Hadith Quotes

“When you see a person who has been given more than you in money and beauty, then look to those who have been given less.”
― Anonymous

“ما يصيب المسلم من نصب ولا وصب ولا همّ ولا حزن ولا أذى ولا غمّ - حتى الشوكة يشاكها - إلا كفّر الله بها مِن خطاياه
No fatigue, disease, sorrow, sadness, hurt or distress befalls a Muslim - not even the prick he receives from a thorn - except that Allah expiates some of his sins because of it. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 70, #545)”
― Anonymous

“من قال عليّ ما لم أقل فليتبوأ مقعده من النار
Whoever ascribes to me what I have not said then let him occupy his seat in Hell-fire! (Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 3, #109)”
― Prophet Muhammad

“Whoever treads a path seeking knowledge, Allah will make easy for him the path to Paradise."

(reported by Ibn Majah and others, fulfilling the conditions of Imam al Bukhari and Imam Muslim)”
― Anonymous

“Seek knowledge from the Cradle to the Grave”
― Prophet Muhammad, Al-Hadith: Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad

“Sayings of the Prophet
Trust: Trust in God – but tie your camel first.”
― Idries Shah, Caravan of Dreams

“Ibn Mas'ud reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Shall I tell you who is unlawful for the Fire - or the one for whom the Fire is unlawful? It is unlawful for everyone who is easy, flexible, modest and uncomplicated.”
― at-Tirmidhi

“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.”
― At-Tirmidhi

“Live in this world as if you are a stranger or a wayfarer”
― Prophet Muhammad Salla-Allahu alaihi wasallam

“In our tradition, God says, „The heavens and the earth cannot contain Me.“ We know there are billions of stars and galaxies. Yet the Divine is saying, „No, all of that cannot contain Me. Only the heart of my faithful servant, the knower, is expansive enough to contain Me.“ It‘s a very high truth. (p. 80)”
― Kabir Helminski, In the House of Remembering: The Living Tradition of Sufi Teaching

“The Prophet once said to his Companions, "Do you want to see a man of Paradise?" A man then passed by and the Prophet said, "That man is one of the people of Paradise." So a Companion of the Prophet decided to learn what it was about this man that earned him such a commendation from the Messenger of God . He spent time with this man and observed him closely. He noticed that he did not perform the Night Prayer vigil (Tahajjud) or anything extraordinary. He appeared to be an average man of Madinah. The Companion finally told the man what the Prophet had said about him and asked if he did anything special. And the man replied, "The only thing that I can think of, other than what everybody else does, is that I make sure that I never sleep with any rancor in my heart towards another." That was his secret.”
― Hamza Yusuf, Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart

“The cure for hatred is straightforward. One should pray for the person toward whom he feels hatred; make specific supplication mentioning this person by name, asking God to give this person good things in this life and the next. When one does this with sincerity, hearts mend. If one truly wants to purify his or her heart and root out disease, there must be total sincerity and conviction that these cures are effective.
Arguably, the disease of hatred is one of the most devastating forces in the world. But the force that is infinitely more powerful is love. Love is an attribute of God; hate is not. A name of God mentioned in the Quran is al-Wadud, the Loving one. Hate is the absence of love, and only through love can hatred be removed from the heart. In a profound and beautiful hadith, the Prophet said, "None of you has achieved faith until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.”
― Hamza Yusuf, Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart

“There is also the misconception that everything in Bukhari and Muslim must be applied according to its literal meaning. He goes on to argue that in many cases, a hadith might say one thing at a literal level, but the jurist will come to a ruling that says the complete opposite. The one who thinks that these great jurists would hear the Prophet’s saying and then throw them out of the door is truly unfortunate. Indeed, they knew, understood, and explained these hadiths; they specified why the did not apply their literal meaning.”
― Emad Hamdeh, The Necessity of the Hadith in Islam

“Someone once asked a spiritual master, “What is the end of the path?” The master replied, “The path has no end because the Beloved has no end.”
― A. Helwa, Secrets of Divine Love Journal: Insightful Reflections that Inspire Hope and Revive Faith

“The human being was created for something more than just living and dying by our egos and desires. Like granite, our egos are transformed and purified by the heat of worldly trials and friction into the precious ruby of the spirit. We were not sent to this Earth to achieve something, but rather to become what we have always been—a mirror for the divine qualities of Allah. We were created to know, love and worship Allah through purifying our hearts and becoming representatives of Allah’s mercy upon all of creation without discrimination.”
― A. Helwa, Secrets of Divine Love Journal: Insightful Reflections that Inspire Hope and Revive Faith

