Words of Mohammed
Purpose
“To the light I have attained and in the light I live.”
“If anyone draws the length of a span near me, I shall draw the length of a cubit near him, and if anyone draws the length of a cubit near me, I shall draw the length of a fathom near him. If anyone comes to me walking I shall come to him running.”
“All those who listen to me shall pass on my words to others and those to others again; and may the last ones understand my words better than those who listen to me directly.”
World
“Love of the world is the root of all evil.”
“The world is a magician greater than Harut and Marut, and you should avoid it.”
“This world is a prison for the faithful, but a paradise for unbelievers.”
“Nobody who dies and finds good from God would wish to come back to this world even if he were given the whole world and everything in it, except the martyr, who – seeing the superiority of martyrdom – would wish to come back to the world to be killed again.”
“God does not remove anyone from the world, but that he wishes to pardon him.”
“Be in the world like a traveller, or like a passer-on, and reckon yourself as of the dead.”
“Death is a bridge that unites friend with friend.”
“Do you realize the importance of this night? Nobody present on the surface of the earth tonight will be living after one hundred years from this night.”
Faith
“He who amongst you sees evil should stop it with his hand, and if he has not strength enough to do this, then he should speak out against it with his tongue, and if he has not strength enough to do even this, then he should hate it with his heart, and that is the least of faith.”
“Kindness is a mark of faith, and whoever has not kindness has not faith.”
“None of you really has faith unless he desires for his neighbor what he desires for himself.”
“When your good deed pleases you and your evil deed grieves you, you are a believer.”
“By his good character, a believer will attain the degree of one who prays during the night and fasts during the day.”
“The best of you are those who when seen are a means of God being brought to mind.”
“He who has in his heart as much faith as a grain of mustard seed will not enter hell, and he who has in his heart as much pride as a grain of mustard seed will not enter Paradise.”
Community
“It is better to sit alone than in company with the bad; and it is better to sit in company with the good than alone.”
“An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over black nor a black has any superiority over white, except by piety and good action.”
“There is not an animal on the earth, nor a flying creature on two wings, but they are people like unto you.”
“A ridden animal might be better than its rider and might remember and mention God more than its rider does.”
“The best house is the one where orphans are cared for and treated honourably and kindly.”
“If anyone caresses an orphan by moving his fingers in his hair, doing so only for God’s sake, he will have blessings for every hair over which his hand passes.”
“Children make cowards and misers of their parents. They are the flowers of the Almighty.”
“Do not consider any act of kindness insignificant, even meeting your brother with a cheerful face.”
“He who helps his fellow creature in the hour of need, and he who helps the oppressed; him will God help in the Day of Judgment.”
“Assist any person oppressed, whether Muslim or non-Muslim.”
“Do not say, that if the people do good to us, we will do good to them; and if the people oppress us, we will oppress them; but determine that if people do you good, you will do good to them; and if they oppress you, you will not oppress them.”
“That person is not of us who invites others to aid him in oppression, and he is not of us who fights for his tribe in injustice, and he is not of us who dies assisting his tribe in tyranny.”
“To earn through labor is the best way to earn, provided the work is done with sincerity.”
“If a Muslim farms the land or plants a tree, and then a bird, a beast or a man eats something from it, he receives in return the reward of a charity.”
“He who brings goods for sale is blessed with good fortune, but he who keeps them till the price rises is accursed.”
“If anyone withholds grain for forty days thereby desiring a high price, he has renounced God and God has renounced him.”
“A believer to another believer is like a building whose different parts reinforce each other.”
Candour
“Either appear as you are, or be as you appear.”
“He who knows his own self knows God.”
“Men will be liars towards the end of the world; and will relate such stories as neither you nor your fathers ever heard. Then avoid them, that they may not lead you astray and throw you into contention and strife.”
“The best jihad is to speak the truth before a tyrant.”
“When you see sycophants, throw dust in their faces.”
“We will not remove a Jew from punishment. They know the shameful thing that awaits them.”
Struggle
“The knowledge sent by God is like abundant rain falling upon the earth: one part was fertile soil which absorbed the rainwater and brought forth vegetation and grass in abundance; another part was hard and held the rainwater and the people used it for drinking, for their animals to drink and for irrigating the land for cultivation; another part could neither hold the rainwater nor bring forth vegetation.”
“To overcome evil with good is good, to resist evil by evil is evil.”
“The most excellent jihad is that for the conquest of self.”
“The worst one of the people in the sight of God is the one who does not put his knowledge into practice.”
“Verily your deeds will be brought back to you, as if you yourself were the creator of your own punishment.”
“If there are twenty good fighters, they will defeat two hundred who are a senseless people, who do not fight with good intentions nor for truth.”
“Take advantage of five matters before five other matters: your youth, before you become old; and your health, before you fall sick; and your richness, before you become poor; and your free time, before you become busy; and your life, before your death.”
“Messengers before you were also mocked, but those who jeered were engulfed by what they mocked.”
Promise
“A time is coming to mankind when only the receiver of usury will remain and if he does not receive it, some of its vapour will reach him.”
“A person who visits me after my death is like a person who visited me during my lifetime.”
“On the Day of Judgment, no step shall a man stir until he has answered questions on five aspects of his worldly existence: his life and how he spent it; his knowledge and what use he made of it; his wealth, how he acquired it, and how he spent it; and his body and how he utilized it.”
“Seven kinds of people will be sheltered under the shade of God on the Day of Judgment: a just ruler, a young man who passed his youth in the worship and service of God, one whose heart is attached to the mosque, two people who love each other for the sake of God, one who is invited to sin but declines, one who spends his charity in secret, and one who remembers God in solitude so that his eyes overflow.”
“Anyone who loves my ways, loves me. And anyone who loves me will live with me in Paradise.”