Islamic Quotes

Worry about Allah and what He wants you to do and He will take care of your worries.
- Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller

Absorption in worldly affairs breeds darkness in the heart, and absorption in the affairs of the next world enkindles light in the heart
- Uthman ibn Affan (radiAllahu anhu)

When Umar bin Al-Khattab (radiAllahu anhu) despatched the army of Sa'ad bin Abi Waqqas (radiAllahu anhu) to the Battle of Al-Qadisiyyah, he advised him:
"Fear your sins more than you fear the enemy as your sins are more dangerous to you than your enemy. We Muslims are only victorious over our enemy because their sins outnumber ours, not for any other reason. If our sins were equal to those of our enemy, then they would defeat us due to their superior numbers and resources."

You should not neglect your time or use it haphazardly; on the contrary you should bring yourself to account, structure your litanies and other practices during each day and night, and assign to each period a fixed and specific function. This is how to bring out the spiritual blessing (barakah) in each period. But if you leave yourself adrift, aimlessly wandering as cattle do, not knowing how to occupy yourself at every moment, your time will be lost. It is nothing other than your life, and your life is the capital that you make use of to reach perpetual felicity in the proximity of God the Exalted.
Each of your breaths is a priceless jewel, since each of them is irreplaceable and, once gone, can never be retrieved.
Do not be like the deceived fools who are joyous because each day their wealth increases while their life shortens. What good is an increase in wealth when life grows ever shorter? Therefore be joyous only for an increase in knowledge or in good works, for they are your two companions who will accompany you in your grave when your family, wealth, children and friends stay behind.
- Imam al-Ghazali
[from The Beginning of Guidance, p23]

To maintain nice relation with the people is half of intelligence, nice questioning is half of knowledge, and nice domestic arrangements is half of the management of livelihood.
- Ali ibn Abu Talib (radiAllahu anhu)

None in this age will amass wealth except those having five traits ofcharacter. High hopes; abnormal greediness; excessive miserliness, lack of fearing Allaah; and forgetfulness of the coming world.
- Sufyan ath-Thawri

Whoever seeks the protection of God, give him protection. Whoever asks in the name of God,grant him refuge. Whoever does a good deed to you, reward him. And if you do not have anything (to give in reward), invoke God's blessings on his behalf until you know that he has been rewarded.
- Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam)
[Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Vol 3, #104B]

Cheer people up, do not put them off.
- Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam)

Most people don't pray until they're in trouble.
When people need help they pray a lot.
But after they get what they want, they slow down.
If a man takes five showers a day, his body will be clean.
Praying five times a day helps me clean my mind.
- Muhammad Ali (renowned World Boxing Champion)
[from 'Muhammad Ali, His life and times' by Thoman Hauser p.463

The finest of the believers conduct themselves with honorable bearing.
And the finest of the finest are those who treat their mates with affection.
- Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam)
[as reported by Abu Hurairah]

I have learnt silence from the talkative,
toleration from the intolerant,
and kindness from the unkind;
yet strange,
I am ungrateful to these teachers.
- Kahlil Gibran

Five are the marks of Allah-fearing people. They do not associate with people other than those with whom they can maintain terms on a religious basis; they restrain their private parts and their tongues; when they make any large temporal gain, they take it as a curse, and when they gain even a little piety, they consider it precious; they do not eat to their full even of what is permitted for fear that anything forbidden might be mixed with it, they consider all people pious and pardoned, but consider themselves as sinners.
- Uthman ibn Affan (radiAllahu anhu)

I know none who has heard of Paradise and Hell, then spends an hour of his life without praying, remembering Allah or doing a good deed
- An ascetic

As for the people of Tasawwuf, they affirm the love of Allah, and this is more evident among them than all other issues....the affirmation of the love of Allah is well-known in the speech of their [old] and recent masters, just as it is affirmed in the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah and in agreement of the ways of the early generation (Salaf)
- Ibn Taymiyyah

If He opens a door for you, thereby making Himself known,
pay no heed if your do not measure up to this.
For, in truth, He has not opened if for you
but out of a desire to make Himself known to you.
Do you not know that He is the one
who presented the knowledge of Himself to you,
whereas you are the one
who presented Him with deeds?
What a difference between
what He brings to you and what you present to Him!
- Ibn Ata'illah

Be content with what you have
Be satisfied with your dwelling place
to accommodate your enterprise,
Restrain your tongue,
And shed tears of regret
regarding past sins you committed knowingly,
and those you do not recognize.
- Abdullah bin Mas'ud

You rave about the Holy Place (Masjid al-Haram)
and say you've visited God's garden
but where is your bunch of flowers?
There is some merit
in the suffering you have endured
but what a pity you have not discovered
the Makkah thats inside
- Jalaluddin Rumi

I am astonished about those people who are ordered to prepare their provisions, then the start of the journey is announced, however they remain unmindful in their vain discussions and fruitless deeds.
- Al Hasan al-Basri

