The Internet Islamic Art Database | Library of Islamic Art and Quotes

“Beware of your soul [or ego], for no misfortune has befallen you except because of it, so do not ever be reconciled with it. By Allah! Its honor is derived from its submission (to Allah), its dignity is derived from its subservience, its reform is derived from its breakdown, its comfort is derived from its hardship, its security is derived from its fear (of Allah), and its pleasure is derived from its sorrow.

Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah

“I feel sorry for a girl when her reputation is ruined, for she can’t grow a beard to erase that image.

Dr. Ali Shariati

“Ten companions were renowned for their interpretation of the Quran: The four rashidoon caliphs Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali, and then Abdullah ibn Masud, Ibn Abbas, Ubayy bin Kaab, Zaid bin Thabit Abu Musa al-Ashaari, and Abdullah bin az-Zubair.
The one from whom the most interpretations of Quranic verses are narrated is Ali bin Abi Talib. Narrations from the other three are rare. More interpretations are narrated from Ibn Masud, who died in the year 32 of the hijrah, than Ali bin Abi Talib.
As for Abdullah ibn Abbas, who died in the year 68 of the hijrah, he is the translator of the Quran, the scholar of the nation, and master of the interpreters, for uncountable interpretations are narrated from him, and the Prophet ﷺ prayed for him saying: "O Allah, give him knowledge of the religion and teach him interpretation."

Sheikh Ahmad Mustafa al-Maraghi

“A man asked the Prophet ﷺ: When is the Day of Judgment, O messenger of Allah? He said: "What have you prepared for it?" He said: "I have not prepared much prayer, fasting, or charity for it, but I love Allah and His messenger." The Prophet said: "You will be with the ones you love."

Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

“The scholars decided that those who dedicate themselves to worship will not be given a share of zakat (alms), as opposed to those who dedicate themselves to science (who do get a share), because there is no monasticism in Islam, and because those who dedicate themselves to worship are doing it for their own benefit, while those who seek knowledge benefit the entire nation.

Yusuf al-Qaradhawi

“The most beloved good deeds to him [to the Prophet ﷺ] were the ones that the person performed continuously [without giving them up].

Aisha bint Abu Bakr (Wife of Prophet Muhammad)

“One of the criteria that we should refer to when deciding what is most deserving of attention and most deserving of prioritizing over other things: Giving something exactly the importance that the Quran gives to it.

Thus we should give priority to those things that it repeats in its chapters and verses, those that it stresses in its commandments and promises. We should give these things our full attention and base our lives upon them.

Of these things are, for example, faith in Allah, His revelations, the Afterlife and what it contains of reward and punishment.

As for the things that the Quran doesn't consider important, we should give them the same amount of importance and we should not exaggerate them, for example the night journey of the Prophet ﷺ, to which the Quran dedicates only one verse, as opposed to the campaigns and battles to which the Quran dedicates entire chapters.

And when it comes to the mawlid [birth] of the Prophet, the Quran does not give it any attention whatsoever, showing us that it is not a matter of importance in the Islamic life, for, unlike the birth of the Christ, there are no miracles related to it, and there are no deeds or acts of worship that are based upon it.

Thus the Quran is a criterion that never errs, for it is the pillar of the nation, the foundation of the religion, and the spring from which Islam flows. The hadith [Prophetic traditions and sayings] are only there to explain and elucidate it.

Yusuf al-Qaradhawi

“Umar bin Abdul Aziz, grandson of Umar ibn al-Khattab and the fifth well-guided Muslim leader after the Prophet ﷺ, said to his son who was urging him to carry out all of Islam's rulings forcefully on the Muslims of their time: "Do not hurry, my son, for Allah spoke negatively of alcohol twice, and then it prohibited it the third time, and I am afraid that if I force the truth upon people all at the same time, they will turn away from all of it, and from this a great age of strife could come about."

Umar ibn Abdul Aziz

“... in this age, we need to rethink things that were said, and opinions that were held, in the previous ages; maybe they were appropriate for their time and for their situation, but they haven't remained appropriate for this age, with the tremendous amount of new situations and conditions that did not occur to the minds of the previous scholars, and uttering their opinion today takes away from Islam and its nation, and defaces the call of Islam.

Among these [outdated opinions]: Dividing the world into dar-al-Islam [Home of Islam] and dar-al-harb [Home of War], and assuming that the principle in the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims is war, and that armed struggle is an obligratory act upon the nation, and so on.

The truth is that these sayings are no longer fit for our time, and there are no authentic Islamic texts that back them, rather, there are many texts that contradict them.

Islam speaks about [amiable] relationships between all humanity: "And we made you nations and tribes so that you may know each other" [Quran 49:13].

And Islam considers peace and the avoidance of war a blessing. And it followed the Battle of the Trench with the saying: "Allah sent back the unbelievers in their rage, and they gained no good. Allah spared the believers from fighting" [Quran 33:25].

And it considers the peace treaty of Hudaibiyyah a great victory and it expects gratitude from the Prophet and the Muslims in this sura that it prevents the two parties from fighting, thus it says: "And He it is who, in the valley of Mecca, stayed their hands from you, and your hands from them, after He had enabled you to vanquish them" [Quran 48:24].

And the Prophet ﷺ dislikes the word "war" so much that he says: 'The best names are haarith ["one who strives"] and humaam ["one who has great resolve"], and the ugliest names are harb ["war"] and marrah ["bitter"]'.

Yusuf al-Qaradhawi

“A scholar may recommend elaborate and difficult acts of worship to those who are religious and desirous of attaining the best rewards, but when it comes to the general populace, it is more fitting to recommend to them what is simple and easy.

Yusuf al-Qaradhawi

“In the best centuries of the Ummah-the first three- high status and fame were for the scholar who was endowed with great knolwedge, while in the ages of deviation and backwardness, high status and fame were for the haafidh (memorizer of Quran and hadith). [i.e. the focus shifted from learning and understanding to thoughtless memorization]

Yusuf al-Qaradhawi

“It is reported on the authority of Al-Waleed b. Mazyad that he said:
I heard Al-Awzaa’ee say [the above], when I asked him, “Who is a fool?”

Abd ar-Rahman al-Awza'i

“A special prayer for all those who are suffering in silence, those who keep smiling yet are struggling to cope. May the Almighty bless you!

Mufti Ismail Menk

“If every single person began to have doubt in the truth, I would remain certain in it by myself.

Imam Abu Sulaiman Ad-Darani

“Tooba (glad tidings/a tree in paradise) is for the one who sat with the people of knowledge and wisdom, and the Sunnah sufficed him and he did not transgress into innovation.

Wahb ibn Munabih

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