Islamic Quotes

'If you see my Ummah afraid of telling the oppressor: You are an oppressor, it is farewell to the ummah'
- Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam)
[Ahmad, Tabarani, Al-Hakim and Al-Baihaqi]


I was harsh on you, but for your sake.


Whoever determines the truth from people alone
will remain lost in the plains of bewilderment.
Rather, know the truth, and you will know its people.
- Imam abu Hamid al-Ghazali
Ihya Ulum al-Din, 'The Book of Knowledge'


Be hard on yourself, easy on others.
- Imam Shafi' (rahimullah)


I believe in the religion of Islam. I believe in Allah and peace.
- Muhammad Ali (World Boxing Champion)


The Ulema are the successors of the Prophets (as). The Prophets did not leave dirhams. They only left knowledge; and that is a great fortune for those who grasp it.
- Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam)


Two kinds of people live a life without care: one kind are extremely worthy of praise, the other kind are extremely worthy of criticism. The first are those who care nothing for the pleasures of the world and the second (i.e. those who are deserving of criticism) care nothing for haya or modesty.
- Ibn Hazm
[Kitab al-Akhlaq wa al-Siyar fi Mudawat al-Nufus]


The rise of Islam offers perhaps the most impressive example in world history of the power of words to alter human behavior in sudden, surprising ways.
- William H. McNeill


If you are not of the righteous, then at least do which the righteous do, and you'll become one of them
- From those who know


Anas (radiAllahu anhu) said: The Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said:
"None of you Truly believes until I am more beloved to him than his father, his child and all the people." Some other reports add: "his life, his wealth and his family." [Sahih Al-Bukhari and Muslim]


Ali ibn Abi Talib (radiAllahu anhu) once said:
"The Holy Prophet is dearer to us than our wealth, our children, our fathers, our forefathers, our mothers and cool water at the time of severe thirst."


Hardship may dishearten at first,
but every hardship passes away.
All despair is followed by hope;
all darkness is followed by sunshine.
- Jalaluddin al-Rumi [Mathnawi, 3:2924-25]


If you make dhikr you won't become stressed
If you are getting stressed youre not doing enough dhikr
- Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson


Eyes are at rest, the stars are setting.
Hushed are the stirrings of birds in their nests,
Of monsters in the ocean.

You are the Just who knows no change,
The Balance that can never swerve,
The Eternal which never passes away.

The doors of Kings are bolted now and guarded by soldiers.
Your Door is open to all who call upon You.

My Lord,
Each love is now alone with his beloved.
And I am alone with You.
-Rabia al-Basri


To completely trust in God is to be like a child who knows deeply that even if he does not call for the mother, the mother is totally aware of his condition and is looking after him.
- abu Hamid al-Ghazali


Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.
- Muhammad Ali [World Boxing Champion]


Do not wrong [others] and you will not be wronged.
- Qur'an [2:279]


Sombody asked Imam Abu Hanifah one day what he thought of the battles between 'Ali and Mu'awiyah. "My mind," replied the Imam, "is always full of fear about things on which I shall be questioned on the Judgement Day. I am sure this is not one of them. So I do not think much about it."


Dear Friend, Your heart is a polished mirror. You must wipe it clean of the veil of dust which has gathered upon it, because it is destined to reflect the light of divine secrets.
- Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani
[The Secrets of Secrets, p. XLIVII]


Do not allow the fear of people to prevent you from proclaiming the Haqq (the truth of Allah's Deen)
- Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam)


If sins had an odour, then nobody would be able to sit with me.
- Muhammad ibn Wasi


If sins had an odour, would you be sitting alone?


