Islamic Quotes

You have not abandoned ignorance at all if you want something to take place in any moment other than what Allah has manifested in it.
- Ibn Ata'illah
[Hikam of Ibn Ata'illah, Trans. by A'isha Bewley]

Better to look at the defects hidden within you
than to look for the unseen worlds that are veiled from you.
- Shaykh Ibn Ata'illah

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

Hope and fear are like the two wings of a bird, when its flying straight to its destination: if one wings fails, and if both fail, it dies.
Ab'ul Qasim Al Quraiyshi

Knowledge for us means knowledge of the allowance/dispensation (rukhsa).
As for strictness, anyone can show strictness.
- Sufyan ath-Thawri

Allah guards the justice loving government, even if it is the government of non-Muslims, and destroys the tyrant government, even if it is the government of Muslims.
- Ibn Taymeeyah

If something is wrong, fix it if you can. But train yourself not to worry. Worry never fixes anything.

To my view, the women in an Islamic society is just like a well-protected flower which is safe from the stray penetrating looks of the viewers. Whereas western society is devoid of the vision to appreciate this wisdom and philosophy.
- Jermaine Jackson I look everywhere for your love -
Then suddenly I am filled with it.
O Captain of my Heart,
Radiant Eye of Yearning in my breast...
- Rabia al-Adawiyya

Oh Beloved, take me. Liberate my soul. Fill me with your love and release me from the two worlds. If I set my heart on anything but you let fire burn me from inside. Oh Beloved, take away what I want. Take away what I do. Take away what I need. Take away everything that takes me from you.
- Jalaluddin al-Rumi

Think a bit on the following incident before we claim to be Ulema.
Once Hasan Basri Rahmatullahi alai (a tabiee), one of the greatest Aalims Islam has ever produced, was walking and a person called him thus, �Ya Faqeeh!� (O jurist!) Hasan Basri turned back and said, �A wa hal ra�ayta faqeehan qattu.� (Have you ever seen a jurist that you are calling me a jurist?)

The face of the one who sincerely loves Allah glows with spiritual radiance of Love. When some of the rulers from the Successors (Tabi'in) sent a delegation to collect the jizya (tax) from the disbelievers, the latter refused to pay. The officials asked, "Why do you refuse to pay us when you used to pay our forefather?" the disbelievers replied,
"When your forefathers used to come, their clothes were old and torn, their hair was disheveld, and their eyes were streaked with red due to worshipping throughout the night. Yet their faces were so awe-inspiring that we were able to raise our eyes toward them. Your characteristics are not like theirs, nor will be as just. Be Gone, we will not give you anything."
- Shaykh Zulfiqar Ahmad

Come, come, whoever you are.
Wonderer, worshipper, lover of leaving.
It doesn't matter.
Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Come, even if you have broken your vow
a thousand times
Come, yet again, come, come.
- Jalaluddin al-Rumi

Learn silence as you have learned speech.
Speech will guide you and silence will protect you.
- A scholar of Islam

Toward the latter days of indiscriminate violence, be like the first and better of the two sons of Adam who said, �If you raise your hand to kill me, I will not raise mine to kill you; surely I fear God, the Lord of the worlds"
- From a sound tradition of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam narrated by Imam Tirmidhi 'The roots of blameworthy behaviour are three,
1. To be pleased with the Self.
2. To fear creation.
3. To be concerned about provision.

From the first comes desire, forgetfulness and disobedience. From the second come anger, rancor and jealousy. From the third comes greed and expectation and avarice.
To hold onto one thing will eliminate all of these and that is not to be pleased with the self in any state, and to beware of it at all times.
- Shaykh Ahmad Zarruq

Gratitude to God should be as regular as our heartbeat.

The sincere person is the one who hides his good deeds just like he hides his evil deeds.
- Ya'qub al-Makfoof

We've got spirals of advice,
thousands seas of wise words
but every human being,
every soul,
follows their own route,
their own destiny with a different velocity.

