Sadaqallahul Azim (Arabic: صَدَقَ اللهُ الْعَظِيمُ) is an Arabic phrase that translates as “Allah, the Most Great, has spoken the truth.” Many Muslims say it after finishing a recitation from the Quran. The phrase is not a verse, not a fixed sunnah from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and its ruling has divided scholars for centuries — some classifying it as a praiseworthy habit of etiquette, others as a blameworthy innovation.
This guide gives you the Arabic spelling, the word-by-word meaning, the Quranic origin in Surah Aal Imran 3:95, the five-position scholar verdict map (Salafi, Azhari, Hanafi, Shafi’i, Shia), the variants you may have heard (including sadaqallahul aliyyul azim), and the authentic dua the Prophet ﷺ actually recited at the end of his gatherings.
This guide covers the meaning, Arabic spelling, Quranic origin, scholarly debate (bidah vs. sunnah of etiquette), authentic alternatives, and common spelling variants of sadaqallahul azim.
Table of Contents
What Does Sadaqallahul Azim Mean?
The full English meaning of sadaqallahul azim is “Allah, the Most Great, has spoken the truth.” The phrase is a declarative statement — a verbal acknowledgement that what Allah has said in His revealed Book is true.
The phrase is built from three Arabic words. The first, “sadaqa” (صَدَقَ), is a perfect-tense verb meaning “he has spoken the truth” or “he has been truthful.” It is derived from the root ص-د-ق, which carries the meanings of sincerity, truthfulness, and being faithful to a promise. The same root produces the words sidq (truth), siddiq (the truthful one — used of Abu Bakr), and sadaqah (charity given sincerely for Allah’s sake).
The second word, “Allahu” (اللهُ), is the proper name of God in Arabic, here in the nominative case as the subject of the verb. The third, “al-‘Azim” (الْعَظِيمُ), is an adjective from the root ع-ظ-م meaning great, immense, magnificent. It is one of the names of Allah used throughout the Quran — most famously at the end of Ayat al-Kursi (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:255): “and He is the Most High, the Most Great” (وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ).
The word-by-word breakdown is shown below.
| Transliteration | Arabic | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Sadaqa | صَدَقَ | (He) has spoken the truth |
| Allahu | اللهُ | Allah |
| al-‘Azim | الْعَظِيمُ | the Most Great |
Key takeaways:
- Sadaqallahul Azim means “Allah, the Most Great, has spoken the truth” — it is a statement, not a dua.
- The phrase is derived from Surah Aal Imran 3:95: “Say: Allah has spoken the truth” (قُلْ صَدَقَ اللهُ).
- It was not recited by the Prophet ﷺ or the sahaba as a fixed practice after Quran recitation.
- Saying it occasionally as dhikr is permissible to most scholars; treating it as an obligatory closing ritual has been classed as bid’ah by the Salafi school.
- The authentic sunnah at the close of a gathering of dhikr is “Subhanaka Allahumma wa bi-hamdika…” — see the section on authentic alternatives below.
Sadaqallahul Azim in Arabic and Common Spelling Variants
The standard Arabic spelling of the phrase is:
صَدَقَ اللهُ الْعَظِيمُ
Related:
Because Arabic short vowels (the fatha, damma, kasra) are dropped in romanisation by different conventions, the phrase appears in English in many forms. The list below shows the spellings most commonly entered into search engines — all refer to the same Arabic phrase صدق الله العظيم.
- Sadaqallahul Azim
- Sadaqallahul Azeem
- Sadaq Allahul Azim
- Sadaq Allah El Azim
- Sadaqa Allah ul-Azim
- Sadak Allah Hul Azeem
- Sada Kala Hul Azeem (phonetic, common in South Asian transliteration)
- Sadaqallahülazim (Turkish romanisation)
- Sadaqallah Hul Azim
The most precise scholarly transliteration is “Sadaqa Allahu al-‘Azim” — keeping the words separated and the ‘ayn (ع) and definite article (ال) visible. In running English Muslim usage, the compressed form “Sadaqallahul Azim” dominates.
