Muslims

"I love to live among the poor people."

"Allah, You created me when I was not worthy of mention; And You provided for me when I had nothing; And I wronged my soul and sinned, and I confess my guilt. If You forgive me, that will in no way reduce Your sovereignty; And if You punish me, that will in no way augment Your authority. You can find others to punish besides me, But I can find no one to forgive me but You. Truly, You are the most Merciful of those who show mercy. The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) said 'Owais will come to Madinah to meet me, but he will not find me physically, for I shall then be united with my Lord."

"I began in the morning by loving Allah, and I finished the evening in praising Him."

"O Allah, I offer my apology to You for every hungry stomach and unclothed body, but I own nothing in this world except what is on my back and in my stomach."

"In Allah's Eyes, Exalted is He, what a Muslim possesses does not gather any silver or gold, for one should only be doing what is permitted and avoiding what is forbidden, and whatever does not have leave a believer with a single friend. When we ask them to do what is permitted they insult us, and in that they are helped by the unbelievers and sinful people. By Allah they have thrown terrible things at me, but O Allah I will not leave them until I show them the right way."

"As-salaamu alaikum wa Rahmutullahi wa Barakatuh, for I will not see you after this day. May Allah have mercy upon you, but I do not like to be known, and I love to be solitary, for I am in deep anxiety when I am with people. So do not ask about me, and do not call upon me, but know that you are in my heart even if I do not see you nor you see me. Mention me and pray for me, for I will mention you and pray for you, if Allah, Exalted is He, so wishes. So go away from here."

"Distance in time has made my voice less contrived and subjective. I don’t feel I’m writing some kind of diary (which I kind of felt I was doing when I was 16). I am far more conscious of my voice and more disciplined in separating myself from my characters…"

"The relationship between reader and writer in fiction is steeped in vulnerabilities. It really does require trust and faith because some books have the power to transform people. You feel like you can never go back, look at the world in the same way again. And that grand ambition is what I hope to do with my books because at the heart of my writing is a passion for telling stories of the oppressed, the marginalized, and the misunderstood."

"I love the stuff and material of writing: words. The games you can play with them. The rhythm and lyricism in a good passage of writing. The power of a simple sentence. I also love the paradoxical bind of writing as both freedom and constraint. You start creating characters and scenes out of thin air. But if you do it well enough, that freedom constricts, because your characters are no longer inside you. They become their own people, agents on the page who need to act and think and feel in ways true to who they are…"

"The world of adolescence was all I was interested in exploring, I suppose because there is no other period in your life when you feel as intensely. Love, hate, jealousy, loyalty: I remember the power of these emotions as a teenager and how navigating questions of identity at the same time was truly terrifying and exhilarating. Writing in that moment of a person’s life has always felt so right to me."

"To the Muslim woman, the hijab provides a sense of empowerment. It is a personal decision to dress modestly according to the command of a genderless Creator; to assert pride in self, and embrace one's faith openly, with independence and courageous conviction."

"He said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) say: 'There will come to you Uways ibn ‘Aamir with the reinforcements from Yemen, from Muraad then from Qaran. He had leprosy but he recovered from it except for a spot the size of a dirham. He has a mother and he honours her. If he were to swear in the name of Allah that something should happen, Allah would cause it to happen. If you can ask him to pray for forgiveness for you then do so."

"When the people in Qarn began revering him and considering him a saint, on account of his status in Islam, he left Qarn for Kufa where he engaged in imparting Islamic education. Later, he took part in the unfortunate Battle of Siffin (37AH) where he was fatally wounded, subsequently dying at the age of 63. He was buried at Al-Raqqah, Syria. A grand Aal-Zaria Mosque as Jaame Owais Qarni stands at Qarn in Asir region and another Owais Qarni Mosque in Ilford UK. The love of the Holy Prophet is the boon that can be achieved without meeting him. This opens the door for millions of Muslims living in different areas and eras of the world."

"The Uwaisi form of spiritual transmission in the vocabulary of Islamic mysticism was named after Uwais Qarni, as it refers to the transmission of spiritual knowledge between two individuals without the need for physical interaction between them."

"Uwais Qarni (known also as Saint Uwais Qarni, Oways b. Anis al-Qarni, Oveys Gharani and Veysel Karani) was a Muslim mystic, martyr and philosopher of Saudi Arabia who lived during the lifetime of Muhammad, but never met the prophet personally."

"A lot of investors (last time), when they come to Indonesia, they complain about labor law, tax and business permit. Now there aren't many complaints because we've what we call the online single submission. Before, if you applied for a business permit, you would need 6 months, 8 months or more than one year. Now it takes no more than 3 hours for 9 business permits with online single submission."

