Tamil People

"What we are slaves to will prevent us from praying to God. If we are slaves to all the thoughts we think, if we are slaves to everything our eyes see, if we are slaves to all the music our ears hear, if we are slaves to everything the nose smells and the tongue tastes, if we are slaves to everything the body wants, then how can we ever reach a state of peace? We can never know peace or tranquility this way. We have to escape from this slavery and become a slave only to God."

"In God's kingdom there is no fighting. He rules over both kingdom of hell and the kingdom of heaven, giving each of His creations what is due to them, but taking no share for Himself. God is One. He proclaims, My religion is to recognize all lives as one’s own life, all religions as one’s own religion, all languages as one’s own language, all vision as one’s own vision. It is in this state that God conducts His kingdom. He has no partialities, no religious differences, and prejudices based on skin color, whether it be black, red, white, or yellow. In His kingdom, there is no fighting."

""The things that change are not our real life. Within us there is another body, another beauty. It belongs to that ray of light which never changes. We must discover how to mingle with it and become one with that unchanging thing. We must realize and understand this treasure of truth. That is why we have come to the world."

"We should not hold on so strongly to those who are going to leave us some day anyway. We should not feel excessive attachment for them. We have to keep it in moderation. But there is One who will never leave us, One who will never perish. God will never leave us, not in the kingdom of heaven, nor in the kingdom of hell, nor in this world. And since judgment is in His hands, He is the only attachment we must have. If we hold on to only that one attachment, then we will have joy throughout our lives and even at the time of death. On Judgment Day we will know that joy, because we will be with Him."

"My loving children, my children who were created with God's beauty, my wise children, whatever difficulty you may have, do not ever leave His charge. Just as the prophets of God kept their faith firm and were tolerant in spite of the problems they had, no matter what difficulties you may experience, be tolerant, be forbearant and embrace all living things as your own life."

"Here and in the hereafter, we must embrace all those who with absolute faith accept Allah in their hearts. We must pray to Allah in a state of unity, peacefulness, and truth, and then give greetings of peace to each brother. Standing face to face, our eyes looking directly into our brother's eyes, our hands clasping his hands, and our hearts embracing his heart with love, we must say, "May the peace of God be upon you." This is the unity and beauty of Islam, the beauty that Muhammad (Sal.) brought to the people. Wherever we go, our hearts must be in that state. Our prayers must be one-pointed, directed toward the same place, toward Allah, the One who is truth. If we can recite the praises of Allah and the Prophet, then look each other in the eye, give peaceful greetings, and embrace each other — if we can achieve that oneness of the heart with all lives, then we will be true believers."

"To wage war within oneself is Islam; the real fight is an inner one. To dispel evil qualities, evil thoughts, and the differences that lead to separations is Islam. To wage war upon jealousy, envy, and vengeance is Islam. To cut out and discard the qualities of Satan and to fill ourselves with the qualities of Allah is Islam. To show a heart full of love to our brothers and sisters is the wealth of Islam."

"Everything in this world changes; only God remains the same forever. If mankind will realize this truth, then we can avert disaster by coming together with faith in God and living in unity and compassion. Do not live divided. With compassion for each other, live in unity and truth, in the presence of God. Live according to justice and conscience, respecting the lives and bodies of all others as your own, and knowing the hunger and the suffering of others as your own. Have patience, contentment, trust in God, and live praising God at all times, and peace will be easy."

"One who has not found peace within himself will forever be giving speeches about peace. This world is a pulpit upon which man preaches, and there is no end to this talk! For millions of years man has been speaking this way, but he has not come forward to first find peace within himself. There is no use in making speeches. Man must acquire the qualities of God and live in that state. Only then can he speak of peace, only then can he speak the speech of God and dispense the justice of God's kingdom."

"People with wisdom know that it is important to correct their own mistakes, while people without wisdom find it necessary to point out the mistakes of others. People with strong faith know that it is important to clear their own hearts, while those with unsteady faith seek to find fault in the hearts and prayers of others. This becomes a habit in their lives. But those who pray to Allah with faith, determination, and certitude know that the most important thing in life is to surrender their hearts to Allah."

"The real fast is the blossoming of the inner heart. Fragrance must emanate. The qualities, conduct, behavior, and disposition that accompany this blossoming make no sound. Light and fragrance must dawn in the inner heart. The one point which is God must resplend. Do fast, but make sure the heart blossoms; make it fragrant. The flowering scent must emanate, and when that space is perceived, the One who inhales that perfume will come. The One who perceives that fragrance will come. He is the Lord."

"There is a Power, a Power that controls the moon, the stars and the sun. It is a Power that can burn all other powers. It is the Power that pervades each atom, all that is finite, all that is infinite, a Power that no one can see...It has no assistance. It is completely alone. Original."