“As Rumi says, “Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.” As Muslims we are called to guide one another, advise one another and to celebrate one another. The Qur’an’s command toward “enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong” (Qur’an 3:104) is not an excuse for judging and shaming each other. As my teacher once said, “If you can’t counsel someone from love, then don’t counsel them because if you advise others from a place of judgment then you are fostering the quality of arrogance within you.”
― A. Helwa, Secrets of Divine Love Journal: Insightful Reflections that Inspire Hope and Revive Faith

“As Muslims we can advise one another from love, but the role of the Divine Judge, Al-Hakam, is purely reserved for Allah alone. As Muslims we can’t be harsh with the creation and expect the Creator of that creation to be soft with us. In fact, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم tells us, “The merciful will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful. Be merciful to those on the earth and the One in the heavens will have mercy upon you.”
― A. Helwa, Secrets of Divine Love Journal: Insightful Reflections that Inspire Hope and Revive Faith

“One can gain the lofty rank of Imam Abu Ḥanīfa has in hadith by his elevated chain. He narrates many hadith with chains that are termed Thunaiyāt (Two-narrator narrations) and Thulathiyāt (Three-narrator narrations). This means that between the Imam and the Messenger of Allah a there only exists three narrators and often only two. In a recent study published under the title: Al- Imam al-A‘azam Abu Ḥanīfa Wa al-Thunaiyāt Fi Masānidihi, by Shaikh Abd al-Aziz al-Sa‘di, it is stated just the two-narrator narrations (Thunaiyāt) of the Imam are approximately 219 narrations. This makes his narrations, according to the standards of the classical hadith specialists (Muhadithin), stronger and more esteemed and valuable4 than the narrations found in the Sahihs of Al-Bukhari and Muslim, as there, one will nd, that the number of narrators between the muhaddith and the Messenger a are in most cases not less than four (in fact, the thulathiyāt of Imam Bukhari only number 21 narrations). This proves beyond doubt that Imam Abu Ḥanīfa was not only a reputable Muhaddith, moreover he was from the major authorities and Huffaz of Hadith.”
― Muhammad Sajaad, Understanding Taqlid: Following One of the Four Great Imams

“Be in this world as if you are a traveller, a passer-by, with your clothes and shoes full of dust. Sometimes you sit under the shade of a tree, sometimes you walk in the desert. Be always a passer-by, for this is not home. – Hadith of the Prophet”
― Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Travelling the Path of Love: Sayings of Sufi Masters

“There is a polish for everything that taketh away rust;
and the polish of the heart is the invocation of Allâh. – Hadith of the Prophet”
― Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Travelling the Path of Love: Sayings of Sufi Masters

“This does not mean that laypeople should not read Hadith; however, credible scholars should be consulted before coming to any conclusion, especially on matters of law and creed, because these texts are meant to be approached with a specific methodology.”
― Emad Hamdeh, The Necessity of the Hadith in Islam

“Moreover, it must be understood that many of the Hadith compilations were meant to serve jurists in their endeavour to arrive at rulings. Hence, these works are divided into chapters according to matters of jurisprudence such as prayer, fasting, charity, and pilgrimage. They were never intended for the layperson to find quick rulings or conclusions on matters of law and creed.”
― Emad Hamdeh, The Necessity of the Hadith in Islam

“This is a problem in the research method of Orientalists — they often refer to the wrong sources on a subject and consequently come to the wrong conclusions. It is not applicable to refer to works of tafsir in order to research the history of Hadith. Tabari’s tafsir is not a place to find anything on the science of Hadith. His style is to mention a verse, list all the narrations about its interpretation and then give one interpretation more weight over the other.”
― Emad Hamdeh, The Necessity of the Hadith in Islam

