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Key Passages
from the Koran
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This section contains a selection of the Koran's most important passages to study and contemplate for spiritual self-understanding. |
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| Muhammad
on Islam |
WHAT
is Islam?" I asked Lord Muhammad. He said, "Abstinence and
obedience." And then I asked him what was most excellent in man.
He said, "An amiable disposition." "Which is the most
excellent Hijrah? |
| Muhammad
on Islam (cont'd) |
He
said, -"Abandoning that which God disapproveth of." |
| Muhammad on Islam (cont'd) | "I ask thee, Prophet! by the Glory of God, (to say) with what has God sent thee to us?" The Prophet said, "With Islam." I said, "And what are the commandments of Islam?" He said, "That thou say, "I submit myself to God the Most High, and I am solely His;" and that thou be steadfast in prayer and give alms. |
| Muhammad
on Islam (cont'd) |
I
said, "O Prophet of God! tell me a word about Islam that may be
enough for me, and I may not have to ask any one about it after thee."
The Prophet said, "Say thou, I believe in God; and then keep straight
on." |
| Muhammad on Islam (cont'd) | A man said, "O Prophet of God! which is the best (part) of Islam? " He said, "That thou give food (to the hungry), and extend greetings to all whom thou knowest and whom thou knowest not." |
| Muhammad
on Islam (cont'd) |
Monopoly
is unlawful in Islam. |
| Muhammad on Islam (cont'd) | Every religion has a distinctive virtue, and the distinctive virtue of Islam is modesty. |
| Muhammad
on Islam (cont'd) |
Whoso
walks with a wrong doer that he may strengthen him, knowing all the
while that he is a wrong doer, has departed from Islam. |
| Muhammad on Islam (cont'd) | I asked, 'What is Islam? The Prophet replied, 'Purity of speech and hospitality.' |
| Muhammad
on A Perfect Muslin |
A
perfect Muslim is he from whose tongue and hands mankind is safe, and
a Muhajir* is he who fleeth from what God hath forbidden. |
| Muhammad on A Perfect Muslin (cont'd) | *Those companions of the Prophet who fled from Mecca and went into exile with him were called Muhajirs (Performers of the Hijrah.) |
| Muhammad
on A Perfect Muslin (cont'd) |
Death
is a favor to a Muslim. Remember and speak well of your dead, and refrain
from speaking ill of them. |
| Muhammad on A Perfect Muslin (cont'd) | The messenger of God said to me (Anas), "Son, if you are able, keep your heart from morning till night and from night till morning free from malice towards anyone"; then he said, "Oh! my son, this is one of my laws, and he who loveth my laws verily loveth me." |
| Muhammad
on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) |
The
greatest enemies of God are those who are entered into Islam, and do
acts of infidelity, and who, without cause, shed the blood of men. |
| Muhammad on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) | I asked Lord Muhammad of the most excellent Iman, and he said, "To love him who loveth God, and hate him who hateth God, and to keep your tongue employed in repeating the name of God." What else? He said, "To do unto all men as you would wish them to have done unto you." |
| Muhammad
on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) |
Charity
is a duty unto every Muslim. He who hath not the means thereto, let
him do a good act or abstain from an evil one. That is his charity. |
| Muhammad on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) | He who believeth in one God and in a future life (i.e. a Muslim) let him honor his guest. |
| Muhammad
on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) |
When
you speak, speak the truth; perform when you promise; discharge your
trust; commit not fornication; be chaste; have no impure desires; withhold
your hands from striking, and from taking that which is unlawful and
bad. The best of God's servants are those who, when seen, remind one
of God; and the worst of God's servants are those who carry tales about
to do mischief and separate friends, and seek for the defects of the
good. |
| Muhammad on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) | He who believeth in one God and the Hereafter (i.e. a Muslim) let him speak what is good or remain silent. |
| Muhammad
on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) |
He
who believeth in one God and the life beyond (i.e. a Muslim) let him
not injure his neighbors. |
| Muhammad on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) | Feed the hungry and visit the sick, and free the captive, if he be unjustly confined. Assist any person who is oppressed whether Muslim or non-Muslim. |
| Muhammad
on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) |
The
duties of Muslims to each other are six. It was asked "What are
they, O Messenger of God?" He said, "When you meet a Muslim,
Salaam to him, and when he inviteth you to dinner, accept; and when
he asketh you for advice, give it to him; and when he sneezeth and saith
'Praise be to God' do you say 'May God have mercy upon thee'; and when
he is sick, visit him; and when he dieth, follow his bier." |
| Muhammad on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) | A true Mu'min is thankful to God in prosperity, and is resigned to His Will in adversity. |
| Muhammad
on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) |
He
