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What is the ruling on changing the phrase "Lā ilāha illallāh" (There is no god but Allah) to "Laa ilāaha illallāh" by prolonging the negating "Lā" and adding a "yā" after "Lā" and an "alif" after the "hā" during dhikr in Zawāyā (Sufi lodges)?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Changing the word of Tawhid as mentioned in the question is forbidden in Sharia. Some have narrated a consensus on it being a sin. In addition to that, it is forbidden not to elongate the letter 'lam' in the negative particle "la" (لا), for mispronouncing it in this manner completely changes the meaning from negation to affirmation.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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