Best Islamic Quotes of Wisdom (5)

Ali ibn abi Talib (radiAllahu anhu) in his letter to malik e Ashtar, when sending him to a town which was half muslim and half non muslim:
"O Malik, remember they are either your brothers in faith or your equals in humanity"


There are distinctions among people.
People are like metal in the earth.
Gold, silver, aluminium, iron...


Do the Obligatory [Fardhu], Improve on it with the Supererogatory [Sunnat]. Add Reflection [Wird], And Remembrance [Zikr], To improve on it.
- Habib Ali bin Esa bin Abdulkader al Haddad (rahimullah)
Excerpt from 'The Gift of Imam al Haddad' (Chapter: Tenets of Faith)


The hypocrite looks for faults; the believer looks for excuses.
- Abu Hamid al-Ghazali


Never do I argue with a man with a desire to hear him say
what is wrong, or to expose him and win victory over him.
Whenever I face an opponent in debate I silently pray -
O Lord, help him so that truth may flow from his heart
and on his tongue, and so that if truth is on my side, he may follow me;
and if truth be on his side, I may follow him.
- Imam Ash-Shafi (rahimullah)


If you wish to know which sciences and acts are the most important and beneficial for you, imagine that you are to die the next day and return to God to stand before Him and be asked to account for your knowledge, behaviour, and all your affairs and states, subsequently to be taken either to the Garden or the Fire. What you see there as most important and useful to you is precisely what you must now give priority and attachment to; whereas what you find useless, unimportant, frivolous, or simply of no great necessity is what you must neither pursue nor occupy yourself with in this life. Meditate on this matter and reflect well; it is of tremendous benefit to those who have discernment and are concerned about their appointed time, their return to God, their salvation, and their success in the Hereafter, which is better and more enduring (Quran 87:17). Success is in the Hand of God, to whom belong all graces, for He bestows them on whomever He wills; and God�s graces are immense!
- Imam al-Haddad
[from 'Knowledge and Wisdom'
translated by Mostafa Badawi, Starlatch Press, 2001]


The need of the hour is that your life should be revolutionised.
The revolution should not be an individual one but a collective one.
The change should be concerning your belief, your morals, your actions, your dealings, your decisions, and your efforts.
Your life in every way should become a beacon of guidance and it should become a means for Dawah.
-- Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi


Those who Know they do not Know that to Know is to Know what they do not Know!
- (Aveccina) Ali Sina


A feeling of discouragement when you slip up
is a sure sign that you put your faith in deeds
- The Hikam of Ibn 'Ata'llah (with Commentary by Ibn 'Ajiba)


History is a signpost for the future...


The 'best awareness [ma'rifa] is for a man to have self-awareness.
And the best knowledge ['ilm] is for a man to stop at the limit of his knowledge.'
- Shaykh Abdullah Adhami


Who does greater evil than he who is reminded of the signs of the Lord, then turns away from them?
- Qur'an, 32:22


The Qur'an guides you to the recognition of your illnesses
and to their remedies.
Your illness are your sins,
and your medicine is seeking Allah's Forgiveness.
- Qatadah


"We need spirited, energetic and strong young people whose hearts are filled with life, enthusiasm, zeal and dynamism; whose souls are full of ambition, aspiration and vigor and have great goals, rising and aspiring to reach them until they eventually arrive at their destination."
- Hasan al-Banna


"The word "shams" (sun) is feminine, and "qamar" (moon) is masculine. The sun burns itself out to give light and life to everything around, and the moon is muneer, meaning it reflects the light. Within itself it has no light; it radiates the brilliance of the sun. So when we shine as men, the implication is that we are reflecting the glorious light of our women. May Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'aala be pleased with them."
- Shaykh Abdullah Adhami


If you do not think well of Him because His qualities are beautiful then think well of Him because of the way He treats you.
- ibn Ata'llah


Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece.


I know of nothing more useful to you than four matters: surrender to Allah, to humbly entreat Him, to think the best of Him, and to perpetually renew your repentance to Him, even if you should repeat a sin seventy times in a day.
- ibn Ata'illah


Your loud voice is not proof of the depth of your knowledge, for an empty utensil makes more noise than a full one


And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.


If you ask, ask Allah and if you seek help, seek help from Allah.
Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam)
[at-Tirmidhi, Ahmad]


Abu Suhayb Sinaan (radiAllahu anhu) narrated that Rasulullah (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said:
"How amazing is the case of a believer;there is good for him in everything,and this charactristic is exclusively for him alone. If he experiences something good he is thankful and that is good for him; and if he comes across some diversity,he is patient and that is good for him."
[Muslim]


Whoever makes a show of his good deeds so that people will respect him, Allah Ta'ala will show what is truly in his heart.
- Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam)
[sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim]


"There are two kinds of action in this world: the successful and the unsuccessful. Now unconsidered, hasty action, driven by passion rather than wisdom, tends to be unsuccessful, and the more emotionally involved one is in a particular action, the more likely one is to fail. To put this in its simplest terms, action must be rooted in contemplation. Contemplation in its turn demands detachment, that detachment which every Muslim should have at his disposal if he is fully aware of life�s brevity, aware of Divine Judgment, aware of the overwhelming presence of Allah (SWT). Here, it seems to me, virtue and practical necessity come together. The more we act as we should, the more likely we are to succeed"
- Gai Eaton [from Muslims Today]