The Quranic Origin: Surah Aal Imran 3:95
The phrase “sadaqallah” (Allah has spoken the truth) appears in the Quran itself, in Surah Aal Imran, verse 95:
قُلْ صَدَقَ اللهُ ۗ فَاتَّبِعُوا مِلَّةَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ حَنِيفًا
“Say, Allah has spoken the truth. So follow the religion of Ibrahim, the upright in faith.”
(Quran 3:95)
This ayah is the Quranic anchor cited by every fatwa on the subject. The supporters of the practice argue that the verse is an unrestricted command (qul — “Say”) to declare Allah’s truthfulness, and there is therefore nothing wrong with repeating it after recitation. The opponents reply that the verse’s command was given in a specific context — refuting the Jewish claim that certain food prohibitions predated the Torah — and the Prophet ﷺ did not generalise the wording into a closing ritual for every Quran session.
The same root verb sadaqa appears in similar constructions elsewhere in the Quran — for example Surah Al-Ahzab 33:22 (“And Allah and His Messenger have spoken the truth” — وَصَدَقَ اللهُ وَرَسُولُهُ), and Surah An-Nisa 4:122 (“And who is more truthful in statement than Allah?”). The classical exegete Imam al-Qurtubi cites these as evidence that affirming Allah’s truthfulness is established Quranic praise, and that doing so after recitation is among the ethics of reciting the Mushaf (Tafsir al-Qurtubi on 3:95).
Did the Prophet ﷺ or the Sahaba Say Sadaqallahul Azim?
There is no authentic hadith in which the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ instructed his companions to say “sadaqallahul azim” after closing the Quran. The opponents of the practice rest their case largely on what is reported in Sahih al-Bukhari, in the chapters on the virtues of the Quran. Ibn Mas’ud — one of the foremost reciters among the sahaba — narrated:
The Prophet ﷺ said to me, “Recite the Quran to me.” I said, “O Messenger of Allah, shall I recite it to you when it was revealed to you?” He said, “I love to hear it from someone other than myself.” So I recited Surah An-Nisa until I reached the verse: “How will it be when We bring from every nation a witness, and We bring you against these as a witness?” (4:41) — he said, “That is enough” (حَسْبُكَ). I looked at him and his eyes were overflowing with tears.
Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of the Virtues of the Quran
The Salafi scholars (notably Shaykh Ibn Baz and Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen) draw the conclusion that the Prophet ﷺ closed the recitation with “hasbuk” (“that is enough”) — not with sadaqallahul azim. Had the latter phrase been the prescribed closing dhikr, the moment of an authentic Quran session before the Prophet himself would have been the place to demonstrate it.
A second hadith brought into this discussion is Sahih Muslim 1811, where Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman describes the Prophet’s ﷺ recitation during tahajjud: when he passed an ayah of glorification he said tasbih; when he passed an ayah of supplication he asked; when he passed an ayah of seeking refuge he sought refuge. Some Hanafi scholars — including Mawlana Muhammad Abasoomar of Hadith Answers — cite this as evidence that responding to verses with appropriate dhikr is itself prophetic, and saying sadaqallahul azim at the close of recitation falls within that general framework.
What is agreed on across all schools is that no sahaba narration records them habitually saying “sadaqallahul azim” on closing the Mushaf. The phrase emerged in later Muslim practice and entered widespread use under the Ottoman tradition of public Quran recitation.
Is Sadaqallahul Azim Bidah? The Scholarly Verdict Map
The ruling on saying sadaqallahul azim after Quran recitation is one of the clearest illustrations of the fiqh distinction between an innovation (bid’ah) and a permissible custom. Major fatwa-issuing bodies have reached different conclusions. The table below maps the five main positions and the institutions that hold each one.