There are two kinds of Riya - Showing off-Ostentation ie pure ostentation and adulterated ostention. In pure ostentation "Riya" a man does a good deed only for worldly benefit. In Adulterated ostentation, a man does a good deed with the intention of reaping the benefits of the world as well as of the Hereafter.
- Abu Hamid Al Ghazali

Someone who seeks to travel the path of Allah should begin with a sound repentance from all his sins.
- Abdullah ibn Alawi Al Haddad

By Allah, whenever I endure any adversity I gain four blessings of Allah in exchange. The first of them is, when the adversity is not caused by my sin (virtue is earned). The second, when the adversity is not greater than my sin (virtue is earned). The third, when I am not deprived of contentment (virtue is earned). And the fourth, I hope for virtues thereby.
- Umar ibn Al-Khattab (radiAllahu anhu)

The wise man knows the only fitting price for his soul is a place in Paradise.
- Ibn Hazm

The mere physical man is like the ant crawling
on the paper, who observes black lettering and
attributes its production to the pen and nothing more.

- abu Hamid al Ghazali [Alchemy of Happiness]

You must be the change, you want to see in the world.
- Mahatma Ghandi

Believers see their sins as if they were sitting at the foot of a mountain and feared that it may fall on them, while the corrupt see their sins as if they were a mere fly that flew by their nose.
- Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) [reported in Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim]

To find a fault is easy; to do better may be difficult.

Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Abu Dharr once described the people of the world, says, "They breed what will they ultimately bury, they build what will eventually be destroy, they hold firm to what is emphemeral, and they forsake what is everlasting. Hence, blessed are the two cries people abominate most: Death and poverty.
- Abu Dharr
[narrated by Abu Muhammad Bin Hayyan]

Your heart mirrors not His love,
Rusty with your sins it is,
Remove this rust and you shall
Perceive how Glorious He is.
- Jalaluddin al-Rumi

Only someone who is sincere recognizes what showing off is.
- Imam Shafi' (rahimullah)

"if a rock falls on another rock on the other side of the moon, how does Islam explain it?"
"Who Cares?"
- Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller

The beginning of knowledge is the intention, then listening, then understanding, then action, then preservation, and then spreading it.
- Ibn al-Mubarak

Had there not been five bad qualities, all the people would have been righteous. Contentment with ignorance; love for worldly life; miserliness inspite of much wealth; ostentation in (good) deeds; and pride in their own intelligence.
- Ali ibn Abu Talib (radiAllahu anhu)

If someone desires to make a display, he is the slave of display, and if someone desires concealment, he is the slave of concealment. The slave of Allah is the same whether he is public or concealed.
- Abu'l-'Abbas al-Mursi

Doubt is a precipice on the way to God. Blessed is he who is freed from its bonds. He who fares without any doubt, adhere to his footprints if you do not know the way. Cleave to the footprints of the deer and advance with care that you may reach the musk-gland. By means of such trekking, even if you walk on fire, you will reach the luminous peak.
- Jalaluddin Rumi

I studied adab for thirty years and I studied knowledge for twenty years.
- Ibn al-Mubarak

The wound caused by fire heals in its time;
the burn inflicted by an inflamed tongue never heals.

Umar ibn al-Khattab (radiAllahu anhu) was on his way to take possession of the conquered city of Jerusa�lem. Along the journey he stopped at a place called Jaabiyah where he addressed the Mus�lims:

O People! Reform your innerselves (souls), then your outer-selves (worldly af�fairs) will be rectified (automatically). Prac�tise (righteousness) for your Aakhirah, then your worldly affairs will be seen to ....... Whoever intends to take the direction of the Path of Jannat should hold on to the Jama'ah (i.e. Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama'ah). Verily shaitaan is with the lone person. He remains far from two persons. Never any of you be alone with a woman, for verily, the third one present is shaitaan. He who derives happiness from his virtuous deeds and is grieved by his evil deeds, verily, he is a Mu 'min.

Learn silence as you have learned speech.
Speech will guide you, and silence will protect you
- One of the scholars of Ihsan

Be a good man to Allah and a bad man to yourself (desires); and be one of the commoners among the people
- Ali ibn Abu Talib (radiAllahu anhu)

A servant should overcome his soul,
And be continuous in the remembrance of his Lord,
Establishing the rights of his Lord,
Focusing upon Him with his heart,
The light of fear setting ablaze his heart,
Whilst drinking from the vessel of pure love,
And certain hidden realities being unveiled for him.
So when he talks, it is due to Allah,
When he speaks, it is from Allah,
When he moves, it is by the Command of Allah,
And when he is serene, then it is from Allah,
He belongs to Allah, is for Allah and is with Allah
- al-Junayd

