Obeying the Prophet (saw), Moar Quotes

Category: SOUND

On obeying the Holy Prophet (saw):

"And it behoves not a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, that they should exercise their own choice in the matter concerning them. And whoso disobeys Allah and His Messenger, surely, strays away in manifest error."
-Qur'an (33:36)

"Whomever obeys the Messenger has surely obeyed Allah."
-Qur'an (4:80)

"Whomever disobeys Allah and his Messenger, and steps beyond the limits, Allah will cause him to enter the fire, in it shall he abide, and he shall have an abasing chastisement."
-Qur'an (4:14)

"Whomever obeys Allah and his messenger; Allah will admitehim in the gardens beneath which rivers flow; and whomever turns away, Allah will chastise him with a painful chastisement."
-Qur'an (48:7)

"If only we had obeyed Allah and obeyed the Messenger!"
-Qur'an (33:66)

"O you who believe! Do not step ahead of Allah and his Messenger. Surely Allah is Hearing, all knowing."
-Qur'an (49:1)

"If anyone contends with the Messenger even after guidance has been plainly conveyed to him, and follows a path other than that becoming to men of Faith, We shall leave him in the path he has chosen, and land him in Hell,- what an evil refuge!"
-Qur'an (4:115)

"But no, by your Lord, they can have no faith, until they make you (O’ Muhammad) judge in all disputes between them, and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept them with full submission."
-Qur'an (4:65)

Sufyaan Ath-Thawree (ra), said: "The excellence of knowledge is due only to the fact that it causes a person to fear and obey Allaah, otherwise it is just like anything else." [Related by ibn Rajab]

"In the West, they say that love is a madness that ends with marriage. But in Islam, we say that love is a madness that only begins with marriage."
-Shaykh Ahmad Talal

Abu Sa’id and Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with them both) narrate that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: “Whoever has a child, he should give him a good name and teach him how to read and write. And when he matures, he should marry him off. When he matures and the father does not marry him off, then if the boy commits a sin, the sin will be on the father.” (Shu’ab al-Iman of al-Bayhaqi)

Umar ibn al-Khattab and Anas ibn Malik (Allah be pleased with them both) narrate that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: “It is written in the Tawrah that: Who’s daughter reaches the age of twelve years and he fails to marry her off, then if she commits a sin, the sin will be on the father.” (ibid. Also see: Mishkat al-Masabih, 2/939, no. 3139)

"I will mislead them, and I will create in them false desires (false hopes); I will order them to slit the ears of cattle, and to deface the (fair) nature created by Allah."
-Shaitan, from Qur'an (4:119)

“Know that Sufism is compliance with Allah’s command and avoidance of His prohibitions, externally and internally, with regard to what pleases Him, not what pleases you.”
-Qutb al-Maktum Sayyid Abu Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tijani

Ibne Abba(ra) narrates: Rasulullah (saw), on seeing the Ka'ba said (with over whelming joy and fondness): La ilaha illallah (O Ka'bah!) how Atyab (superlative degree of being pure and clean) you are, and how Atyab is your fragrance, and how great is your honour! (But) the honour of a Mu'min (believer) is far exceeding yours. Indeed, Allah (sw) has made you respectable; like wise the wealth, the blood, and the honour of a Mu'min has been made respectable. And (because of this respect, Allah has) forbidden to suspect (a Mu'min without reason) of wrongdoing. [Tabarani and Majma-uz-Zawaid]

The Prophet (saw) said, "Whoever has (the following) four characters will be a hypocrite, and whoever has one of the following four characteristics will have one characteristic of hypocrisy until he gives it up. These are: (1 ) Whenever he talks, he tells a lie; (2) whenever he makes a promise, he breaks it; (3) whenever he makes a covenant he proves treacherous; (4) and whenever he quarrels, he behaves impudently in an evil insulting manner."


Some famous Sufis/scholars of the subcontinent:

Regarding Dr. Abdul Hai Arifi (ra) (shaykh to Mufti Taqi Usmani):

"Shaykh Dr Abdul-Hai (RA)'s wife wrote about her husband that during their 55 years of marital life he NEVER asked her for anything including a cup of tea. She (RA) said, "In extreme cases when he was too tired and wanted tea he would say, "Are you in the mood for some tea?" She continues that in the beginning she never understood this, so many times she'd just reply "No not really, I'm OK" and he would just drop the subject."