"Indonesia democracy is maturing. Our democracy grants us (inaudible), the freedom of speech. By the way, freedom of the speech is also guaranteed. Indeed, our media and social media have been instrumental in exposing corruption and demanding (inaudible) from our government officials. Our democracy’s public participation is every aspect of our lives. Only in a democracy the people are free to choose their leaders. Without democracy there is no President Joko Widodo."

"Development in the South China Sea also captures our attention. Tensions in the area must be diffused through peaceful means, especially based on (inaudible). Indonesia is not a party to the dispute, but we have legitimate interest in peace and stability there. That is why we call all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from taking action that could undermine trust and confidence, and put at risk the peace and stability of the region. We need to talk closely to ensure good order at sea, prevent incidents, and ensure freedom of navigation."

"May God make us amongst those he allows to do good, and to practice it, and those who see the right path as none of us is without weakness; whosoever sees his weakness will forget those of others. May God make us die in the faith of Muhammad. Amen, Oh Master of the Universes."

"That the stars are celestial bodies with no mind or soul. They neither know the future nor affect people. Their effect on people however can be through their physical characteristics, such as the effect of the sun’s heat and rays on the planets and the effect of the moon on the tides of seas."

"The Earth is spherical despite what is popularly believed … the proof is that the Sun is always vertical to a particular spot on Earth."

"You came to me just before the Christians rang their bells. The half-moon was rising looking like an old man's eyebrow or a delicate instep. And although it was still night when you came a rainbow gleamed on the horizon, showing as many colours as a peacock's tail."

"If you attended (a study session) strictly adopt three attitudes; there is no fourth. First: You can lock yourself in the silence of ignorance. Second: If you do not behave as such, ask for the questions a man seeking to learn asks…. This man will ask only about what he does not know, not about what he knows. Asking about matters one knows is making proof of ineptitude; this is only ranting, waste of time for everyone…. If the person you are questioning does not give satisfactory answers, stop questioning… Third: You can answer like a scientist, refuting clearly the other’s arguments. If you are not capable of that, do not insist….”"

"The use of science in the practice of virtue, is considerable: the man who knows the beauty of virtue will follow it, however possible. Knowing the evil of wrong, he will avoid it, however possible. He listens to worthy praise, and keeps his distance from unworthy praise. From this is derived that science has a part in every virtue, and that ignorance has one in every vice. Man who is illiterate and who still practices virtue must be extremely pure, a virtuous being. This is the state of Prophets (PBUH) because God had conveyed goodness to them without they acquiring it from men."

"Ask questions stubbornly, very proud men who seeing themselves right without knowing anything about the matter. This shows lack of piety, a tendency to ranting, a weak mind, and excessive vanity. [...] If you hear, or read writing (you object to), do not react with violence until you have proof that what is expressed is wrong. Do not accept that with the enthusiasm of the credulous man either until being wholly convinced of that. In both situations you blind yourself and drift away from truth… Act like a person who has no preconceived views, one ready to know and accept what is right and reject what is wrong."

"If you attend a study session, only behave like a man wishing to expand his knowledge and seeking a higher reward from God. Do not act like a man content with what he holds, who is waiting for a weakness (from someone) to criticize (it or him), or an oddity to raise. This will be acting like vile people who have never mastered science.’ ‘If you attend with good intentions you will obtain the best results. Otherwise just stay at home, awarding yourself rest, a good morality, and a salutary outcome in front of God."

"There are mobile objects and stationary objects, but there is neither motion nor staticness."

"(His book The Decisive word on sects, heterodoxies and denominations is)The first of its genre, and it is surprising that it was written in the 11th century when nothing like it existed in Christian Europe. Ibn Hazm proceeds like a scholar and a theologian who is acquainted through his own study and experience with the religions of his time and he analyses them in detail, quoting their texts."

"There is no worse calamity for science and for scholarship than those intruders who are foreign to them. They are ignorant and yet think they know; they ruin everything whilst convinced they are fixing all."

"If science, and devoting oneself to it, had no other use than avoiding exhausting temptations, rushes of hope that give worry, and thoughts that sadden the soul, that alone should give us reasons to seek it… Kinglets have sought distraction in chess, wine, music, hunting and much else that only bring harm in this world and the other."

"Whosoever has a natural leaning towards a science, even if it was less noble than another, should not abandon it for the other because if he did he would be like someone who would be growing coconuts in al-Andalus and olive trees in India, crops that would never fructify."

"Blame from a man with a corrupt soul in opposing him, and refraining from evil deeds is better for you than his esteem if you did evil."

"Should the merit of science being fear of the ignorant, and love and honour for the scholars, that alone should encourage striving for it. What then about its other virtues in this world and the other."