My friend, seize the chance to live, How many a corpse that came to them was revived; Never shall anyone be disappointed, never, Who comes with a true intention. Clear your heart for the theophany, Open your eye for true joy; Other than the Divine, my friend, abandon, And be annihilated in the exalted entity
- Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman al-Shaghouri (rahimahullah)

Dhikr is the reason for the life of the heart and leaving it is the reason for its death.
- Ibn Ajiba

What can my enemies do to me?
I have in my breast both my Heaven and my Garden.
If I travel they are with me, and they never leave me.
Imprisonment for me is a religious retreat [khalwa].
To be slain for me is martyrdom [shahada]
And to be exiled from my land is a spiritual journey [siyaha].
- Ibn Taymiyyah

Bishr al-Hafi, a pious bachelor and teacher of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (rahimahullah), appeared to someone in a dream, and was asked, �How has God treated you?� He responded, �I have been given a high rank in the Gardens of Paradise. And I was allowed to look upon the stations of the prophets (alayhum salam); yet I never attained to the ranks of the married.� When asked what had become of Abu Nasr al-Tammar, he replied, �He has been raised seventy degrees above me.� People were surprised, and asked how this could be, and he answered, �He earned that by his patience with his little daughters and his family burdens.�

A bachelor once asked Imam al-Ghazali: `Which should I choose: marriage, or total devotion to God? �Both�, he replied.

Seek knowledge. Seeking it purely for Allah�s sake is fearing Him; Pursuing it is worshipping Him; discussing it is remembering Him; searching for it is Jihad ; imparting it to others is charity and spending it for the benefit of the family is affinity. All this is because knowledge is the borderline between the lawful and the unlawful; the light to the inroads to heaven; the friend in isolation; the companion in travel, the person to discuss with in solitude, the guide in happiness and sorrow; bringer of peace to the enemy, and an ornament to the intimate friend. With the power of knowledge Allah raises a people and makes them leaders of virtues. Their footsteps and deeds are imitated and people conclude with their opinions. The angels show anxiousness in their friendship and spread their wings for them. Every animate and inanimate prays for their salvation; the fish and creatures in the sea, the animals and beasts on the land, all ask for repentance for the learned. This is so because knowledge is equivalent to praying through the night. Knowledge brings one closer to his relative and verses him with the facts of the lawful and the unlawful. Knowledge remains the leader while actions remain the followers. It inspires the fortunate and deprives the wicked.
- Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam)
[reported by Mu�adh Ibn Jabal
from Ihya ulumud-Deen - Abu Hamid al-Ghazali]

"Say: Allah is my all. In Him do (all) the trusting put their trust."
- Qur'an, 39:38

The scholars of our time have been content with speech and with no practice! The Salaf use to practice but not speak. After them the people practiced and spoke being followed by a people who spoke but did not practice. There will come a time when people will not speak nor practice.
- Abu Hazim

Abu Darda (radhiAllahu anhu) reports that Rasulullah said:
Allah says: I am Allah besides whom there is no deity. I am the Master of kings. The hearts of kings are in the control of My hands. Verily, when My servants obey Me, I turn the hearts of the kings (rulers) towards them so that they rule over them with compassion and mercy. When My servants disobey Me, I turn the hearts of their kings (rulers) against them. Hence, they treat them harshly with anger and vengeance (thereby they mete out torture and oppression). Hence, do not occupy yourselves with praying for curses upon the kings. Instead turn to Me in remembrance and with humility. I will then protect you from the tyranny of the kings.
- reported in Mishkat

If you are good, be better.

Since you are not a prophet, follow the way taught by prophets.
Since you are not a king, be a loyal subject to The King.
Since you are not a captain, do not take the helm of the ship.
Since you do not possess every skill, have partners in your business.
Be as pliant as dough in the hands of others, that you may rise well.
- Jalaluddin Rumi [from Masnavi]

There are three indications of real generosity:
To remain steadfast without resisting,
to praise without the emotion of generosity,
and to give before being asked.
- Maruf Al Karkhi Abu Mahfuz Bin Firuz