Regarding Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (ra):

After I had written Tafsir Bayan al-Qur'an (his unique Urdu exegesis of the Noble Qur'an) an Englishman met me very eagerly. He asked, “How much money did you get for this work?” I informed him that I had obtained nothing. Expressing surprise, he said “Then what benefit did you get?” I replied, “Here in this world my Muslim brethren benefit from this work and in the hereafter is the pleasure of the true Lord.

Hakim al-Ummah Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanwi was the most prolific author of his time. Some one thousand or so works are attributed to him but he did not use any of his books as a means of income.

There are countless incidents from the life of Hakim al-Ummah which illustrate his strict adherence to the law of countries/authorities, even if they be non-Islamic countries. One of our teachers in the Jami'ah Dar al-'Ulum (Karachi) once related an incident from the life of Hakim al-Ummah to illustrate this. A khalifah-e-mujaz (and not 'majaz' as many tend to say!) of Hakim al-Ummah once came to Thana Bhavan to visit him. He had travelled by train from another part of India to get to the khanqa in Thana Bhavan. When he met Hakim al-Ummah, the latter, when asking the former of how he was etc, asked him how old his son who was accompanying him was. The khalifah replied that he was x number of years old. Hakim al-Ummah then asked him whether he had bought him an adult's ticket for the train journey. He replied in the negative justifying it (as many people would) by saying that though the boy was not eligible to travel on a child's fare due to his age, he appeared to be a child. Upon hearing this Hakim al-Ummah exclaimed "Inna lillahi wa inna ..." and stripped the khalifah of his khilafah or ijazah in suluk (tasawwuf).

There is another incident regarding Hakim al-Ummah when he once went to a train station in order to board a train, his luggage turned out to be beyond the allowable weight limit. The station master, knowing very well who Hakim al-Ummah was, assured him that it did not really matter as he (the station master) was giving him permission to take the overweight luggage on board the train. Hakim al-Ummah refused to do so asking him that though he was helping him on this journey, would he (the station master) help him (Hakim al-Ummah) in the ultimate journey - the journey of the hereafter?

These incidents are illustrations of sublime taqwa in a modern context - when you know that no one except Allah knows that you are committing a wrong and it is easy for you to justify that wrong. May Allah ta'ala bless us with such taqwa and sincerity and honesty. Àmin

Regarding Shah Waliullah (ra):

“The final will of this humble servant of Allah is that always hold tightly to the Qura’an and Sunnath in your beliefs and acts. Regularly evaluate yourself against them. Read them regularly and if you can’t, then find someone who can and listen to at least a couple of pages everyday.”

"Once on a full moon night the Prophet (SAAS) asked Fatima (RA) whether she had noticed how beautiful the full moon on that night was; In reply she said that she had considered it against haya to look at the moon as there would have been hundreds of gazes of non mahrams on the moon that night!"
-From SunniForum (unverified by me)

"If two people are walking on the road and one of them is carrying a huge bundle of money in his pocket while the other has nothing , it is obvious that the one carrying money is going to walk extremely cautiously , avoid going into crowds etc, will go on checking his pockets and would like to pass unnoticed till he reaches his destination safely. On the other hand the man having nothing to lose walks in a carefree manner, going wherever he wants, not bothering about who pushes or nudges him etc. etc. Same is the case with our imaan. Since we as muslims possess this wealth so our gait and decisions are not carefree like those who do not have this wealth. We at all times make our decisions such that our imaan does not fall into danger."
-From a sister on SunniForum

"If one feels alone and isolated from friends, family or co-workers, let him reflect on the loneliness of Yusuf in the ditch.