is the most perfect Muslim, whose disposition is most liked by his own
family. |
| Muhammad on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) | O ye, who have embraced Islam by the tongue, and to whose hearts it hath not reached, distress not Muslims, nor speak ill of them, nor seek for their defects. |
| Muhammad
on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) |
That
person is most respectable near God, who pardoneth, when he hath him
in his power, him who would have injured him. |
| Muhammad on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) | Whoever desireth the world and its riches should do so in a lawful manner in order to withhold himself from begging, and for a livelihood for his family, and for being kind to his neighbor. |
| Muhammad
on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) |
Whoever
believeth in God and the Hereafter (i.e. a Muslim) must respect his
guest; and whoever believeth in God and the Hereafter, must not incommode
his neighbors; and a Mu'min must speak only good words, otherwise remain
silent. |
| Muhammad on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) | It is unworthy of a Mu'min to injure people's reputations; and it is unworthy to curse any one; and it is unworthy to abuse any one; and it is unworthy of a Mu'min to talk vainly. |
| Muhammad
on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) |
All
Muslims are as one person. If a man complaineth of a pain in his head,
his whole body complaineth; and if his eye complaineth, his whole body
complaineth. |
| Muhammad on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) | All Muslims are like one foundation, some parts strengthening others; in such a way must they support each other. |
| Muhammad
on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) |
Assist
your brother Muslim, whether he be an oppressor or an oppressed. 'But
how shall we do it when he is an oppressor?' Lord Muhammad said, "Assisting
an oppressor is by forbidding and withholding him from oppression." |
| Muhammad on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) | He is not of us who is not affectionate to the little ones and doth not respect the reputation of the old; and he is not of us who doth not order that which is lawful, and prohibit that which is unlawful. |
| Muhammad
on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) |
The
best Muslim house is that in which is an orphan benefited; and the worst
Muslim house is that in which an orphan is ill-treated. |
| Muhammad on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) | That person is not a perfect Muslim who eateth his fill, and leaveth his neighbors hungry. |
| Muhammad
on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) |
The
exercise of religious duties will not atone for the fault of an abusive
tongue. A man cannot be a Muslim till his heart and tongue are so. |
| Muhammad on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) | That person is wise and sensible who subdueth his carnal desires and hopeth for rewards; and he is an ignorant man who followeth his lustful appetites, and with all this asketh God's forgiveness. |
| Muhammad
on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) |
Verily
he is the most beloved of me among you, and sits nearest to me on the
day of resurrection, who is the best among you in point of disposition.
And the most hateful to me among you, and the farthest removed from
me in regard to seat on the day of resurrection, will be the garrulous,
and those who talk glibly, and who talk tall. The companions said, "And,
O Prophet of God! who talk tall?" He said, "The vainglorious." |
| Muhammad on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) | Ye shall surely be helped, and ye shall attain great excellence, and ye shall conquer; whoever then among you seeks that, let him fear God, and bid what is reasonable, and forbid what is wrong; and whoso tells a lie against me purposely let him find his seat in the fire of hell. |
| Muhammad
on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) |
Verily,
men will follow you, and verily men will come to you from (all) quarters
of the earth to understand religion; when they come to you, enjoin goodness
upon them. |
| Muhammad on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) | Whosoever seeks refuge In the name of God, give him refuge; and whoso asks in the name of God give him; and whoso calls on you, respond to him; and whoso does good to you, return the same to him; and if ye do not find anything to return to him, pray (to God) for him, until ye see that ye have made (him) an ample return. |
| Muhammad
on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) |
The
best Jihad is his who speaks a just word before a tyrannical authority. |
| Muhammad on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) | Your smiling in your brother's face is charity; and your exhorting mankind to virtuous deeds is charity; and your prohibiting the forbidden is charity; and your showing men the road, in the land in which they lose it, is charity; and your assisting the blind is charity. |
| Muhammad
on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) |
I
came to Medinah, and saw a man whose counsels men obeyed, and he never
said anything but they obeyed him. I said, 'Who is this man?' They said,
'This is the Rasul of God.' Then I went to him and said, 'Give me advice.'