The True Ascetic abandons the three 'I's. He does not say "for me," "with me," or "my property." He must not attribute anything to himself.
- Ibn al-Arabi


There is no change away from sin, nor power to remain firm on good,
except through Allah Most High and Almighty
- Imam Al-Tahawi


Whether your destiny is glory or disgrace,
Purify yourself of hatred and love of self.
Polish your mirror; and that sublime Beauty
From the regions of mystery
Will flame out in your heart
As it did for the saints and prophets.
Then, with your heart on fire with that Splendor,
The secret of the Beloved will no longer be hidden.
- Nur al-Din al-Jami
[from 'Perfume of the Desert']


A person is truly a human if he or she learns, and teaches, and inspires others. It is difficult to regard as truly human someone who is ignorant and has no desire to learn.
- Fethullah Gulen


In Allah�s eyes, a knowledgeable person is as superior to any ordinary worshipper as the moon is superior in brilliance to the other heavenly bodies.
- Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam)


When light engages the heart, it causes an illumation of the path,a purification of the consciousness, an enlightenment of the intellect and an establishment of the foundations of dhikr and shukr and of beautiful worship...
- Habib Umar Bin Hafiz


Rabiah al-Adwiyyah�s servant narrates:
Rabiah�s permanent, life-long practice was to perform Salat the entire night. After sunrise she would lay for a short while on her musalla. When her eyes opened, she would be in a state of fear. Reprimanding herself, she would say: �How long will you sleep and refrain from ibadat. Soon you will be overtaken by such sleep from which only the Trumpet (soor) will awaken you.� This remained her condition until her death. When her time of maut was imminent she instructed me not to publicise her death. (Only those directly involved in her burial were informed). She further instructed me to prepare her Kafan from her simple cloak which she used to wear at the time of Tahajjud. Thus she was buried in that cloak and another cloak which she used to wear. The night after her burial, I saw Rabiah in a dream clad in the most beautiful silken garments. I asked what had happened to her old cloaks which were used as Kafan. She said: �It was removed from me, sealed and delivered to the loftiest heavenly realm (A`la Il-liyyeen). It will be added to my deeds on the Day of Qiyamah. In place of it I have been dressed with the garments you are seeing now.�
I said: �Tell me of something by which I can gain Divine Proximity.� She said: �Thikr in abundance. In the grave (Aalam-e-Barzakh) you will be envied.�
[from 'Orchards of Love' - stories of the Auliyah]


Learn the wisdom of compromise, for it is better to bend a little then to break
- Jane Wells


The tolerance within the body of Islam was, and is, something without parallel in history; class and race and color ceasing altogether to be barriers.
- Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall


Whoever builds his faith exclusively on demonstrative proofs and deductive arguments, builds a faith on which it is impossible to rely. For he is affected by the negativities of constant objections. Certainty (al-yaqin) does not derive from the evidences of the mind but pours out from the depths of the heart.
- Ibn Arabi


Let not the vicissitude (of the success) of those who disbelieve, in the land, deceive thee (O Mohammad). It is but a brief comfort. And afterward their habitation will be hell, an ill abode. - Qur'an, Al-Imran: 196-7


O you who reproach me, regarding my love, excuse me.
From me to you if you do justice, you would not reproach me.
My state (of love) has been expressed to you, (now) my secret is no longer concealed.
- From the Burda of Imam al Busiri


Do not try to run away from trials and tribulations, but endure them with patience. They cannot be avioded, and there is nothing for it but to endure them with patience, How can you expect the whole of this world, and all that has been created therein, to undergo change and transformation just to suit your convenience? The Prophets are the best of all creatures, yet they have always had to suffer afflication and so it is for their followers, those who tread in their footsteps as they walk along their highway, emulating their example.
- Muhyuddin Abdul Qadir Jilani


Ikhlas is to forget the vision of creation
by constantly looking at the Creator.
- Abu Uthman


I strike with chastisement whom I will,
but my mercy embraces all things
- Al Qur'an, 7: 156


And love your Lord by serving Him
For lovers are but servants of the Beloved
- a poet


Ease and hardship are the feathers that give strength to the wings of your faith so that your heart and your innermost being can use them to fly to the door of your Lord, Almighty and Glorious is He.

How can you lay claim to faith, when you have no patience at all. Surely you must have heard the saying of the prophet, peace and blessings be upon him "patience is to faith, as the head is to the body".
- Sheikh Abdul Qadir al Jilani
[Jala' Al Khawatir (Removal of Cares)]


Allah's Generosity is connected to gratitude, and gratitude is linked to increase in His generosity. The generosity of Allah will not stop increasing unless the gratitude of the servant ceases
- Ali ibn Abu Talib (radiAllahu anhu)


Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is a little like expecting the bull not to attack you because you're a vegetarian.