If one feels the heat of tests, trials and challenges, let him reflect on the fire that engulfed our father Ibrahim (as)

If a believer feels sad and overcome by the anxiety of sins let him reflect on the story of those who Allah forgave at the end of Surah Taubah."
-From SunniForum

"When Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala ordered the Pen to write, it asked, "What shall I write?" and Allah said, "Write LA ILAHA ILLALLAH." The Pen wrote "LA ILAHA ILLALLAH" for seventy-thousand of Allah's years and then it stopped. One of Allah's days is equal to one thousand of our years. Then Allah ordered it to write again, and the Pen asked, "What shall I write?" Allah answered, "Write Muhammad-un RASUL-ALLAH." And the Pen said, "O Allah, who is this Muhammad that You have put Your name next to his name?" Allah said, "You must know that if it were not for Muhammad I would not have created anything in Creation." So the Pen wrote Muhammadun RASUL - ALLAH for another seventy-thousand years."
-From a blog (unverified by me)

"It is vain for eloquent atheists to talk of the great truths that will be revealed once we see free thought reign. We have seen it end. It has no more questions to ask; it has questioned itself. You cannot call up any wilder vision than a city in which men ask themselves if they have any selves. You cannot fancy a more skeptical world than that in which men doubt if there is a world…Free thought has exhausted its own freedom. It is weary of its own success. If any eager freethinker now hails philosophical freedom as the dawn, he is only like the man in Mark Twain who came out wrapped in blankets to see the sun rise and was just in time to see it set…We have no more questions to ask. We have looked for questions in the darkest corners and on the wildest peaks. We have found all the questions that can be found. It is time we gave up looking for questions and began looking for answers. "(1990 Image edition, p. 37)
-G.K. Chesterton

Ahkam (Commands of Allah)

Category: SOUND

Ahkam (Commands of Allah)


It must be known that Ahkam or Commands of Allah, relating to the acts and deeds of human beings are of eight kinds viz; (1) Fardh (2) Wajib (3) Sunnah (4) Mustahab (5) Haram or prohibited (6) Makrooh Tehreemi (7) Makrooh Tanzeehi and (8) Mubah or permissible.


1) Fardh is that Command of Allah which is based on Dalil Qataii or decisive evidence. He who gives it up without an excuse is an evil-doer and deserves punishment and he who denies it is a disbeliever. It is of two kinds (a) Fardh Ain (Individual) and (b) Fardh Kifayah (Collective).

(a) Fardh Ain or Individual Obligation, fulfillment of which is for every Muslim because the divine address is directed to each and everyone individually. The Muslim who gives it up without an excuse, deserves punishment and is an evildoer e.g; five times salat, Jummah salat, etc.

(b) Fardh Kifayah or Collective Obligation, fulfillment of which is not for every Muslim; rather it will be deemed performed by all the Muslims if some of them fulfill it. And if nobody fulfills it, all the Muslims will be sinners. e.g. funeral salat, etc.

2) Wajib or obligatory: Wajib is that Command of Allah, which demands commission of an act, which is based on Dalil Zanni or presumptive evidence. The person who gives it up without an excuse is an evildoer and deserves the punishment provided he does so without any doubt and the person who denies it, is also an evildoer and not a disbeliever.

3) Sunnah (Prophet's precepts): Sunnah is that act which has been committed by the Prophet (saw) or his companions. It is of two kinds (a) Sunnah Muakkadah and (b) Sunnah Ghair Muakkadah.

(a) Sunnah Muakkadah is that act which the Prophet (saw) always committed and never gave it up without an excuse but he never warned or scolded the person who gave it up. Its performance is of an obligatory nature. The person who gives it up without an excuse and behaves as such perpetually is an evildoer and sinner and he will be deprived of the intercession by the Prophet (saw); however, if it is left off and on, it is allowed; but giving up a Wajib entails more punishmen than giving it up.

(b) Sunnah Ghair Muakkadah is that act which has been committed by the Prophet (saw) or his companions and sometimes it is given up by them without an excuse. The person who does it, deserves reward and the person who gives it up, does not deserve punishment. Sunnah Ghair Muakkadah is also called Sunnah Zaidah or Sunnah Aadiah also.

4) Mustahab or Desirable: Mustahab is that act which has been committed by the Prophet (saw) or his companions but not always or often; rather it has been omitted off and on. Its doing deserves reward and the person who does not do it, does not entail sin. It is called in the terminology of Fiqh, Nafl, Mandoob or Tatawwoa also.

