Sayings of the Prophet (pbuh)
Contents
Hadiths reported in the archives of tariqa.fr (Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi and other collections), with their source indicated in each title.
Hadith, Abu Dawud: a man keeps company with his like
A man often keeps company with the one who resembles him. Let each of you know well the man he keeps company with.
Hadith, Ahmad: the one who greatly made men suffer
On the Day of Resurrection, God will inflict the harshest punishment on the one who greatly made men suffer in this lower world.
Hadith, Ahmad: the best words in asking forgiveness
The best words you can utter in asking God’s forgiveness are: “O great God, You are my Lord, there is no deity but You. It is You who created me. I am Your servant. I submit to Your requirements and Your promises as far as I am able. I seek refuge with You against the evil I have committed. I acknowledge the blessings You have showered upon me. I acknowledge my fault. Forgive me, for none but You forgives sins.”
Hadith, al-Bayhaqi: generosity is one of the trees of paradise
Generosity is one of the trees of paradise whose branches reach down so as to touch the lower world. Whoever grasps one of them, it will lead him to Paradise. Avarice is one of the trees of hell whose branches have come down so as to touch the lower world. Whoever takes one of them, it will lead him to hell.
Hadith, al-Bayhaqi: those who do good
The summit of intelligence, after faith in God, is to show affection to people and to do good to the pious and the wicked alike. For those who do good in this lower world are those who will do it in the future life. And those who commit reprehensible things will do likewise in the future life.
Hadith, al-Daraqutni: those from whom others can draw benefit
The believer is the one with whom one feels a bond of intimacy. There is no good in the one who does not approach others or does not let others approach him. The best of men are those from whom others can draw benefit.
Hadith, al-Tabarani: worship, humility, invocation, poverty
Four things are rarely found together in the same person: silence, which is the beginning of worship; humility; the invocation of God; and poverty.
Hadith, al-Tabarani: purify your bodies
Purify your bodies, and God will purify you. For no man sleeps in a state of ablution without an angel spending the night with him, pressed to his garment; and he does not turn in his bed without the angel saying: “O great God, forgive Your servant who spends the night in a state of purity.”
Hadith, al-Tabarani: slander graver than adultery
Beware of slander: it is more dangerous than adultery. For if a man commits adultery, he can repent and God may accept his forgiveness, whereas the slanderer will only be forgiven by God if the one he slandered forgives him.
Hadith, Bukhari: one’s own goods and those of one’s heirs
Ibn Mas’ud reports these words of the messenger of God (pbuh): “Which of you prefers to his own goods the goods he will leave to his heirs?” “There is not one among us who prefers the goods he will leave to his heirs,” they answered him. The Prophet then said to them: “Know that your goods are those you spend (in pious works), and that the goods of your heirs are those you keep (amass until your death).”
Hadith, Bukhari: the trial in proportion to faith
Among men, the Prophets are those who suffer the most misfortunes. Next come those who resemble them by degrees of piety. A man will be tried in proportion to his faith. If his faith is firm, he will be severely tried. If his faith is weak, his misfortune will be slight. Misfortune never ceases to afflict a man until it leaves him walking upon the earth stripped of all sin.
Hadith, Bukhari
Allah makes chaste whoever seeks to be so. He makes rich whoever is content with what he has. He helps to remain patient whoever seeks to impose patience upon himself. No one has received a better and ampler gift than patience.
Hadith, Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Ibn Hanbal
The angel Gabriel never ceased recommending the neighbour to me, so much so that I ended up believing he wanted us to make him an heir.
Hadith, Bukhari, Muslim
A man owes alms for each of his joints every day the sun rises. To act equitably between two persons is an alms… To say a good word is an alms, and every step taken towards a place of prayer is an alms. To remove from the path what can be harmful is also an alms.
Hadith, Bukhari, Muslim
Each of you will be addressed by his Lord. There will be no interpreter between you and Him. Each will then look to his right and see there only the works he accomplished in view of that moment; likewise to his left… Finally he will look before him and see only the fire facing him. Fear the fire then, if only by giving alms of half a date. And let the one who has nothing to give in alms speak kindly to his brothers.