“A Quotation of the Foreword of Sheikh Hasan ‘Abdul-Bassir ‘Arafah (General Manager of the Islamic Da‘wah, the Ministry of Awqaf of Egypt in Alexandria):
For the present, there is a ferocious attack on our Islamic heritage. Modernity Thoughts and radical groups still misunderstand and impugn the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Besides, to offend the companions of the Prophet ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ had witnessed to them with fairness. They were like the stars in the heavens. The book’s contents are simple but not easy, written down by Eng.: Ahmad ElYamany. The author was affected by his father’s upbringing; I mean that his father educated him according to the Thought of Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif (1). His father did his best upon a pulpit of Masjid(s) for standing up for the Sunnah until his death. Now, the author does follow the example of his father. He did write down this book to explain The Study of Tradition Terminology (2) for ordinary people in simple words. Besides, he does show how the previous Imams of the ‘Ummah took care of The Study of Tradition Terminology. This book geared-towards an obstacle against those who make a ferocious attack on the Sunnah and the heritage.
__________________
(1) The Thought of Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif: I do mean the Sunni Madhab. The Sunni Madhab is a term generally applied to the large sect of Muslims, which consists of:
• Regarding Fiqh: who follows one of these authorised Madhabs:
- Madhab of Imam Abu Hanifah (مذهب أبو حنيفة), Madhab of Imam Malik (مذهب مالك), Madhab of Imam Ash-Shafi‘i (مذهب الشافعي), or Madhab of Imam Ahmad son of Hanbal (مذهب أحمد بن حنبل).
• Regarding Creed: who follows one of these authorised Theologies:
- The Ash‘arism Theology (Ash‘ariyah: Arabic المدرسة الأشعرية) or The Maturidism Theology (Maturidiyah: Arabic: المدرسة الماتُريدية).
• Regarding Sufism: who follows one of any authorised Orders or Schools (Tariqah: Arabic: الطريقة الصوفية) of Sufism, such:
- Al-Ghazzaliyah (الغزَّالية), Al-Qadiriyah (القادرية), Ash-Shazliyah (الشاذلية), Ar-Rifa‘iyah (الرفاعية), and so on.
(2) The Study of Tradition Terminology: (Arabic: علم مصطلح الحديث), pronounced in the Roman Transliteration: ‘Ilm Mustalah Al-Hadith. The word Al-Hadith or Hadith means Communication or Narration. In the Islamic context, it has come to denote the record of what the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said, did, or tacitly approved.”
― أحمد اليمني, The Hadith And The Narrators ... In Simple Words

“As the thirteenth-century mystic Ibn Ata’ Allah Al- Iskandari says, “Don’t think you are veiled from Allah by something that is not Allah. There is nothing besides Allah. You are veiled from Him by the illusion that there is something other than Allah.”
― A. Helwa, Secrets of Divine Love Journal: Insightful Reflections that Inspire Hope and Revive Faith

“A shopkeeper had an assistant whose eyes were crossed and thus saw everything double. One day, the shopkeeper asked his assistant to grab a one-of-a-kind, expensive jar of rose water from the storeroom for a special customer. The assistant ran to the storeroom, only to return moments later and ask, “I see two jars, which one would you like me to bring?” The shopkeeper impatiently sighed, as he had grown accustomed to such questions. The shopkeeper decided to try a new tactic with his assistant so he said, “Break one of the jars and bring me the one that’s left!” The assistant apprehensively followed the shopkeeper’s orders and broke one of the jars, which of course caused “the other” jar to break too.”
― A. Helwa, Secrets of Divine Love Journal: Insightful Reflections that Inspire Hope and Revive Faith

“As an anonymous writer once said, “The light at the end of the tunnel is not an illusion, the tunnel is.” The declaration of la illaha illa Allah is a reminder that all shapes and forms are like a mirage before the face of God. Allah is the only Truth, Al- Haqq. As the mystics say, “The World is not Allah but there is nothing else but Allah.” Nothing moves without Him. Nothing lives and exists without Him. Allah’s spirit or ruh, was blown into the dead earth of humankind to give us life. We live because of Al-Hayy, The All-Living. We see because of Al-Basir, The All-Seeing. We hear because of As-Sami,’ The All-Hearing. Everything we are mirrors the beauty of our Lord. We are because He is.”
― A. Helwa, Secrets of Divine Love Journal: Insightful Reflections that Inspire Hope and Revive Faith

“One of the most essential tasks of modern Muslim scholarship is to distinguish genuine, useful and constructive knowledge from pseudo-scientific, materialist theory and speculation.”
― Maryam Jameelah, Islam and Modernism

“Pickthall’s rendition (of Quran) remained my favourite and to this day, I have never found any other English translation that can equal it.
The sweep of eloquence, the virility and dignity of the language is unsurpassed in any other translation.”
― Maryam Jameelah, Why I Embrace Islam

“It is recorded in the two Sahihs that the Prophet, God grant him blessing and peace, said: “Shun the seven destroyers.’’ They said, “What are they?’’ He said, “Ascribing partners to God, sorcery, killing a soul that God has forbidden except justly, consuming usury, consuming an orphan’s property, fleeing from the battlefield, and slandering chaste, innocent believing women.”
― Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Ranks of the Divine Seekers A Parallel English-Arabic Text. Volume 1 (Islamic Translation)