Reciting the Kalima Tayyiba a Fixed Number of Times

Question

(1) A certain person calls himself a Hanafi, and according to the Hanafi school all his beliefs appear correct. But this person says that reciting the kalima of tawhid — “La ilaha illa-Llah, Muhammadun rasulu-Llah” — a thousand or five hundred times on the tasbih as an act of worship is not permissible, and he calls anyone who recites it an innovator.

Answer

(1) The affirmation of the oneness of the Exalted (tawhid) lies in “La ilaha illa-Llah” — its reward stands on its own; and “Muhammadun rasulu-Llah” contains the affirmation of the Messengership, whose reward likewise stands on its own.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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