"Whosoever is miserly with the gift of his knowledge deserves more blame than whosoever is miserly with his money, because the man miserly with his money fears exhausting what he has, but the one miserly with his science is with an object which does not become exhausted with use, and that he would lose nothing in sharing it."

"The most noble sciences, are those which bring us closer to the Creator; those which help us be pleasing to Him."

"I have come across most people- with the exception of those that God most High has protected-they rush into misery, worry, the exhaustion of this world, and amassing terrible sins, that will earn them hell-fire, gaining nothing in pursuing their evil deeds… And they know that their evil intentions will neither fulfill their wishes, nor bring any gains; and that with purer intentions they will obtain great rest for their souls."

"We know with certainty that never could man have acquired the sciences and arts by himself guided only by his natural abilities and without the benefit of instruction. (This applies, e.g., to) medicine, the knowledge of the physiological temperaments, the diseases and their causes, in all their numerous varieties, and the invention of adequate treatment and cure of each of them by drugs or preparations, which could never have been actually tried out. For how could anyone test every prescription on every disease since this would take tens of thousands of years and necessitate the examination of every sick person in the world?"

"Whoever harms his kinship and his neighbors is worse than them. Whosoever returns ill that he receives from them is like them. Whosoever does not return ill done to him is the master, the best and most virtuous amongst all."

"Compare yourself, for wealth, status and health to those lower than you. For faith, science, and virtue, compare yourself to those who are higher than you."

"Sciences are like powerful drugs, which suit the strong and exhaust the weak. Likewise, complex sciences enrich a vigorous mind, and keep it off evil, but exhaust the mediocre mind."

"Whosoever rises above things of this world, in front of which you kneel is much stronger than you."

"If you pride yourself with your science, then you must realize that you have no merit; science is a gift that God has granted you. Thus do not acknowledge it in a way that angers the Highest, because he could erase it from your head through an illness of some sort."

"Whosoever wishes for happiness in the other life, wisdom in this world, equity in their deeds, having all moral qualities, the practice of all virtues, ought to follow in his deeds the example of Mohammed (PBUH) the Messenger of God."

"What fixes and preserves a nation’s language, as well as its sciences and its history, is simply the strength of its political power, accompanied by the happy welfare and leisure of its inhabitants."

"I have seen men who had studied the sciences, who knew the messages of the Prophets, the recommendations of the wise, and yet who surpassed the most evil men in their worse deeds, and their depravation. This is very frequent, and so I have understood that these two moral attitudes were favours granted or denied by the Most High."

"Also be aware that many men eager for science, read, study, and research with application, but derive no fruit. The man of science must realize that if application alone was enough, many other men would be superior to him. Science, thus, is certainly a gift from the Highest. What place is left for pride, thus? We can only accept in humility, and give thanks to God, asking him to increase his bounty, and beg him not to deprive us of it."

"When I was a Christian I used to say, as did an uncle of mine who was one of the learned and eloquent men, that eloquence is not one of the signs of prophethood because it is common to all the peoples; but when I discarded (blind) imitation and (old) customs and gave up adhering to (mere) habit and training and reflected upon the meanings of the Qur'an I came to know that what the followers of the Qur'an claimed for it was true. The fact is that I have not found any book, be it by an Arab or a Persian, an Indian or a Greek, right from the beginning of the world up to now, which contains at the same time praises of God, belief in the prophets and apostles, exhortations to good, everlasting deeds, command to do good and prohibition against doing evil, inspiration to the desire of paradise and to avoidance of hell-fire as this Qur'an does. So when a person brings to us a book of such qualities, which inspires such reverence and sweetness in the hearts and which has achieved such an everlasting success and he is (at the same time) an illiterate person who did never learnt the art of writing or rhetoric, that book is without any doubt one of the signs of his Prophet-hood."

"Were my whole body festooned with eyes, I would gaze at my Master with untiring zeal O, how I wish that every pore of my body would turn into a million eyes— Then, as some closed to blink, others would open to see! But even then my thirst to see him Might remain unquenched. What else am I to do? To me, O Bahu, a glimpse of my Master Is worth millions of pilgrimages to the holy Kaaba"

"The first (trapping) thing which occurs to a mystic is that he gains the power of unveiling and miracles. He becomes haughty and self conceited upon this power due to his Nafs. He gets temporary happiness but remains away from the Closeness and Union of Allah. Though it is a virtuous act according to the creature but for The Creator it is a great veil."

"Then, in an ecstasy of love, you will repeat the Name of Hu constantly, devoting every breath of your life in contemplation of him. Only when your soul merges in the essence of the Lord,will you deserve the name Bahu."