A Treasure Found

I came across the Facebook page of Yasmin Mogahed and found a beautiful collection of her favourite quotes. More like a treasure of quotes. Finding random quotes and then relating them is certainly a very menial job. It is far better if you have oozed out theses lines after going through thousands of pages; that would be something productive but I guess if these lines make you or for the matter me, delve more into the original text then I guess they serve the purpose. You should visit the page and read all of the quotes there  because here I'm only sharing those which I really understood although I rarely missed any; they were all so beautiful.

• Our problem is one of spirituality. If a man comes to speak to me about the reforms to be undertaken in the Muslim world, about political strategies and of great geo-strategic plans, my first question to him would be whether he performed the dawn prayer in its time  - Said Ramadan, son of Hassan al Banna 

• When you have nothing left but God, then for the first time you become aware that God is enough 

• ...maybe my life hasn’t been so chaotic, it’s just the world that is, and the only real trap is getting attached to any of it. Ruin is a gift. Ruin is the road to transformation.” --Eat Pray Love 

• Nothing is more practical than finding God; that is, falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you will spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love; stay in love, and it will decide everything - Pedro Arrupe 

• "The perfection of tawhid is found when there remains nothing in the heart except [the remembrance of] Allah, the servant is left loving those He loves and what He loves, hating those He hates and what He hates, showing allegiance to those He has allegiance to, showing enmity to those He shows enmity towards, ordering what He orders and prohibiting what He prohibits." ~ ibn Taymiyya (ibn Qayyim, al-Madhaarij)   

• “If you see Allah, Mighty and Magnificent, holding back this world from you, frequently trying you with adversity and tribulation, know that you ... hold a great status with Him. Know that He is dealing with you ...as  He does with His Awliya’ and chosen elite, and is watching over you" --Al Ghazali 

• The source of every disobedience, indifference, and passion is self-satisfaction. The source of every obedience, vigilance, and virtue is dissatisfaction with one’s self. It is better for you to keep company with an ignorant man dissatisfied with himself than to keep company with a learned man satisfied with himself. For what knowledge is there in a self-satisfied scholar? And what ignorance is there in an unlearned man dissatisfied with himself? --Ibn Atta Illah

• Sh. Abd El Qadir AL Jilani’s advice: “ O son, if you can empty yourself from worries and concerns of this life then do so, else… run with your heart to the door of Allah the All mighty the Most High and hang on the ‘tail of the garment’ of Rahma (compassionate love and mercy) till He gets out the concern and anxiety of this world from your heart. He is the one who is able to do All things, in His hands is everything. Stand at his door (and never leave) and ask Him to purify your heart from that which is other than Him. And to fill it with Iman and knowledge of Him. Ask Him to fill your heart with sufficiency by him from all his creation (to make you rich by him and un-needy of the creation) Ask Him to give you certitude and to make your heart find solace with Him and to occupy your limbs with His obedience. Ask all from Him and not from anyone else. Don’t humiliate yourself to a creature like you, but let this be to Allah and to no one else, make all your dealings directly with him and not to anyone else! 

• Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:  “When a person spends his entire day with no other concern but Allaah alone, Allaah, may He be glorified, will take care of all his needs and take care of all that is worrying him; He will empty his heart so that it will be filled only with love for Him, free his tongue so that it will speak only in remembrance of Him (dhikr) and cause all his faculties to work only in obedience to Him. But if a person spends his entire day with no other concern but this world, Allaah will make him bear its distress, anxiety and pain; He will leave him to sort himself out, and cause his heart to be distracted from the love of Allaah towards the love of some created being, cause his tongue to speak only in remembering people instead of remembering Allaah, and cause him to use his talents and energy in obeying and serving them. So he will strive hard, labouring like some work-animal, to serve something other than Allaah… Everyone who turns away from being a true slave of Allaah and obeying Him and loving Him will be burdened with servitude, love and obedience to some created being. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): ‘And whosoever turns away (blinds himself) from the remembrance of the Most Beneficent (Allaah), We appoint for him a shaytaan (devil) to be a qareen (intimate companion) to him.’ [al-Zukhruf 43:36].” Al-Fawaa’id, p. 159

• Yearning for Allah and His meeting is like the gentle breeze blowing upon the heart, extinguishing the blaze of the Dunya. Whosoever caused his heart to settle with his Lord shall be in a state, calm and tranquil, and whosoever sent it amongst the people shall be disturbed and excessively perturbed.  - Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah 

• The Messenger of Allâh, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam said: “Whoever abstains from asking others, Allâh will make him contented, and whoever tries to make himself self-sufficient, Allâh will make him self-sufficient. And whoever remains patient, Allâh will make him patient. Nobody can be given a blessing better and greater than patience." [Sahih Bukhari, 2:548]  

•  |Prophet (SAW) was told by Gabriel (AS): "Live as long as you may, for verily you must die. Love whoever you wish, for one day you shall taste its separation, and do what you will, you will be rewarded accordingly and know that the honor of the believer is in the night prayer and his glory is being free from want from the people. (Hadith)| 

• The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) said:∙ "Whoever allows the world to become his biggest concern has nothing to do with Allah, and Allah will instill four qualities into his heart: anxiety which will never leave him, business which he will never be free from, poverty which he will never rid himself of, and hope which he will never fulfill." ∙(Tabarani)   

• "And strain not your eyes in longing for the things, we have given for enjoyment to various groups of them, the slender of the pleasures in this world is so we may test them thereby. But what is with your Lord is better and more lasting." (20:131)   

• Imam al-Shafi’ in his final sickness said: "When my heart was hardened and my courses constrained I made my hope a stairway to Your forgiveness My sin burdened me heavily, but when I measured it by Your forgiveness Lord, Your forgiveness was the greater."  