Work for the sake of this life within the extent of your stay in it, and for the Hereafter within the extent of your stay therein
- Sufyan ath-Thawri, when asked by a man seeking his advice

Don't seek anything other than contentment, because therein is the bliss and the comfort of your body. Then consider the case of a person who possesses the whole world, can he take with him in the grave more than cotton and a shroud?
- A poet

What you love to have with you in the Hereafter you should advance today, and what you hate to have with you, you should abandon today
- Salman ibn Dinar

Allah the Exalted loves him who forgoes worldly life, the Angels love him who rejects the vices, and the Muslims love him who gives up greediness in respect of the Muslims.
- Uthman ibn Affan (radiAllahu anhu)

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)

How often it is that a small action becomes great by its intention. And how often it is that a great action becomes small by its intention.
- Abd Allah ibn Mubarak
[Dhahabi, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala', 8: 400]

A great many people proceed towards evils on account of receipt of blessings, many people are ruined by praise, and many a man is deceived by Allah's protection (in concealing vices).
- Ibn Mas'ud

Whoever desires Paradise, proceeds towards goodness; whoever fears Hell, refrains from the impulses of passions; whoever believes firmly in death, detests wordly life; and whoever recognises the worldly life, the trials and tribulations (of life) become slight for him.
- Ali ibn Abu Talib (radiAllahu anhu)

My father died, and for an entire year I did not ask Allah for anything except that He forgive my Father
- Amir ibn Abd Allah ibn Az-Zubayr (radiAllahu anhu)

During the funeral of his mother, Al-Harith Al-Akli (radiAllahu anhu) weeped. When asked for the reason of his tears he said, "Why should I not cry when one of my doors to Paradise has now closed?"

Your prayers are your light;
Your devotion is your strength;
Sleep is the enemy of both.
Your life is the only opportunity that life can give you.
If you ignore it, if you waste it,
You will only turn to dust.
- Rabia al-Adawiyyah

And when Imam al-Shafi' (Rahimullah) reached forty [years of age] he began to walk with a staff, and when questioned about it used to say: "To remind myself that I am a traveller"

The purpose of our creation is obvious:
to reach our utmost goals of
belief,
knowledge,
and spirituality;
to reflect on the universe,
humanity,
and God,
and thus prove our
value as human beings.
- M. Fethullah Gulen

Your pleas shall be answered, but wait patiently for the Lord to respond. Do not lose hope and begin to complain, "I beseeched the Lord, but He never responded." - Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam)
reported in Sahih al-Bukhari

Iyyadh bin Ghanam narrated that Allah's messenger (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said:
" I was informed by the heavenly hosts of angels that the most dignified among my followers are people who rejoice in public when they ponder the vastness of Allah's all-encompassing mercy and compassion, and they weep privately when they contemplate rigorous punishment He reserved for the sinners and the deniers of the truth. They sit in His blessed mosques morning and evening worshipping Him and celebrating His praises inwardly, and they implore Him with their tongues outwardly with reverence and awe. They pray to Him with their hands raised as well as lowered, and they yearn for Him unceasingly. They take little from people, and yet, it bears heavily on their hearts. They walk barefooted, humble, unpretentious, and unnoticed, just like ants, without finery; and they are free of self-adulation. They walk with dignity and serenity, and they rise to the nearness of their Lord through their link to His messenger (salAllahu alayhi wasalam).
They wear the garment of good conduct and follow the clear proof. They read the Qur'an regularly, take their daily guidance from it, and they happily make the necessary personal sacrifices to meet its requirements. Almighty Allah has surrounded them with distinguished witnessing angels, and faithful guardians, and He has illumined their faces with effulgence as a sign of His blessings upon them and as a demostration of His satisfaction with them. When they look at His servants, they anticipate promising signs. They often contemplate the vastness of Allah's creation. Their bodies dwell on earth, and their eyes are anchored upon the heavens. Their feet stand on earth, and their hearts dwell in the heavens. They breath on earth, and yet, their spirits are connected to the divine Throne. Their souls live in this world, and their thoughts are focused on the hereafter. They only worry about what may come. Their graves are in this world, and their ranks are exalted in Allah's sight."
- Imam Abu Na'eem al-Asfahanee
[from The Beauty of the Righteous and the Ranks of the Elite]

The heart becomes sick, as the body becomes sick,
and its remedy is al-Tawbah (repentance)
and protection [from transgression].
It becomes rusty
as a mirror becomes rusty,
and its clarity is obtained by remembrance.
It becomes naked
as the body becomes naked,
and its beautification is al-Taqwa.
It becomes hungry and thirsty
as the body becomes hungry,
and its food and drink are knowledge,
love,
dependence,
repentance
and servitude.
- Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah

I complained to Waki' about the weakness of my memorisation,
So he instructed me to abandon disobedience;
He informed me that knowledge is a light,
And the light of Allah is not given to a sinner.
- Imam Ash-Shafi' (Rahimullah)

Indeed Allah is gentle
and loves gentleness,
and gives due to gentleness
that which He does not give due to harshness
- Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam)
[ibn Majah, ibn Hibban - Hasan]

