by 'Amr ibn 'Abasah what
was meant by faith, he replied,
"Self restraint and gentleness."
(Hadith of Muslim)
(Hadith of Muslim)
***
Greed and faith can never co-exist
in the human heart.
(Hadith of an Nasa'i on the authority of Abu Hurayarah)
(Hadith of an Nasa'i on the authority of Abu Hurayarah)
***
Keep your faith pure. Even the smallest good deed will suffice.
***
When a person repents, Allahs pleasure at this is even greater
than that
of one who dismounts from his camel,
loses it in the desert and then
finds it again all of a sudden.
(Hadith of al-Bukhari and Muslim)
(Hadith of al-Bukhari and Muslim)
***
When you lead the prayer, you should make it short because,
among those offering salat there may be some who are infirm, sick and old.
Those who observed a fast never found fault with those who did not keep the fast.
Similarly, those not observing the fast never said anything amiss
to those who kept their fast.
***
The man who keeps a fast in full faith,
and for reward in the world hereafter,
will be forgiven his past sins.
And the man who prays in the night during Ramadan
with faith and for reward in the world hereafter,
will be forgiven all his past sins.
(Bukhari, Muslim)
***
Allah has made the Muslims duty bound to pay zakat (alms).
It will be realized from the wealthy to be distributed among the needy.
(Bukhari, Muslim)
***
The owner of any land which is irrigated by rain water or a stream,
or which is situated close to a river,
is obliged to give one tenth of its produce to the needy.
The owner of such land as is irrigated by other methods will pay half this amount.
(Al-Bukhari)
***
If a person to whom God has given wealth does not give zakat (alms),
he will find that, on the Day of Judgement,
his wealth turns into a poisonous snake with two black spots on its head.
It will be like a yoke around his neck.
Then it will seize him by the jaws and declare, ‘I am your wealth. I am your treasure’.
(al-Bukhari)
but giving alms to a poor relative has the double virtue of giving alms
and, at the same time, treating one’s own relative well.
hear some words of advice:
Be mindful of God and God will protect you.
Be mindful of God and you will find Him before you.
If you ask, ask of God; if you seek help, seek help of God.
Know that if all the people were to gather together
to give you the benefit of anything,
it would be something that God had already prescribed for you,
and that if they gathered together to harm you with anything,
this would only be as God had already ordained.
will be made to wear a yoke made of seven earths
around his neck on the Day of Judgement.
(Al-Bukhari, Muslim)
***
‘A man who has as much as an iota of arrogance
in his heart will not enter Paradise’.
Hearing these words of the Prophet, a man asked,
‘What if a man likes to dress in good clothes and wear good shoes’?
The Prophet said, ‘God himself possesses elegance.
And He likes elegance. This has nothing to do with arrogance.
A man is arrogant when he refuses to accept the truth and considers others to be inferior’.
(Muslim)
***
According to Abu Hurayrah, the Prophet recited a verse from the Qur’an
about the Day the earth would give its account.
Then he asked ‘Do you know what this account will be’?
his listeners replied, ‘God and His Messenger know better’.
‘The account the earth will give’, said the Prophet,
‘is the witness it will bear to the deeds and misdeeds
all men and women have committed throughout its length and breadth,
and to the exact moments of their commission.
That is what the earth’s account will be’.
(At-Tirmidhi)
in order to return their good treatment of him
shows no real love for them.
The man who really shows love for his relatives is one who treats them well
despite their being unkind to him.
(Al-Bukhari)
***
Abu usayd as-Saidi tells of how they were once with the Prophet
when a man from the Banu Salmah arrived in their midst.
Addressing the Prophet, he asked,
‘O messenger of God, are there any outstanding debts
which I have to repay after my parents’ deaths?’
The Prophet, replied, ‘Yes, pray for them and seek forgiveness for them.
And fulfill their obligations now that they are gone.
And treat their relations with kindness.
And respect their friends.’
(Abu-Dawud)
***
He who satiates himself,
while his immediate neighbours go hungry,
is not a true believer.
(Ahmad ibn-Hanbal)
***
Asma’ bint Abu Bakr related how her foster mother,
a believer in polytheism (shirk), had come to her
during the period of the treaty of al-Hudaybiyyah.