5) Haraam or Prohibited: A Haraam act is that act which has been proven on the basis of Dalil Qataii or the most authentic evidence. The person who denies it is a Kafir (Infidel) and the person who does it is sinful and deserves punishment.

6) Makrooh Tehreemi is that act which has been proven on the basis of presumptive evidence. The person who denies it is an evildoer as is the case with the denier of Wajib. The person who commits this act, without an excuse, is sinful and deserves punishment.

7) Makrooh Tanzeehi is that act neither the commission of which entails reward nor the omission of which entails punishment.

8) Mubah or Permissible: A Mubah is that neither the commission of which entails reward nor the omission of which entails punishment.

- From Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanawi's (ra) How to Perform the Salah Correctly.

Following the Sunnah of dress

Category: SOUND

All are from translated oral lectures in Urdu of Mufti Taqi Usmani.

It is not lawful to give up a Sunnah for fear of being ridiculed

[paraphrased]If by following a Sunnah example it is likely that you will make Muslims turn against the Sunnah or commit an act of disbelief, then it's okay to refrain. It is not okay to stop if only you are going to be ridiculed. It is also not okay to stop if it is unbelievers who are ridiculing as they will ridicule the Sunnah anyway.[/paraphrased]

The effect of dress on character (Inside vs. Outside)

It has been narrated about Hazrat Umar (ra) that once when he came to the Prophet's mosque to deliver a Khutbah, he was wearing a very magnificent gown. After having delivered the Khutbah when he went back home, he put off that gown with the resolution that he would not wear it again, because it created in him a sense of pride and superiority. The gown in itself was something neither prohibited nor unlawful. Those who have been granted by Almighty Allah crystal-clear hearts are able to realize the slightest of vice in their inner selves. We do not at all realize in our hearts the bad effects of the sins we commit from time to time. Contrary to this, the hearts of the righteous are like spotless cloth. If a spot appears on it, it is clearly visible. The incident of Hazrat Umar (ra) demonstrates that the dress-style of man does have an impact on his conduct, character and trend of thought. One should, therefore, realize the importance of dress and obey the injunctions of the Shari'ah about it.

The notion that it is not necessary to take care of the outside as long as the inside is alright is a Satanic deception. The outside requiring amelioration consists of your dress, food, conduct and character in the society. Their soundness has a bearing upon the soundness of the inside which is the soul. Those who do not think on these lines have no real understanding of Deen. If matters had been as these ignorant persons presume, the Holy Prophet (saw) would not have issued so many injunctions about dress, etc. as he has done. In principle, he has issued his kind injunctions in matters which people are likely to go astray.

One of our saints used to give an example to illustrate this point. When a fruit gets rotten in its inside the effect of this rottenness appears on its outside in the form of ugly spots. If the fruit is not rotten in its inside, the outside remains sound and sightly. Similarly, if the outside of a man is unsound (un-Islamic, not necessarily unhealthy), it is a sign that his inside is also unsound to a certain degree. It is therefore, not correct to claim that our inside is alright, no matter what is the condition of the outside.

The narrow-mindedness of the English

People say that it is narrow-mindedness to stop them from using the dress of the disbelieving English people. Do you not know or have you forgotten the narrow-mindedness of this English community when they occupied India? They made the flowing gowns, shalwars and turbans of the Mughal rulers and kings a uniform for their menial servants, like gate-keepers, peons, butlers, and waiters. Why did they do so? They did so only to disgrace the people and to show them that they attired their low-grade servants in the dress of their former Kings.

Dr. Iqbal elaborates in a couplet: 'The secret of the power and supremacy of the West lie in their hard work in the field of art and science. Their advancement, progress and superiority all are due to their devoted research and experiment.' In the end he has said: 'Wisdom, art, and science do not depend on any particular style of dress. The eastern dress consisting of the gown and the turban too is not the cause of backwardness. It is nothing but hard work in the field of knowledge and science which is needed.'

You did not acquire from the West what would have really helped you viz. knowledge and technology, but you relied on imitating their dress, life-style, etc. In this way you disgraced yourself. The world honours and respects those who have regard and love for their own way of life. So the world shall accord no credit to you for this habit of mimicking others.