Work for your dunya in accordance with the length of your stay therein.
Work for your akhira in accordance with the length of your stay therein.
Work for the Fire in accordance with your ability to endure it.
And work for God in accordance with your need for Him.
- Hatim al-Asamm

Your hope in my heart is the rarest treasure
Your Name on my tongue is the sweetest word
My choicest hours
Are the hours I spend with You -

O God, I can't live in this world
Without remembering You
- Rabia al-Adawiyyah

Innumerable changes of moods are yours,
and they are uncontrolled by you.
If you knew their origin,
you would be able to dominate them.
If you cannot localize your own changes,
how can you localize that which formed you?
Jalaluddin al-Rumi [Fihi Ma Fihi]

Dear Ones,
Beware of the tiny gods frightened men
Create
To bring anesthetic relief
to their sad
days
- Hafiz

The strangest question I have ever been asked is: why are you Muslim? I find that question strange because I have never thought of a reason. My 'Muslimness' comes naturally to me; no other alternative has ever crossed my mind. I am Muslim because the only logical explanation of all the wonder in the universe and in ourselves is that a Creator exists. Every breath I take is a mercy from that Creator. To deny God, I would be denying myself and my life. Indeed, I see God's miracles everywhere, I cannot but love, worship and obey Him.
Through God's commands, revealed in the Qur'an and the examples of the Prophet Muhammad, I know exactly how to live my life. I am free to choose between peace and happiness by becoming a part of God's greater design, and the nightmare of rejecting my Creator's guidance. I am Muslim because I choose to be logical and far-sighted. I see the ligic of Islam and am far-sighted enough to plan for the eternity that God has offered.
- Marwa El-Naggar, An Egyptian Woman in her 20s.
From 'The no-nonsense guide to Islam'

True devotion is for itself:
not to desire heaven
nor to fear hell.
- Rabia al-Adawiyya

The supplication is the weapon of the believer,
a pillar of the Religion
and the light of the heavens and the earth
- Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam)
[al-Hakim - Sahih, narrated Ali]

If anyone travels on a road in search of knowledge, God will cause him to travel on one of the roads of Paradise. The angels will lower their wings in their great pleasure with one who seeks knowledge. The inhabitants of the heavens and the Earth and (even) the fish in the deep waters will ask forgiveness for the learned man. The superiority of the learned over the devout is like that of the moon, on the night when it is full, over the rest of the stars. The learned are the heirs of the Prophets, and the Prophets leave (no monetary inheritance), they leave only knowledge, and he who takes it takes an abundant portion.
- Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam)
[Sunan Abu-Dawud, Hadith 1631]

O ye people I counsel you to read the Qur'an.
Try to understand it and ponder over it.
Imbibe the teachings of the Qur'an.
Then practise what the Qur'an teaches.
- Umar ibn Al-Khattab (in his address after gaining Jerusalem)

My health is in the hands of Allah,
who has ways of testing us.
Whatever happens, happens.
I a'int the greatest - it's Allah.
I gave myself a job. I work for God.
- Muhammad Ali (renowned World Boxing Champion)
from 'View from the Corner' Time Magazine

Forgive him who wrongs you;
join him who cuts you off;
do good to him who does evil to you;
and speak the truth even if it be against yourself.
- Inscribed on the prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam)'s sword

Light Shining Forth
'When I saw his light shining forth,
In fear I covered my eyes with my palms,
Afraid for my sight because of the beauty of his form.
So I was scarcely able to look at him at all.
The lights from his light are drowned in his light
and his face shines out
like the sun and moon in one.
A spirit of light lodged in a body like the moon,
a mantle made up of brilliant shining stars.
I bore it until I could bear it no longer.
I found the taste of patience to be like bitter aloes.
I could find no remedy to bring me relief other than delighting in the sight of the one I love.
Even if he had not brought any clear signs with him, the sight of him would dispense with the need for them.....'
- Hassan bin Thabit
[written over 1400 years ago]

Yearning for Allah and His meeting is like the gentle breeze blowing upon the heart, extinguishing the blaze of the Dunya. Whosoever caused his heart to settle with his Lord shall be in a state, calm and tranquility, and whosoever sent it amongst the people shall be disturbed and excessively perturbed.
- Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah

If asked whether you love God, say nothing. This is because if you say, 'I do not love God,'you are an unbeliever. If, on the other hand, you say, 'I do love God,' your actions contradict you.
- Fudayl

Meditation in God is my capital.
Reason and sound logic are the root of my existence.
Love is the foundation of my existence.
Enthusiasm is the vehicle of my life.
Contemplation of Allah is my companion.
Faith is the source of my power.
Sorrow is my friend.
Knowledge is my weapon.
Patience is my clothing and virtue.
Submission to the Divine Will is my pride.
Truth is my salvation.
Worship is my habit.
And in prayer lies the coolness of my eye and my peace of mind.
- ascribed to Ali (radiAllahu anhu)