Concerned that her foster mother was a polytheist,
she addressed the Prophet,
‘O Messenger of God, my idolatrous (mushrik) mother has come to me
and she wants something from me. Should I give it to her?’
‘Yes. Treat her well,’ replied the Prophet.
(Al-Bukhari, Muslim)
***
A believer should never loathe a believing wife.
If one quality in her does not find favour with her husband,
some other quality will be to his liking.
(Muslim)
***
A man once went to the Prophet with a grievance against his relatives.
‘O Messenger of God’, he said,
‘I have some relatives whom I treat with kindness.
Yet they show me no kindness.
I treat them well and they treat me badly.
I show them forbearance and they treat me with brutality.’
The Prophet replied, ‘if you are as you say you are,
then it is as if you have smeared their faces with dust.
And you will always have God’s help against them
so long as you continue to be well-behaved towards them.’
(Muslim)
***
When a man spends on his family members
with the intention of seeking God’s pleasure,
then his spending becomes an act of charity.
(Al-Bukhari, Muslim)
***
A believer is a mirror to another believer.
‘ O my son, if you can act in such a way that you spend your mornings
and your evenings without wishing anyone ill,
then that is how you should always act.’
Then he added, ‘O my son, this is my way.
And anyone who loves my ways, loves me.
And anyone who loves me will live with me in Paradise.’
(Muslim)
***
Each one of you is a shepherd.
And each one of you will be asked about your flock.
A ruler also is a shepherd and he will be asked about his flock.
And every man is a shepherd to his family.
And a woman is the custodian of her husband’s house and his children.
Thus each one of you is a shepherd,
and each one will be asked about his flock.
(Muslim, al-Bukhari)
***
You should visit the sick, feed the hungry
and set prisoners free.
(Al-Bukhari)
***
When the Prophet was asked which form of Islam was better,
he replied, ‘To feed the people and extend greetings of peace to them-
be they of your acquaintance or not.’
(Al-Bukhari, Muslim)
***
On the Day of Judgement, God will say,
‘O son of Adam, I was sick, but you did not visit Me.’
The man will reply, ‘O my Lord, how could I visit You –
the Lord of the whole universe?’
God will say, ‘Did you not know that such and such a man had fallen ill?
Yet you did not visit him. Did you not known that had you gone there to visit him,
you would have found Me there wit him?’
(Muslim)
***
O Muslim women, do not belittle the gift of any woman in your neighbourhood,
even if it happens to be a goat’s hoof.
(al-Bukhari, Muslim)
***
According to Anas ibn Malik, when God’s Messenger said,
‘Help your brother, irrespective of whether he is the oppressor or the oppressed,’
a man said, ‘O Messenger of God, I can help the oppressed,
but how can I help the oppressor?’
The Prophet replied, ‘Stop him from committing an act of oppression.
That in itself is a form of help.’
(Al-Bukhari, Muslim)
***
The best gift from a father to his child is education and upbringing.
(At-Tirmidhi)
***
Should I not tell you what is the best charity?
To spend on the daughter who has been returned to you
(a divorced or widowed daughter),
when there is no one else to earn for her.
(Ibn-Majah)
***
You will observe that the believers are like the parts of the body
in relation to each other in matters of kindness, love and affection.
When one part of the body is afflicted, the entire body feels it;
there is loss of sleep and a fever develops.
(al-Bukhari, Muslim)
***
If a Muslim farms the land or plants a tree,
and then a bird, a beast or a man eats something from it,
he receives in return the reward of a charity.
(Muslim)
***
One who walks with a tyrant,
in the full knowledge that he is a tyrant,
in order to strengthen him,
is such as has already left the fold of Islam.
(al-Bayhaqi)
***
Anger is the devil, and the devil has been created from fire.
And fire is extinguished by water, therefore, when any of you feel angry,
you should perform your ablutions.
(Abu Dawud)
***
When any of you feel angry, you should sit down if you are standing.
And if your anger passes off with this, well and good.
If not, you should lie down.
(Abu Dawud)
***
When a man tells you something in confidence,
you must not betray his trust.
(Abu Dawud)
***
On the Day of Judgement, the tyrant’s own tyranny
will descend upon him in the form of darkness.