"Always use positive words, and never use negative or evil words. Cultivate good thoughts, not bad thoughts. Make sure your intentions are constructive intentions. Never be jealous; be grateful. Be tolerant, peaceful, and honest instead of vengeful. Always be compassionate, never proud and arrogant. Praise God, because God is the Deserving One. You need these in your life. If you can teach yourself to follow these suggestions, you will have a very good life."

"Before we try to destroy someone else, we should first pass judgment on ourselves. Before finding fault with others, we must first pass judgment upon ourselves. Before we backbite others, we must first pass judgment upon our­ selves. Before we lie about others, we must first judge ourselves. Before we hurt the heart of another, we must first pass judgment on ourselves. Like that, we have to pass judgment on our thoughts and on all actions done by our eyes, ears, nose, hands, and mouth. The guilty ones are within our own body and mind. These are our qualities which exist in our actions. All these qualities exist within us, do they not? So we have to pass judgment on them. That is the state of Iman-Islam. That is what is called Islam. To first see the fault in yourself and then to pass judgment and correct yourself is true justice. Those who perform that justice are in the religion of truth. They are the leaders of the religion of truth. They are in the state of Iman-Islam. They are the true believers."

"Children of any religion who have true faith must realize that God is the only One who knows all of everything. Therefore, only God can judge whether a person has faith, certitude, and determination or not and whether a person lives with that purity that can be called Islam or not. No one else can give that judgment. Do not wave your religion like a banner and go out to capture others. Only one kind of war is permissible in the eyes of God: the war you wage within yourself to defeat the demonic forces of lust, anger, jealousy, desire for revenge, and other evil feelings and attributes that may exist within your heart. God has sent each of the prophets as witnesses to the grace of God and as supports to help us in this inner war. This is the reason for the Qur'an. It is to help the true Muslim fight this inner battle and win victory over his own base desires that God sent the Messenger with the Qur'an."

"There is One God. He created all beings, and He exists beyond the beyond of religions, beyond the separations of race, religion, and philosophies. He is beyond mind, desire, and physical vision. He is beyond the world, lust, torpor, and illusion. God resides in that spotlessly pure place known as the heart and sees and knows everything. He sees each and every heart and mind and understands all things."

"We read his words and our heart opens. Suddenly we realize our home is with God."

"When you see what goes on inside a slaughterhouse, I think you'll lose your appetite for animal flesh, too… Animals feel pain, just as people do. They value their lives, just as we value ours. They're terrified by the sights and smells of the slaughterhouse, and they fight for every last breath. I hope you'll also make the compassionate choice to go vegetarian."

"I am the kind of guy who believes that films are supposed to be entertainment. I do not subscribe much to movies that leave you with a lingering feeling, make you feel angry or depressed. I am not yet ready to make films like that. I have grown up with films that are entertaining. Since I am such a huge fan of entertainment, I believe that the films that I do should also be entertaining, people can talk about it for three days and forget about it."

"Lady Gaga: "My fellow hardworking female art student. Just like me, her song [Paper Planes] took almost a full year to climb to the top. But we worked hard, and we did it.""

"Krist Novoselic of Nirvana: "There's much to admire about the rapper M.I.A. She's a working mom, a dynamite performer, and a writer of songs, like "Bucky Done Gun," that command you to give the volume knob a twist. And with her outspoken political views and heart for her homeland, Mathangi Arulpragasam [sic] reflects the global consciousness of the information revolution....An ethnic Tamil, M.I.A. is a member of the minority that makes up the northern part of Sri Lanka, a country governed by the majority Sinhalese since the end of WWII. The Sinhalese-controlled government and Tamil's rebel fighters had been involved in a decades-long civil war until the rebel leader was killed and their fighters routed, thus putting an end to the conflict. M.I.A. has been giving interviews regarding the humanitarian costs of the military action, including the 300,000 displaced ethnic Tamils, many living in overcrowded camps. This reminds me of my situation in the early 1990s during the war in the former Yugoslavia. I had emerged from obscurity to play bass in the biggest band in the world. Being of Croatian heritage, I found myself speaking out about the war in the Balkans. (I lived in Yugoslavia in 1980 and have visited many times since.)...One person's terrorist is another's freedom fighter. We can toss this back and forth, but in the meantime too many innocents suffer. The Sri Lankan government has said that M.I.A. should stick with music and not worry about politics. It doesn't matter if she's Tamil or Sinhalese, M.I.A. is the most famous Sri Lankan in the world. She has the right to speak. I didn't know about Sri Lanka and the trouble there until M.I.A. made me aware. Her work can be political, but that aspect never seems overbearing. Thank you, Mathangi Arulpragasa, for bringing my attention to what's going on in that part of our world. And a big thanks for the great tunes as well!""

"Kreayshawn: "The only show I saved all my money to go see was MIA.. Twice!!""

