excerpt from Shaykh Mubashar Ahmad Rabbani’s book “Ahkām wa Masā’il – In the Light of the Qur’an and Sunnah”:
It is said that whoever recites “Lā ilāha illallāh” seventy thousand times will be saved from the Hellfire. Is this statement authentic?
As for the specific number of reciting “Lā ilāha illallāh” seventy thousand times, I am not aware of any authentic ḥadīth confirming this claim.
However, what is authentically established in ḥadīth is that:
Whoever says “Lā ilāha illallāh” with sincerity of heart, and dies upon it, will enter Paradise.
Sayyidunā ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“Indeed, I know of a word—whoever says it sincerely from his heart, and then dies upon it, Allah makes the Fire forbidden upon him. That word is:
Lā ilāha illallāh.”
Musnad Aḥmad 1/63, Ḥadīth 447
al-Mustadrak al-Ḥākim 1/351, Ḥadīth 1298
✔ One must understand the meaning of “Lā ilāha illallāh” and believe with full sincerity in the exclusive right of Allah to be worshipped.
✔ One should also supplicate that Allah grants them death upon this kalimah. Āmīn.
The kalimah “Lā ilāha illallāh” has been declared in the ḥadīth as “the best of all remembrance (adhkār)”, and thus should be recited frequently.
However, one must avoid fabricated and newly invented practices related to dhikr and stay away from ritualistic or artificial methods that have no basis in the authentic Sunnah.
❖ Question:
It is said that whoever recites “Lā ilāha illallāh” seventy thousand times will be saved from the Hellfire. Is this statement authentic?
❖ Answer:
As for the specific number of reciting “Lā ilāha illallāh” seventy thousand times, I am not aware of any authentic ḥadīth confirming this claim.
However, what is authentically established in ḥadīth is that:
Whoever says “Lā ilāha illallāh” with sincerity of heart, and dies upon it, will enter Paradise.
Sayyidunā ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“Indeed, I know of a word—whoever says it sincerely from his heart, and then dies upon it, Allah makes the Fire forbidden upon him. That word is:
Lā ilāha illallāh.”
Musnad Aḥmad 1/63, Ḥadīth 447 al-Mustadrak al-Ḥākim 1/351, Ḥadīth 1298❖ Conclusion:
✔ One must understand the meaning of “Lā ilāha illallāh” and believe with full sincerity in the exclusive right of Allah to be worshipped.
✔ One should also supplicate that Allah grants them death upon this kalimah. Āmīn.
The kalimah “Lā ilāha illallāh” has been declared in the ḥadīth as “the best of all remembrance (adhkār)”, and thus should be recited frequently.
However, one must avoid fabricated and newly invented practices related to dhikr and stay away from ritualistic or artificial methods that have no basis in the authentic Sunnah.