(Al-Bukhari, Muslim)
***
Whosever of you sees an evil action,
let him change it with his hand;
and if he is not able to do so, then with his tongue;
and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart,
for that is the minimum that is desirable from a believer.
(An-Nasa'i)
***
A Bedouin once urinated in the Prophet’s Mosque,
and people got up to punish him.
The Prophet said, ‘Leave him alone,
and throw a bucket of water over his urine.
You are here to make things easy, not to make things difficult.’
(Al-Bukhari)
***
According to Aishah, the Prophet used to cobble his shoes, stitch his clothes
and do the kind of housework that is done in all homes.
He was a human being just like anybody else.
He used to milk his goat and do sundry other chores himself.
(At-Tirmidhi)
***
Sa’ib has thus recorded his commendation of the Prophet;
‘In the period of Ignorance (i.e. before Islam) when you were my partner in business,
you were the finest of all partners.
You never deceived me. Neither did you quarrel with me.’
(Abu Dawud)
***
Abu Hurayrah relates how the Prophet never criticized food.
‘If he liked it, he ate it. If he did not, he just left it.’
(Al-Bukhari, Muslim)
***
According to Abdullah ibn Masud,
the Prophet said that none of his Companions
should complain to him of another.
‘I would like to come to you with a clear heart.’
(Abu Dawud)
***
Verily, God Almighty, and His angels, and those who inhabit the heavens,
even the ants in their holes and the fishes in their waters,
bless the good teachers of mankind.
(At-Tirmidhi)
***
You will not enter Paradise unless you have faith,
and you cannot be one of the faithful unless you love each other.
Should I not tell you things which, it followed, will create love among you?
One is to observe the practice of greeting each other.
(Muslim)
***
According to Abdullah ibn al-Abbas the Prophet forbade
the staging of fights between animals.
(At-Tirmidhi)
***
According to Abdullah ibn Umar,
the Prophet forbade not only indulgence in slander and backbiting,
but even listening to such talk.
(Mishkat al-Masabih)
***
A man once asked the Prophet if bigotry was to love one’s tribe.
‘No,’ replied the Prophet.
‘Bigotry is to help your tribe to tyrannise others.’
(Ibn-Majah)
***
He who preaches bigotry is not one of us.
And not being one of us, he may go ahead and fight in the cause of bigotry.
He who dies for such a cause is not one of us either.
(Abu Dawud)
***
Do not quarrel with your brother. Do not ridicule him.
You should refrain form making a promise and then going back on it.
(At-Tirmidhi)
***
Do not rejoice in the misfortunes of your brother.
For God may show him compassion, but create difficulties for you.
(At-Tirmidhi)
***
The most perfect of believers, in point of faith,
is he who is the best in manners.
(Abu Dawud)
***
None of you (truly) believes,
until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.
(Bukhari)
***
Calling God in personal prayer is worship.
(Abu ud, At-Tirmidhi)
***
O God, only you can change our hearts.
We beseech You to do so, so that we may submit to You.
(Muslim)
***
According to Abu Bakr as-Siffiq,
when he asked the Prophet to tell him
of some invocations which he could recite in his prayers, the Prophet said,
‘Say, God, I have been an oppressor to myself.
And there is no one but You who can forgive my sins.
Therefore forgive me in Your generosity.
And show me compassion. Verily, You are Forgiving and Compassionate.
(At-Tirmidhi, Muslim)
***
God has give utterance to these words:
‘We are with Our servant whenever he remembers Us;
when his lips are busy for Us.’
(Bukhari)
***
According to Tamim ad-Dari, the Prophet said,
‘Well-wishing is faith. Well-wishing is faith. Well-wishing is faith.’
When asked towards whom, he replied,
‘Towards God, His messenger, His Book, the Muslim rulers and the common people.’
***
God is bountiful and feels unhappy
if He has to refuse to grant a wish.
He feels embarrassed when a man holds out both his hands before Him,
and He has to disappoint him by turning him away empty-handed.
(Abu Dawud, At-Tirmidhi)
***
O God, I seek divine guidance
so that I may remain steadfast in what is just.
I seek divine guidance in order to be firm in righteousness.
I seek divine guidance in the manner that I express my gratitude
for Your favours and worship with devotion.
I seek from You a tongue that speaks the truth
and a heart which is pure and clean.
(At-Tirmidhi)
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