| School / Authority | Position | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Shaykh Ibn Baz Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen Permanent Committee (Saudi Arabia) | Salafi | Bid’ah — should not be recited as a habit; no proof from the Sunnah |
| IslamWeb (Qatar) | Sunni mainstream | Bid’ah as a habitual closing ritual; cites the Ibn Mas’ud hadith |
| Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah (Egypt) Sheikh Atiyyah Saqr (al-Azhar) | Azhari | Sunnah of etiquette — rooted in 3:95; denying it would itself be innovation |
| Imam al-Qurtubi Imam al-Ghazali Al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi | Classical (Maliki / Shafi’i) | Recommended etiquette of recitation |
| Darul Iftaa Birmingham (Mufti Tosir Miah) Darul Iftaa Zambia Hadith Answers | Hanafi / Deobandi | Mubah (permissible) — not sunnah, not obligatory, not innovation |
| Sayyid Zaid Alsalami | Twelver Shia | Permissible dhikr; prefers the variant “Sadaqa Allah al-‘Ali al-‘Adheem” (from Ayat al-Kursi 2:255) |
The Salafi position, articulated most clearly by Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen in his work Izaalat al-Sitaar ‘an al-Jawaab al-Mukhtaar, is that any act of worship done with the intention that it is a prescribed religious closing — when there is no proof from the Sunnah for that prescription — falls under the Prophet’s ﷺ warning: “Whoever introduces into this matter of ours something that is not part of it, it is rejected.” (Bukhari and Muslim). On this view, the issue is not the words themselves — saying that Allah has spoken the truth is obviously true — but the act of binding those words to the closing of recitation as if the Sunnah taught us to do so.
The Dar al-Ifta of Egypt (fatwa #6266) and Sheikh Atiyyah Saqr (former head of the al-Azhar Fatwa Committee) take the opposite view: the wording is Qur’anic in origin, the act is dhikr, and reading the Quran is a context in which dhikr is recommended. Denying its validity, on this view, would itself be the innovation. The Hanafi position sits between the two: the practice is permissible as long as it is not held to be sunnah or obligatory.
For an ordinary Muslim, the practical conclusion is: (1) the wording itself is not problematic; (2) following the scholar of your madhhab is acceptable; (3) what should be avoided is insisting on the practice as a fixed requirement of Quran recitation when the Sunnah does not establish it as such.
What to Say After Reading the Quran (Authentic Alternatives)
If you want to close your Quran recitation with a phrase the Prophet ﷺ explicitly taught, two well-established options are recorded in the authentic hadith literature.
The “Closing of the Gathering” Dua
The Prophet ﷺ taught a dua to be said at the end of any sitting — including a sitting of Quran recitation, dhikr, or learning. It expiates whatever errors or idle speech may have occurred during the gathering.
سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ، أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ، أَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْكَ
“Subhanaka Allahumma wa bi-hamdika, ash-hadu an la ilaha illa anta, astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk.”
Translation: “Glory and praise be to You, O Allah. I bear witness that there is no god but You. I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance.”
The hadith is reported by Abu Hurayrah and recorded in Sunan Abi Dawud, Sunan al-Tirmidhi, and Sunan al-Nasa’i, with chains classed as authentic by al-Albani.
Responding to Specific Verses (the Prophetic Pattern)
The hadith of Hudhayfah in Sahih Muslim (1811) shows the Prophet ﷺ responded to verses as he read them: tasbih at verses of glorification, supplication at verses of dua, seeking refuge at verses of warning. This in-recitation response — not a fixed closing phrase — is what the Sunnah models. So while reading, when a verse mentions Paradise, you may say “Allahumma inni as’aluka al-jannah” (O Allah, I ask You for Paradise); when a verse mentions the Fire, you may say “Allahumma ajirni min al-naar” (O Allah, save me from the Fire).
Variants: Sadaqallahul Aliyyul Azim and Other Forms You May Have Heard
You may have encountered slightly different wordings of the phrase. The two most common variants are explained below.
“Sadaqallahul ‘Aliyyul ‘Azim” — the “Most High, Most Great” Variant
The variant “Sadaqallahul ‘Aliyyul ‘Azim” (صَدَقَ اللهُ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ — “Allah, the Most High, the Most Great, has spoken the truth”) is widely used in South Asia (Bohra, Twelver Shia, and some Sufi communities) and in the Indian subcontinent’s Sunni tradition.