The main focus of Muslim activists in the field of Da'wa should be on making people aware of the importance of learning the Deen, studying the Shari'ah, and diving into the depths of the Sacred Knowledge in order to ultimately live upon it. The key to the success and triumph of the Muslim Umma unequivocally lies in Sacred Knowledge. Only through studying the Sacred Knowledge may we increase the fear of Allah in our hearts and precisely emulate the exemplar of the Prophet salla Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam and follow the steps of the 'Ulama. In order for the Umma to regain its intellectual consciousness and reinstate its sense of civilization, we need, beside following the Qur'an and the Sunna, to adhere to the way of the 'Ulama that spans over fourteen centuries, a way that, in reflecting the Qur'an and the Sunna, articulated the corpus of fiqh and the exegeses of the Qur'an and Sunna, thus introducing the way to the following generations. Recognizing this legacy and digging out its treasures is vital to the recovery of the Umma. This can only be done through reviving the tradition of learning and teaching in Islam, where a teacher represents the spring of knowledge and the exemplar of righteousness, the continuation of the glorious past and the embodiment of the blessing and light of an unbroken chain of transmission. People should know that unlike political movements and sectarian groups, we do not call to our own way, nor do we have our own new agenda. The Deen is our agenda, and the way of the 'Ulama is our way.
- Shaykh Muhammmad al Yaqoubi sums up his way in these words.

This world is full of remedies. But you have no remedy until God opens a window for you. You may not be aware of that remedy just now. In the hour of need it will be made clear to you. The Prophet said God made a remedy for every pain.
- Jalaluddin al-Rumi

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

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.
- Abdul Qadir Jilani

True knowledge is not measured in relationship tohow much you memorize and then narrate, but rather, true knowledge is an expression of piety
- Ibn Mas'ud

What hurts the soul? To live without tasting the water of its own essence.
- Jalaluddin al-Rumi

Truth is Timeless, and returning to Truth is better than continuing in Falsehood.
- Umar ibn al-Khattab (radiAllahu anhu)

Anyone who refuses to marry is shrinking his farmwork, wasting the seed, and leaving idle the appropiate tools created by God; he sins against the purpose of creation and wisdom visible in the evidence of natural structure. The man who refuses to marry has severed a chain of being, a previously unbroken chain linking his own existence to that of Adam (alayhis salam).
- Imam abu Hamid al-Ghazali

When you're feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, confused, and frustrated...
"Know that Allah Most High is there. Know that He The All Seeing is watching. Know that He Most Wise is testing you. Know that He Most Kind and Merciful is waiting for you to call to Him. Know that He Most Powerful is Able to do All things. Whether it is from His Immense Love or His Wrath that you are feeling such anxiety, Know that His Mercy outsrips His Wrath. Know that when you call out to Him in desperation Your Beloved answers in ways you may not know. Oh faqir, call out to Your Lord Most High, oh faqir walk towards Your Beloved, Your Beloved will take strides towards you. Oh faqir, open your heart to Your Beloved, and your Beloved will open His Treasures to you.

Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of.

"Humankind, an admonition has been sent from your Lord. It is a balm for all that ails the heart, a source of guidance to grace the true believers. So let them rejoice in the bounty of Allah. It transcends what they hoard."
- Qur'an, Surah Yunus, 10:57-58

It was narrated that Anas (radiAllahu anhu) said:
On the Day of Uhud, some of the people fled and left the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam), but Abu Talhah stood before him covering him with a shield. Abu Talhah was a powerful archer who broke two or three bows that day. When a man passed by carrying a quiver containing arrows, he would say, 'Give them to Abu Talhah'. Whenever the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) raised his head to look at the people, Abu Talhah would say, "O Prophet of Allah, may my father and my mother be sacrificed for you, do not raise your head lest you be struck by an arrow shot by the enemy. My neck is before your neck."
[Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Who has never killed an hour? not causally or without thought, but carefully: a predmeditated murder of minutes. The violence comes from a combination of giving up, not caring, and a resignation that getting past it is all you can hope to accomplish. So you killed the hour. you do not work, you do not read, you do not daydream. If you sleep it is not because you need to sleep. And when at last it is over, there is no evidence: no weapon, no blood, and no body. The only clue might be the shadows beneath your eyes or a terribly thin line near the corner of your mouth indicating something has been suffered, that in the privacy of your life you have lost something and the loss is too empty to share.

No one attains the reality of renunciation (Zuhd) until there are three characteristics in him: work without attachment, speech without personal motives, and honor without seeking position.
- Yahya bin Muadh

Its about You, Your Lord and the Grave � nothing else matters.
- Shaykh Nuh Keller

Guard your tongue from praise as you have guarded it from blame.
- Maruf al-Karkhi