Lord Muhammad said, 'Abuse nobody.' And I never did abuse anybody after
that, neither freeman nor slave, nor camel nor goat. And he added, 'And
if a man abuse thee, and lay a vice which he knew in thee then do not
disclose one which thou knowest in him.' |
| Muhammad on A Perfect Muslin Islam (cont'd) | The most excellent of alms is that of a man of small property which he has earned by labor, from which he giveth as much as he is able. |
| Muhammad
on God |
Whoso
is able and fit, and doth not work for himself or for others, God is
not gracious to him. |
| Muhammad on God (cont'd) | God is gracious to him who earneth his living by his own labor and not by begging. |
| Muhammad
on God
(cont'd) |
Charity
that is concealed appeaseth the wrath of God. |
| Muhammad on God (cont'd) | God's kindness towards His teachers is more than a mother's towards her babe. |
| Muhammad
on God
(cont'd) |
Adore
God as thou wouldst if thou sawest Him; for, if thou seest Him not,
He seeth thee. |
| Muhammad on God (cont'd) | The best of companions, in the sight of God, is he who is best among them to his companions; and the best of neighbors, in the sight of God, is the best among them to his neighbors. |
| Muhammad
on God
(cont'd) |
'O
Prophet of God' said one of his disciples, 'I have heard so many things
from thee, and I fear that I may forget their end and aim, so tell me
a word that may contain everything.' The Prophet said, 'Fear God according
to what thou dost know, and act accordingly.' |
| Muhammad on God (cont'd) | Whoso treats with contempt the authority of God on earth treats God with contempt. |
| Muhammad
on God
(cont'd) |
Whoso
obeys me, obeys God; and whoso rebels against me, rebels against God,
and whoso obeys a governor, obeys me, and whoso rebels against a governor,
rebels against me. |
| Muhammad on God (cont'd) | When one of you sees another who is superior to him in point of wealth and creation, let him look to him who is below him. That is more proper that ye hold not in contempt the favor of God towards you. |
| Muhammad
on God
(cont'd) |
Whoso
will remain abstemious, God will keep him abstemious, and whoso will
keep himself independent, God will keep him independent; and whoso will
be steadfast, God will keep him steadfast, and no one is granted a better
thing than that. |
| Muhammad on God (cont'd) | The Apostle was in the midst of a crowd of his companions, and a camel came and prostrated itself before him. They said, 'O Apostle of God beasts and trees worship thee; then it is meet for us to worship thee.' Lord Muhammad said, 'Worship God, and you may honor your brother, that is me.' |
| Muhammad
on God
(cont'd) |
God
hath not created anything better than reason, or anything more perfect
or more beautiful than reason; the benefits which God giveth are on
its account; and understanding is by it, and God's wrath is caused by
it, and by it are rewards and punishments. |
| Muhammad on God (cont'd) | Verily, God is mild, and is fond of mildness, and He giveth to the mild what He doth not give to the harsh. |
| Muhammad
on God
(cont'd) |
Verily
God loveth a Muslim who is poor, with a family, and withholdeth Himself
from the unlawful and begging. |
| Muhammad on God (cont'd) | Whoever loveth to meet God, God loveth to meet him |
| Muhammad
on God
(cont'd) |
O
ye people! remember God, remember God: the quaking will come, it shall
be followed by another, death will come with what is therein; death
will come with what is therein! |
| Muhammad on God (cont'd) | Verily, God is pure and loves the pure, is clean and loves the clean, is beneficent and loves the beneficent, is generous and loves the generous. |
| Muhammad
on God
(cont'd) |
O
Mu'adh! God has created nothing on the face of the earth that is more
beloved of Him than the freeing (of slaves); and God has created nothing
on the face of the earth that is more hateful to Him than divorce. |
| Muhammad on God (cont'd) | When people see the wrong-doer, and do not seize him by the hand, God would well-nigh chastise them all alike. There is no people among whom a sin is committed, who have the power to undo (the same), and undo (it) not, but God would well-nigh chastise them all alike. |
| Muhammad
on God
(cont'd) |
God
says: I am with the thought of My servant concerning Me; and I am with
him when he remembers Me; and when he remembers Me within himself, I
remember him within Myself; and if he remembers Me in public, I remember
him in a public better than his own. |
| Muhammad on God (cont'd) | God says: Whoso comes with a good work, shall have ten like to it, and I will also give more; and whoso comes with an evil work, the reward thereof is evil like to it, and I also pardon. |
| Muhammad
on God
(cont'd) |
Verily
God instructs me to be humble and lowly and not proud and no one should
oppress others. |
| Muhammad on God (cont'd) | If a man draw near to me a span, I draw near to him a yard; and if he draw near to me a yard, I draw near to him a fathom; and if he comes to me walking, I come to him running; and whoso comes to me with a world of sins, but associates nothing with me, I come to him with an equal front of forgiveness. |