This variant adds the divine name al-‘Ali (the Most High), drawing on the final words of Ayat al-Kursi (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:255): “and He is the Most High, the Most Great”. The Shia scholar Sayyid Zaid Alsalami notes that this variant is preferred in the Twelver tradition because of that Quranic anchor — and explicitly rejects the misconception that “al-‘Ali” here refers to Imam ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib. The phrase is a name of Allah, not a reference to a person.
Common Misspellings and Phonetic Forms
The phrase travels across many languages, and you will see it written in different scripts:
- Sadaqallahul Aleem — common misspelling; al-‘Aleem means “the All-Knowing” (a different divine name). The intended phrase is al-‘Azim (the Most Great).
- Sadak Allah Hul Azeem — Hindi/Urdu phonetic transliteration.
- Sadaqallahülazim — Turkish romanisation (ü = the Arabic damma).
- Sada Kala Hul Azeem — South Asian phonetic spelling; same phrase.
- Maksud Sadakallahul Azim — Malay/Indonesian query phrasing (“meaning of sadaqallahul azim”).
Frequently Asked Questions
What does sadaqallahul azim mean in English?
Sadaqallahul azim (صَدَقَ اللهُ الْعَظِيمُ) means “Allah, the Most Great, has spoken the truth.” It is a three-word Arabic statement: sadaqa (“has spoken the truth”), Allahu (“Allah”), and al-‘Azim (“the Most Great”). The phrase is a declarative affirmation drawn from the Quranic verse “Qul sadaqallah” (Say: Allah has spoken the truth) in Surah Aal Imran 3:95.
How is sadaqallahul azim written in Arabic?
The phrase is written in Arabic as صَدَقَ اللهُ الْعَظِيمُ. The three words are: sadaqa (صَدَقَ — has spoken the truth), Allahu (اللهُ — Allah), and al-‘Azim (الْعَظِيمُ — the Most Great). The most precise transliteration is “Sadaqa Allahu al-‘Azim,” but the compressed form “Sadaqallahul Azim” is the spelling most commonly used in English Muslim writing.
Is saying sadaqallahul azim after reciting the Quran bidah?
Scholars are divided. The Salafi position (Ibn Baz, Ibn Uthaymeen, the Permanent Committee, IslamWeb) holds that habitually saying sadaqallahul azim at the close of every Quran recitation is bid’ah, because the Prophet ﷺ did not establish it as a fixed practice. The Azhari position (Dar al-Ifta Egypt, Sheikh Atiyyah Saqr) holds that the wording is rooted in Surah Aal Imran 3:95 and constitutes recommended dhikr. The Hanafi position (Darul Iftaa Birmingham and Zambia) considers it permissible (mubah) — not sunnah and not innovation. The wording itself is not problematic; what is debated is treating it as a binding closing ritual.
Is it sunnah to say sadaqallahul azim?
No, it is not an established sunnah. There is no authentic hadith in which the Prophet ﷺ taught his companions to say sadaqallahul azim after closing a recitation of the Quran. The Prophet’s ﷺ own response to a Quran session — as recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari from Ibn Mas’ud — was the single word “hasbuk” (“that is enough”). Sheikh Assim al-Hakeem and the broader Salafi position state plainly that the phrase is not a sunnah.
What does sadaqallahul aliyyul azim mean?
Sadaqallahul ‘Aliyyul ‘Azim (صَدَقَ اللهُ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ) means “Allah, the Most High, the Most Great, has spoken the truth.” It is a variant of the standard phrase that adds the divine name al-‘Ali (the Most High), drawn from the closing of Ayat al-Kursi (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:255). It is the form most commonly used in South Asian and Twelver Shia traditions. The name al-‘Ali here refers to Allah, not to Imam ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib.
What should I say after reading the Quran instead?
The closing dua taught by the Prophet ﷺ for any gathering — including a sitting of Quran recitation — is “Subhanaka Allahumma wa bi-hamdika, ash-hadu an la ilaha illa anta, astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk” (“Glory and praise be to You, O Allah. I bear witness that there is no god but You. I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance”). This is recorded in Sunan Abi Dawud and Sunan al-Tirmidhi and is the authentic, prophetic closing for any session of dhikr or Quran.