Hadith, Bukhari
Whoever fasts during the month of Ramadan with sincere faith and the will to win God’s forgiveness, all his previous sins will be forgiven him.
Hadith, Bukhari: whoever prays our prayer
Whoever prays according to our prayer, turns towards our orientation and eats of our sacrificed foods is a Muslim; he is under the protection of a pact between God and His messenger. Do not therefore be the cause of the violation of God’s pact.
Hadith, Bukhari: he who eats his fill
He is not a believer who eats his fill while his neighbour beside him is hungry.
Hadith, Bukhari: wish for others
Wish for others what you would wish for yourself, and you will then be a true believer.
Hadith, Bukhari, Muslim: hold your tongue
’Uqba ibn ’Amir reports: I said, “O messenger of Allah! Where lies salvation?” He answered me: “Hold your tongue, let your house suffice you, and weep over your sins.”
Hadith, Bukhari, Muslim: as though you were passing through
Be in this lower world as though you were a stranger there, or passing through.
Hadith, Bukhari: istikhara
The messenger of God taught us the prayer of istikhara (consultation, or asking for the best course to take) in all circumstances, just as he would teach us a sura of the Qur’an. He taught it to us thus: “Lord, I ask You, by virtue of Your knowledge, to choose the best solution for me. I ask You to grant it to me by virtue of what You have predestined for me. And I ask You to let me benefit from Your immense favours, for You have power and I am bereft of it. You are the One who knows, and I am ignorant. And You alone know the unmanifested. Lord, if You know that this matter is profitable for me, for my religion, for my life in this world and for my last ends, make it accessible to me and bless it for me. But if You know that this matter is harmful to me, in my religion as in my life in this world and in my last ends, turn it away from me and turn me away from it; then destine good for me wherever it lies, and make me content with having received it.”
Hadith, Bukhari: …then feed some poor people
A man came to the Prophet and said to him: “I had a sexual relation with my wife during the month of Ramadan (during the fast).” The messenger of God asked him: “Can you free a slave in expiation?” He answered no. The Prophet asked him: “Can you fast for two months running?” He answered no. The messenger of God asked him: “Can you feed sixty poor people?” He answered no. Then someone brought a great basket of dates to the messenger of God, and he said (to the man): “Take this and feed the poor with it in expiation.” The man then said: “Messenger of God, am I to feed people poorer than us? There is no house poorer than ours among all those between the mountains of Medina!” The Prophet said: “Then feed your family with it.”
Hadith, Bukhari
Faith is the shackle of violence.
Hadith, Ibn ’Adi, al-Quda’i (weak hadith)
(Weak hadith) Paradise is the dwelling of men of generosity.
Hadith, Ibn al-Najjar: speak the truth, even to your detriment
Maintain the bond with the one who shuns you, be good to the one who has wronged you, and speak the truth even if it is to your detriment.
Hadith, Ibn al-Najjar: perform your prayer as though it were your last
Perform your prayer as though it were the last you accomplish. Worship God as though you saw Him, for if you do not see Him, He surely sees you. Disdain what others possess, and you will live rich; and beware of asking for what can be refused you.
Hadith, Ibn Majah
Act with detachment towards the world, and Allah will love you. And act with detachment towards people; they will love you.
Hadith, Muslim: the veil of His mercy and His generosity
Draw near to perfection, keep rectifying your conduct, and know that none of you will owe his salvation to his works alone. They said to him: “Not even you, O messenger of God?” He said: “Not even me, unless God covers me with the veil of His mercy and His generosity.”
Hadith, Muslim: God is clement
’A’isha reports these words of the Prophet (pbuh): God is clement and loves clemency. He grants in return for clemency what He does not grant in return for rigour or for any other quality.
