Founders Of Religions

"Ibn 'Abbas said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, passed by some graves at Madina and turned his face towards them and said, "Peace be upon you, O people of the graves! May Allah forgive us and you. You preceded us and we are following afterwards.""

"Abu Hurayra reported the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Race to good actions as fast as you can. What are you waiting for except delayed poverty, oppressive wealth, debilitating illness, dottering senility, a swift death or the Dajjal? Or are you waiting for an unseen evil, or the Last Hour? The Last Hour will be most bitter and terrible.""

"Ibn 'Umar said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, took me by the shoulder and said, "Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a traveller on the road.""

"Abu Sa'id al-Khudri said, "Once when we were on a journey with the Prophet, a man came on a camel of his and began to look to his right and left. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Anyone who has a spare mount should prepare it for someone who does not have a mount to ride, and anyone who has extra provision should prepare it for someone who does not have any provision," and he mentioned the different categories of property until we thought that none of us had any right to anything in excess of our needs.""

"Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Food for two is enough for three, and food for three is enough for four.""

"Abu Hurayra reported that he heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "The likeness of the miser and the one who gives is like two men wearing shirts of chain-mail from their breasts to their collar bones. When the giver of sadaqa spends, his shirt expands over his body until it covers his fingertips and obliterates his footsteps. When the miser wants to spend anything, every link remains in its place. He tries to make it looser but it will not get looser.""

"Al-Miqdam ibn Ma'dikarib reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "None of you eats better food than that which he eats as a result of the work of his own hand. The Prophet Dawud used to eat from the work of his own hand.""

"It is better for any of you to carry a load of firewood on his own back than to beg from someone else."

"Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "It is better for one of you to take a rope and carry firewood on his back than for him to go to a man to beg from him who then gives to him or refuses to.""

"Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The very poor man is not the one who goes around to people to ask for a bite or two to eat or a date or two, but the one who does not have enough for himself but is too shy to ask so that he is given sadaqa - or does not beg from people importunately.""

"From Ibn 'Umar is that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stated while he was on the minbar, "The upper hand is better than the lower hand. The upper hand is the one which spends and the lower is the beggar's.""

"Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Wealth is not from a lot of money. Wealth is the independence of the self.""

"Abu Karima al-Miqdam ibn Ma'dikarib said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "A human being fills up no vessel worse than his belly. Enough for a son of Adam are some morsels which will kept his back straight. If it cannot be avoided, then a third is for his food, a third for his drink, and a third for himself.""

"Abu Muhammad Fadala ibn 'Ubayd al-Ansari reported that he heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "O the delight of the one who is guided to Islam, has adequate livelihood, and is contented.""

"Abu Hurayra stated that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The most truthful phrase ever said by a poet is the words of Labid: "Everything except Allah is false.""

"Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The poor will enter the Garden [heaven] five hundred years before the rich.""

"'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, slept on a straw mat and when he got up he had a mark on his side. We said, "Messenger of Allah, we could make a covering for you?" He said, "What have I to do with this world? I am only in this world like a rider who seeks shade under a tree and then goes on.""

"Ka'b ibn Malik reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Two hungry wolves loose among sheep do not cause as much damage as that caused to a man's deen by his greed for money and reputation.""

"'Abdullah ibn Mughaffal said, "A man said to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, "Messenger of Allah, by Allah, I love you." He said, "Be careful of what you say." He said, "By Allah, I love you," three times. He said, "If you love me, then prepare yourself for poverty. Poverty comes swifter to the one who loves me than a flood to its destination.""

"Ka'b ibn 'Iyad said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "Every community has a trial, and the trial of my community is wealth.""

"Sahl ibn Sa'd as-Sa'idi reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "If this world had been worth as much as a gnat's wing in the eyes of Allah, no unbeliever would have had a single drink of water from it.""

"Abu 'Abbas Sahl ibn Sa'd as-Sa'idi said, "A man came to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said, 'Messenger of Allah, show me an action for which Allah will love me and for which people will love me if I do it. He said, "Do with little of this world and Allah will love you, and do with little of what belongs to other people and people will love you.""

"Ibn 'Umar said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, took hold of my shoulders and said, "Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a traveller on the road." Ibn 'Umar used to say, 'In the evening, do not anticipate the morning, and in the morning do not anticipate the evening. Take from your health for your illness and from your life for your death.""

"Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "This world is the prison of the believer and the paradise of the unbeliever.""

"In one variant, "When one of you sees someone who has been given more bounty in respect of wealth or physical strength, he should then look at someone who has less than him.""

"Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Look at those who are lower than you and do not look at those who are higher than you. That is more likely to prevent you underestimating the blessing of Allah on you.""

"Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "If I had the whole of Uhud in gold, it would not make me happy for three days to pass while I have any of it except something I have kept for a debt.""