"Kim Gordon: "I went to see M.I.A. play at Mount Holyoke, and it was a hall filled with girls, and they were going crazy. I could hear the beats more live, the record is so dense. I like her lyrics. I like that her music is rhythms upon rhythms. It escapes genre. I wouldn’t even call it a hip-hop record, I’d just call it M.I.A. She had this great footage of tribal dancers and these two young girls dancing onstage who were amazing. “Kala” (Interscope) has great grooves — it’s very colorful, lots of texture and density. The rhythms aren’t generic. They’re intuitive and organic.""

"Katy Perry: "I love M.I.A., but I don't think she likes me. I know how people who are anti-pop but are really pop feel about popstars" [August 2010, Rolling Stone]"

"Kanye West:"

"Justine Frischmann: "In terms of the music scene today, I still think that Maya's work [MIA] is interesting. But I'm the wrong person to ask. I live in rural northern California where there are coyotes wandering in the streets. And I don't own a TV." July 2011"

"Jon McClure of Reverend and the Makers:"

"John Legend: "M.I.A. is killing it right now. Great beats. Distinctive voice.""

"James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem: "Yeah, I did [meet her at South by Southwest], she was incredibly sweet and really nice. It was really funny: She played, and I don't know what it sounded like 'cause I was on the side of the stage which just sounds like chaos because you don't hear what the PA's doing. She came off and I introduced myself, "Hi, I'm James, I hear we're doing a buncha shows together," and she said, "Really? You still wanna do shows after that shitty show?" Which I thought was great." May 2005"

"Havana Brown (DJ): "I love M.I.A, her music is so unique and brave." (November 2010)"

"Feist: "I met Maya Arulpragasam about four or five years ago in England when I was on tour with the rapper Peaches, who was also my roommate. We stayed with Justine Frischmann, from Elastica, and she and Maya were roommates. Maya wasn't making music back then; she was making clothes and videos and art, spray-painting jackets. A couple months ago, I was at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, and I saw her onstage, and it was just amazing. I can't stop listening to her new album, Arular (XL/Beggars U.S.). "Pull Up the People" is a song that's always rotating through my head. I didn't know I needed sunshine-dancehall-booty music until I got her record.""

"Chuck D: "She is the future of music, and the future is here.""

"Christina Aguilera: "I just can't, 'cause I really want you guys to be surprised and to experience firsthand what I'm talking about or what I'm not talking too much about. Too soon in the game, but wrapping everything up now... I got a chance to sort of write with M.I.A. - artists that I really love.""

"Chris Brown: "Was in the studio with the incredible M.I.A and Polow!! Amazing artist! ReAl talent.""

"Big Boi of OutKast: "Sooo 2 girls can kiss on TV, but M.I.A can't flip the middle finger, GTFOH""

"Beastie Boys"

"Avril Lavigne: "MIA sticking her middle finger out at Super Bowl is obscene? How about almost 50 million Americans living in poverty. That's obscene.""

"Anthony Kiedis: "I'm very keen on M.I.A., I think she's a rocking live performer.""

"Amy Lee of Evanescence: "She's so freaking powerful and awesome...I love her voice because it's weird, almost like she doesn't care.""

"Alicia Keys:"

"Missy Elliott:"

"Nas: "Her sound is the future.""

"Nelly Furtado: "I have heard bits of the M.I.A Album and it is so cool..what a flow, what a style...and girl can dance!!!" [Listening to album Arular during the recording of Loose.]"

"Nicki Minaj: "I love M.I.A. … Based on that first video she put out ['Born Free'], She's not doing stuff for the mainstream applause, and I applaud her for that. She's a creative being and you're either gonna love it or hate it but you have to respect it. And I love her. When she hit me to do a record with her, I thought I had died and gone to heaven." Minaj also recalled the first time she heard "Paper Planes," when she thought, " 'Who is this bitch!?' I thought those were like the sickest lyrics. And then when I'd watch her videos, she doesn't give a fuck. That's what we want more of, we want people who don't give a fuck.""

"Nicole Scherzinger of Pussycat Dolls:"

"Melody Thornton of Pussycat Dolls:"

"Patrick Wolf: "I've just fallen in love in the last couple of days with her work. She's great. I love "Bird Flu". I met her recently, and I'm a very, very big supporter of her work, and her attitude and what she stands for.""

"Peaches: "I first met M.I.A. as Maya in America way back in 2000 [laughs]. And she was a great videographer and she was also making her own films and her own clothes. I think that you can transfer your creativities to all different areas. She was a videographer, she made me clothes, she has a creative mind, and a passion and a drive.""

"Richard X: "It's very much who tickles my fancy," he says, although he's been lucky to meet a couple of "kindred spirits" - including Kelis and M.I.A""

"Santigold:"