each kalma maps to a different dimension of Islamic creed; together they form a compact catechism that moves from Tawheed to disavowal of disbelief.

Make the 6th Kalma a daily habit. Memorize the Arabic, internalise the word-by-word meaning, and weave the opening clause — the prophetic du’a from Al-Adab al-Mufrad 716 — into your morning, evening, and post-salah adhkar. Reciting it sincerely is, in a single breath, refuge from shirk, repentance for what is known and unknown, disavowal of the worst sins of the tongue, and renewal of the Shahada.