"Jabir reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, went through the market with people on both sides of him. He passed the dead body of a deformed sheep, took it by its ear and then said, "Which of you would like to have this for a dirham?" They said, "We would not like to have it for anything. What would we do with it?" He said, "Would you like to have it?" They said, "By Allah, even if it was alive, it would be defective since it is deformed, and now it is dead." He said, "By Allah, this world has less value with Allah than this has with you.""

"Al-Mustawrid ibn Shaddad reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "This world in in comparison with the Next World is like putting your finger in the sea and seeing what comes back on it.""

"Anas reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "O Allah, there is no life but the life of the Next World.""

"Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "If the believers knew the punishment which Allah has, none of them would have any hope of attaining His Garden [heaven]. If the unbelievers knew the mercy which Allah has, none of them would despair of reaching His Garden."

"Anas said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "Allah Almighty says, "O son of Adam! I will forgive you as long as you call on Me and have hope in Me, no matter what you do. Son of Adam, I do not care if your wrong actions reach to the clouds of heaven and then you ask Me for forgiveness, I will forgive you. Son of Adam, if you were to come with sins equivalent in weight to the whole earth and then meet Me having not associated anything with Me, I would come to you with the same amount of forgiveness.""

"Jabir ibn 'Abdullah reported that he heard the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say three days before his death, "None of you should die without having a good opinion of Allah, the Mighty and Exalted.""

"Anas reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Allah is pleased with the slave who eats some food and then praises Him for it, or drinks a drink and then praises Him for it.""

"Ibn 'Umar said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "On the Day of Rising, a believer will be brought near his Lord until His mercy descends on him and He will ask him to acknowledge his sins and say, 'Do you confess to such-and-such a sin? Do you confess to such-and-such a sin?' He will say, 'Lord, I confess.' He will say, 'I veiled it for you in the world and I forgive you for it today,' and he will be given the page of his good actions.""

"Jabir reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The metaphor of the five prayers is that of a sizeable flowing river at the door of one of you in which he washes five times every day.""

"In one variant, "Allah will not wrong a believer in respect of any good deed - he gives to him on account it in this world and he rewards him for it in the Next world. The unbeliever enjoys all the fruits of any good deeds he does for Allah Almighty in this world so that when he passes to the Next world, he had no good deeds left for which to be repaid.""

"Anas reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "When an unbeliever does a good deed, he enjoys its fruits in this world. In the case of a believer, Allah Almighty will store up his good deeds for him in the Next world and will also reward him with provision in this world because of his obedience.""

"Mohammed is not called "Ummi" because he was incapable of writing or reading. He is called "Ummi" because with him writing and wisdom were innate, not taught. He who inscribes characters on the face of the moon, is such a man not able to write? And what is there in all the world that he does not know, seeing that all people learn from him? What can the partial intellect know what the Universal Intellect [Muhammad] does not possess?""

"The way to God is exceedingly fearful and blocked deep by snow. Mohammed risked his life, driving his horse through and opening up the road. Whoever goes on this road, does so by his guidance and guarding. He discovered the road in the first place, and set up waymarks everywhere, posting signs that say, “Do not go in this direction, and do not go that way. If you go that way you will perish, even as the people of ‘Ad and Thamud, but if you go in this direction you will be saved, like the believers... Know that Mohammed is the guide. God says,“Until you first come to Mohammed you cannot reach Us.” This is like when you decide to go somewhere; thought leads the way, saying, “Go to this place, it is in your best interests.” After that your eyes act as a guide, and then your limbs begin to move, all in that order. But the limbs have no knowledge of eyes, nor the eyes of thought."

"Our caravan leader is the pride of the world, Mustafa [Muhammad]"

"The soil of Medina is sweeter than both worlds:"

"The Sufi is hanging on to Muhammad, like Abu Bakr."

"I am the servant of the Qur'an as long as I have life."

"The king of the kingdoms of messengerdom,"

"They say that on the night of his Ascension into heaven, the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, prayed first at the Dome of the Rock, laying his hand upon the Rock. As he went out, the Rock, to do him honour, rose up, but he laid his hand on it to keep it in its place and firmly fixed it there. But by reason of this rising up, it is even to this present day partly detached from the ground beneath."

"Enumerate my good qualities one by one; my faults,"

"O Thou! to please whose love and wrath as well,"

"Grant me by your intercession, for which I hope,"

"When Muhammad was born, angels proclaimed it with high and low voices. Gabriel came with the good tidings, and the Throne trembled. The houris came out of their castles, and fragrance spread. Ridwan [the keeper of the gates of Paradise] was addressed: "Adorn the highest Paradise, remove the curtain from the palace, send a flock of birds from the birds of Eden to Amina's dwelling place that they may drop a pearl each from their beaks." And when Muhammad was born, Amina saw a light, which illuminated the palaces of Bostra. The angels surrounded her and spread out their wings. The rows of angels, singing praise, descended and filled hill and dale"