Hadith, Muslim: hasten to accomplish pious works
…The messenger of God (pbuh) said: “Hasten to accomplish pious works, for there will be times of trouble as black as the darkest nights, times when a man will wake a believer in the morning and find himself an unbeliever in the evening, a believer in the evening and an unbeliever on waking. He will barter his religion for the goods of this world.”
Hadith, Muslim: we belong to Allah
Every Muslim who repeats, while suffering a misfortune, what Allah commanded him to say, namely: “We belong to Allah and to Him we return; my Lord, reward me for my misfortune and give me in recompense what is better”, is gratified by Allah with a great reward.
Hadith, Muslim: slander and calumny
“Do you know what slander is?” Those present answered: “God and His messenger know best.” The Prophet (pbuh) said to them: “It is to speak of your brother in terms that displease him.” Someone said: “And if what one says is true?” The Prophet (pbuh) answered him: “If what you said is true, then you have slandered him. And if it is not true, you have calumniated him.”
Hadith, Muslim: fasting is Mine and it is I who pay its price
Allah, may He be glorified and magnified, said: “Every act of the son of Adam belongs to him, except fasting, for it is Mine and it is I who pay its price. Fasting is a shield. If one of you fasts one day, let him abstain that day from indecent speech and shouting. If someone insults him or attacks him, let him say: I am a man who is fasting, I am a faster…”
Hadith, Muslim
If you meet someone who bears witness that there is no God but God with certainty deep in his heart, then announce to him the good news: he will enter Paradise.
Hadith, Muslim
If you did not sin, God would have created other creatures who would have sinned and implored His forgiveness, so that He could dispense it to them.
Hadith, Muslim
Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas said: “We were six with the Prophet (pbuh). The Associators then said to the Prophet (pbuh): ‘Drive away those six, lest they grow arrogant with us!’ We were myself, Ibn Mas’ud, a man of the tribe of Hudhayl, Bilal, and two others whose names I do not know. Then there passed through the messenger of God’s mind the thoughts God willed, and he began to struggle with himself. That is when God, exalted be He, sent down this verse: ‘Do not drive away those who invoke their Lord morning and evening, desiring His Face alone!’ (Qur’an 6, 52).”
Hadith, Muslim
The messenger of Allah, may Allah spread His grace and peace upon him, said: “Verily there is in Paradise a gate called al-Rayyan: it is by it that the fasters will enter on the Day of Resurrection; no one else will enter by it with them. It will be said: ‘Where are the fasters, that they may enter by it?’ When the last of them has entered, it will be closed and no one will ever enter by it again.”
Hadith qudsi: I will forgive you
Almighty God says: “O son of Adam, as long as you call upon Me and pray to Me, I will forgive you what you have done and I will not hold it against you. O son of Adam, even if your sins were to reach the clouds of heaven, and you then asked My forgiveness, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, even if you came to Me with sins as vast as the earth, and you then presented yourself before Me, attributing no associate to Me, I would grant you a forgiveness almost as vast.”
Hadith qudsi: the one whom My remembrance distracts from a request
The one whom My remembrance (dhikr) distracts from making a request will receive more than those who address requests to Me.
Hadith, Suyuti
God does not look at your appearance. It is your heart and your intentions that He looks at.
Hadith, Tirmidhi: those whose mind is turned towards a single thing
The Prophet said: “Those whose mind is turned towards a single thing (mufarridun) are in the first rank.” They said: “Who then are those people?” He said: “Those who are so possessed by the remembrance of God that they are mocked for it (al-mustahtirun bi-dhikr Allah), whose dhikr removes their burdens (yada’u ’anhum al-dhikru athqalahum), and who come to God in meekness (fa-ya’tuna Allaha khifaqan).”
Hadith, Tirmidhi, Ahmad, Hakim: the purest action… the dhikr
The Prophet (may God’s peace and blessing be upon him) often said to his companions: “Shall I remind you of the best of actions, the purest in God’s eyes, the one whose rank is highest, well above spending gold and silver in God’s service, or fighting against your enemies, where you strike them on the neck and they strike you on the neck?” The companions said to him: “Yes, O messenger of God!” The Prophet (may God’s peace and blessing be upon him) said to them: “It is the dhikr of God.”