A leading scholar of Basra visited Rabi'a al-Adawiyya while she was ill.
ting beside her pillow, the scholar spoke about how terrible the world was. In reply, Rabi`a told him:
"You love the world very dearly. If you did not love the world, you would not mention it so much. It is always the purchaser who first disparages what he wants to buy. If you were done with the world, you would not mention it either for good or evil. As it is, you keep mentioning it because, as the proverb says, whoever loves a thing



And God wants to turn unto you in His mercy, whereas those who follow [only] their own lusts want you to drift far away from the right path. God wants to lighten your burdens: for man has been created weak.
- Qur'an, surah an-Nisa, 4:27-28


Dont fret about your affairs, leave it in His hands. Do you think if He wants it for you, anyone can stop it? Or ir He doesnt want it for you anyone can Grant it? Dont look to anyone for your needs, for the One who created you, knows you.


Advice from Dawud Wharnsby Ali to a young sister wondering what to be when she grows up:

Don�t grow up my friend..... Just grow BETTER with time and grow more experienced with age. Keep being passionate about whatever you do.... keep trying new things.... keep patient and keep trying your best. When your passion starts to fade.... stop and re-assess who you are, what you are doing and where your path is leading. The path to God is straight through willful surrender to God... we know that from Quran....but the paths of life we walk are adventurous and twisty....if, that is we WANT them to be.


Seek the fellowship of those who enjoy fellowship with the Lord
- Abd al-Qadir Jilani (rahimullah)
['The Sublime Revelation (Al-Fath ar-Rabbani)' trans by Muhtar Holland (Al-Baz Publishing, Houston, 1992), p. 426-8]


We must begin looking at each other as brothers and sisters...and not walking brochures. We must see each other�s strengths and encourage those strengths....We must see each others weaknesses and be patient with those weaknesses... sometimes even look beyond what we see as "weaknesses" and move on with compassion and love and respect. That takes true faith.
- Dawud Wharnsby Ali


He who knows himself, knows His Lord.
- Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam)


It is far better to live like a lion for a day then to live like a jackal for hundred years.
- Tipu Sultan


Our problem is one of spirituality.
If a man comes to speak to me about
the reforms to be undertaken in the
Muslim world, about political strategies
and of great geo-strategic plans, my
first question to him would be whether
he performed the dawn prayer in its time
- Said Ramadan, son of Hassan al Banna


True knowledge is not mentioned in relation
to how much you memorise and then narrate,
but rather, true knowledge is
an expression of piety
(protecting oneself from what Allah (awj) prohibited
and acting upon what He mandated
- Ibn Mas'ud (radiAllahu anhu)


A pirate was captured and brought before Alexander the Great.
Alexander asked the pirate:
'How dare you molest the people?'
The pirate replied: 'And how dare you molest the entire world? I am called a thief because I do it with a little ship only. You do it with a great navy and you are called an Emperor!'


Don't look down on anyone uless you are helping them up.


Seven days without prayers makes one WEAK.




The essence of knowledge is to know
what obedience and worship are
- abu Hamid al-Ghazali


Education is our passport to the future,
for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today
- El-Malik el-Shabbaz (Malcolm X)


Never forget that turning a blind eye
to oppression
and watching from the sidelines
is itself opression
- Harun Yahya


Whatever the situation may be, in the recollection of death there is reward and merit. For even the man engrossed in the world benefits from it by acquiring an aversion to this world, since it spoils his contentment and the fullness of his pleasure; and everything which spoils for man his pleasures and his appetites is one of the means of deliverance.
- abu Hamid al-Ghazali
['The Remembrance of Death & the Afterlife' Ihya Ilum Ud Din]


It is indeed surprising that a man inspite of his belief in the Fire of Jahannum is still able to laugh, and inspite of his belief in Maut he is able to be happy. Inspite of believing in the Reckoning, he commits evil deeds. Inspite of believing in Taqdeer, he grieves. Inspite of observing the world with its changes, he feels contented with it. Inspite of believing in Jannat, he refrains from righteous deeds. - Nabi Musa (alayhis salam)
[the majlis]


Meet people in such a manner that if you die,
they should weep for you,
and if you live,
they should long for you
- Ali (radi Allahu anhu)


The person I like most is the one who points out my defects
- Umar (radiAllahu anhu)


O people who take pleasure in a life that will vanish,
falling in love with a fading shadow is sheer stupidity
- Ibn al-Qayyim


Once Rabia al-Basri was sitting in company with some people who were talking of the world reproachfully. She said,
'Do not talk of the world. Do not talk of it even disparagingly. For, your talking of it shows that you consider it to be worth talking about, and something of consequence. If it were of no consequence in your sight, you would never have liked to make a mention of it. (For, who would talk about the filth that men excrete?)'
- from Fazaile Sadaqaat, Ch6 - Virtues of Spending in the Way of Allah


Knowledge is taken from breath,
not lives in a book
- Sahykh Hamza Yusuf


Only that which was effective for the first of this community will be effective for the last of it
- Imam Malik (rahimullah)


Intention is the measure for rendering actions true, so that,
where intention is sound, action is sound,
and where it is corrupt, then action is corrupt
- Imam an-Nawawi (rahimullah)