• Rasoolullah (SAW) said, “I guarantee a house in Jannah (Paradise) for one who gives up arguing, even if he is in the right; and I guarantee a house in the middle of Jannah for one who abandons lying even when joking / for the sake of fun; and I guarantee a house in the highest part of Jannah for one who has good manners.” [narrated by Abu Dawud] 

• Unfortunately, due to the ignorance of the worshipper, and his transgressions, he does not consider anything to be a gift or a blessing or a cure unless he can enjoy it immediately, and it is in accordance with his nature. If he were only given a little bit of understanding, then he would have counted being withheld from as a blessing, and the sickness as a mercy, and he would relish the trouble that befalls him more than he relishes his ease, and he would enjoy poverty more than he enjoys richness, and he would be more thankful when he is blessed with little than when he is blessed with a lot.  Imam ibn al Qayyim 

• Wahb ibn al-Munabbih’s profound advice: If an ignorant person harms you then let your forbearance benefit you. If you are someone who does good only when good is done to him, then what is your reward, and what is your virtue over others? Surely, if you wish for reward and virtue, then do good to the one who does you harm, forgive the one who has wronged you, benefit the one who brings you no benefit and wait for the reward of all that from Allah, for that is surely the complete righteous good deed which a person would not want to be merely rewarded for in this lowly world.  

• "The servant exists between the Hands of Allah at two times- while standing during performing prayer, and while standing on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever fulfills the rights of the first standing, will in fact be facilitating the second one. And whoever considers this easy and does not pay due attention to it, he will be making the other one difficult for himself.” -Ibn ul Qayyim   

• The Messenger of Allah said, "If anyone continually asks forgiveness, Allah will appoint for him a way out of every distress, relief from anxiety, and will provide for him from where he never realized."- Abdu Dawood, Hadith 599  

• "Indeed I have fasted from all of the delights in my life, And the day that I meet You, that day shall be the Iftar of my fasting." (Ibn Rajab)  

• “O my soul! It is not, except a few days of patience; As if the extent were but a few dreams. O my soul! Pass quickly on through this world; And leave it, for indeed life lies ahead of it.” [Imam ash-Shafi'ee]   

• "Those who leave everything in God's hand, will see God's hand in everything."  

• "I want to have a lasting experience of God. Sometimes I feel like I understand the divinity of this world, but then I lose it because I get distracted by my petty desires and fears. I want to be with God all the time. But I don’t want to be a monk, or totally give up worldly pleasures. I guess what I want to learn is how to live in this world and enjoy its delights, but also devote myself to God.” - Elizabeth Gilbert. 

• "The greatest blessing is emerging from the self, because it is the greatest veil between you and God." -Abu Bakr at-Tamastani  

• To know Allah, you must first know yourself. When you seek Allah with all your heart, He will subject you to many hardships. During this period, you will get to know yourself. Your strength and weaknesses will become fully apparent, and Allah will remind you that He has power over all things. 

• "I came to this earth so that I could find my way back to my Beloved." - Rumi 

• Ibn Mas'ud –(radiyallaahu 'anhu) would advise his students, "If your intention is one of these three, do not seek knowledge: To shame the ignorant, or to argue with the Fuqahaa' (scholars), or to cause people to turn their faces in your direction. Intend with your actions and words that which is with Allaah, for indeed that which is with Allaah shall remain and everything else shall perish."  

• Give up attachment. This is a concept that, for most of us is so hard to grasp and I have to tell you that it was for me too, (it still is) but it’s not something impossible. You get better and better at with time and practice. The moment you detach yourself from all things, (and that doesn’t mean you give up your love for them – because love and attachment have nothing to do with one another, attachment comes from a place of fear, while love… well, real love is pure, kind, and self less, where there is love there can’t be fear, and because of that, attachment and love cannot coexist) you become so peaceful, so tolerant, so kind, and so serene. You will get to a place where you will be able to understand all things without even trying. A state beyond words."  

• Abu Hurayrah (ra) reported that the Prophet (saws) said: "Hardships continue to befall a believing man and woman in their body, family, and property, until they meet Allah (S) burdened with no sins. " [Tirmidi]  

• ‘The time draws near for the people when the wise among them will find no joy (but will instead be constantly worried about the degeneration of Muslim society).’ Fear Allah, the Possessor of might and majesty. Be a man of solitude; occupy your time with yourself (with preparing for the Hearafter); and seek companionship with the Book of Allah (Azza wa Jal)  

• Asma (RA) reported Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) as saying (to her): Spend and do not calculate, (for) Allah would calculate in your case; and do not hoard, otherwise Allah would be withholding from you. [Muslim No. 2244