Hadith, Tirmidhi: your tongue kept moist in invocation
A man addressed the Prophet: “O messenger of God, the prescriptions of islam are too many for me. Teach me one thing I can cling to.” The Prophet answered him: “Let your tongue remain constantly moist with the invocation of God (dhikr).”
Hadith, Tirmidhi: His lonely servants
Those whom God loves most are His lonely servants… those who have no refuge but their religion. On the Day of Judgement they will be brought before Jesus son of Mary, peace be upon him.
Hadith, Tirmidhi: may Your love be dearer to me than…
God, may Your love be dearer to me still than my love for myself, for my kin, or for cool water!
Hadith: the sagacity of the believers
Beware of the believers’ sagacity, for they observe by the light of God.
Hadith, Muslim: O My servants, you cannot harm Me
O My servants, you cannot harm Me, nor can you be useful to Me by seeking My profit.
Hadith: he who shows no mercy
He who shows no mercy to others, to him God will never show mercy.
Hadith: let him speak good or hold his peace
Whoever believes in God and in the Day of Judgement must speak good of people, or else hold his peace.
Hadith: minding one’s own vices
Felicity is granted to the one who minds his own vices and leaves others’ vices alone, spends in alms the surplus of his goods, withholds futile words and contents himself with the sunna.
Hadith: beware…
Beware of that for which you would afterwards have to apologise.
Hadith: ask for nothing…
Ask for nothing insistently.
Hadith: avoiding meddling…
It is part of a person’s fair islam that he avoids meddling in what does not concern him.
Hadith: the five prayers are comparable
The five prayers are comparable to a broad river flowing at the door of one of you, in which he washes five times a day.
Hadith
It is not lawful, for the one who believes in God and in the Last Judgement, to undertake an action without knowing God’s commandment concerning it.
Hadith
Like the teeth of a comb, all men are equal.
Hadith: sowing for the future life
This lower world is a field of sowing for the future life. He who sows good will reap joy, and he who sows evil will reap repentance.
Hadith, Abu’l-’Abbas Sahl ibn Sa’d al-Sa’idi: do not covet this world
Do not covet this world, and Allah will love you. Do not covet the goods of others, and people will love you.
Hadith, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal: the intelligent man
Hadith: like the one who prays at night
Like a faster who gets from his fast nothing but hunger, such is the one who prays at night and gets from his prayer nothing but sleeplessness.
Hadith: the one of My creatures who does not acknowledge Me
God says: when the one who knows how to acknowledge Me disobeys Me within My creation, I give power over him to the one of My creatures who does not acknowledge Me.
Hadith: to paradise in chains
God marvels at people led to paradise in chains.
Hadith, Abu Dawud: sulking at one’s neighbour
He who sulks at his neighbour for a year acts as though he had killed him.
Hadith: question your heart
Question your heart. Good is what brings rest to the soul and the heart. And sin is what troubles you in your innermost self and torments your breast, despite counsels however many.
Hadith, Tirmidhi: help me to mention Thy holy Name
Do not forget to repeat at the end of each prayer: “My Lord! Help me to mention Thy holy Name, to thank Thee and to exalt Thee in worship.”
Hadith, al-Tirmidhi
Be attentive towards Allah and you will find Him before you. Remember Allah in ease and you will find Him in adversity. Know that what missed you was not destined for you, and that what reached you could not have missed you. Know that victory accompanies endurance, that relief comes after affliction, as ease after difficulty.
Hadith, Tirmidhi
The Prophet (pbuh) used to say, on leaving his house: “In the Name of God (Bismillah), I put my trust in God. O my God, I ask You to grant me Your protection, lest I lead others astray or be led astray by them, lest I make them stumble or they make me stumble, lest I be unjust or the victim of injustice, and lest I ignore the rights of others or they ignore mine.”