| Muhammad
on God
(cont'd) |
He
who humbles himself for (the sake of) God, him will God exalt; he is
small in his own mind, and great in the eyes of the people. And he who
is proud and haughty, God will render him contemptible, and he is small
in the eyes of the people and great in his own mind, so that he becomes
more contemptible to them than a dog or a swine. |
| Muhammad on God (cont'd) | God is gentle and loveth gentleness. |
| Muhammad
on God
(cont'd) |
A
keeper of fast, who doth not abandon lying and detraction, God careth
not about his leaving off eating and drinking; that is, God doth not
accept his fasting. |
| Muhammad on God (cont'd) | God saith, 'The person I hold as a beloved, I am his hearing by which he heareth, and I am his sight by which he seeth, and I am his hands by which he holdeth, and I am his feet by which he walketh.' |
| Muhammad
on God
(cont'd) |
God
is a unity, and liketh unity. |
| Muhammad on God (cont'd) | We were with the Rasul on a journey, and some men stood up repeating aloud, 'God is most great;' and the Rasul said, 'O men, be easy on yourselves and do not distress yourselves by raising your voices; verily you do not call to one deaf or absent, but verily to one who heareth and seeth; and He is with you; and He to whom you pray is nearer to you than the neck of your camel. |
| Muhammad
on God
(cont'd) |
Verily
God is more compassionate on His creatures than a woman on her own child. |
| Muhammad on God (cont'd) | The most beloved of men in the sight of God, on the day of resurrection, and the nearest to Him, in regard to seat, shall be the just leader; and the most hateful of men in the sight of God on the day of resurrection, and the farthest removed from Him in regard to seat, shall be the tyrannical leader. |
| Muhammad
on God
(cont'd) |
God
is with the judge as long as he is not doing wrong; but when he does
wrong, God leaves him, and Satan takes His place. |
| Muhammad on God (cont'd) | What was in the beginning? Lord Muhammad said, 'God was, and nothing was with Him: and He created His Imperial Throne upon water, and everything was in the tablet of His memory.' |
| Muhammad
on Faith |
The
faithful (i.e. Muslims) are those who perform their trust and fail not
in their word, and keep their pledge. |
| Muhammad on Faith (cont'd) | This world is a prison for the faithful, but a paradise for unbelievers. |
| Muhammad
on Faith
(cont'd) |
He
will not enter hell, who hath faith equal to a single grain of mustard
seed in his heart; and he will not enter paradise, who hath a single
grain of pride, equal to one grain of mustard seed in his heart. |
| Muhammad on Faith (cont'd) | You will not enter paradise until you have faith; and you will not complete your faith till you love one another. |
| Muhammad
on Faith
(cont'd) |
A
man asked, 'O Prophet of God! what is (the mark of) faith?' The Prophet
said, 'When thy good work gives thee pleasure, and thy evil work grieves
thee, thou art a man of faith.' The man said, 'And what is sin?' He
said, 'When anything smites thee within thyself, forsake it.' |
| Muhammad on Faith (cont'd) | The best (part) of faith is to say, 'There is no God but God,' and the least of it is to remove all injurious things from the (public) road. |
| Muhammad
on Faith
(cont'd) |
There
are three things by which any one who possesses these in him, shall
taste the sweetness of faith, namely, whoever loves God and his apostle
more than anything besides them, whoever loves a servant (of God) only
for (the sake of) God; and whoever is averse to return to infidelity
after God has saved him from it even as he would be averse to be flung
into the fire (of hell). |
| Muhammad on Faith (cont'd) | Faith is a restraint against all violence, let no Mu'min commit violence. |
| Muhammad
on Faith
(cont'd) |
He
has (really) no faith who fulfils not his trust, and he has (really)
no religion who fulfils not his promise. |
| Muhammad on Faith (cont'd) | None of you (really) believes until he holds me dearer to him than his father and his son and all mankind. |
| Muhammad
on Faith
(cont'd) |
Whoso
of you sees wrong, let him undo it with his hand; and if he cannot (do
it), then let him speak (against it) with his tongue, and if he cannot
(do this either), then (let him abhor it) with his heart-and this is
the least of faith. |
| Muhammad on Faith (cont'd) | If ye rely upon God as He ought to be relied upon, He will provide you as He provides the birds: they go out empty and hungry in the morning and come back big-bellied at eventide. |
| Muhammad
on Knowledge
(cont'd) |
He
dieth not who giveth life to learning. |
| Muhammad on Knowledge (cont'd) | Whoso honoreth the learned, honoreth me. |
| Muhammad
on
Knowledge
(cont'd) |
Go
in quest of knowledge even unto China, i.e. even unto 'edge of earth'. |
| Muhammad on Knowledge (cont'd) | Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave. |
| Muhammad
on
Knowledge
(cont'd) |
Excessive
knowledge is better than excessive praying; and the bedrock of religion
is abstinence. |
| Muhammad on Knowledge (cont'd) | It is better to teach knowledge one hour in the night, than to pray the whole night. |
| Muhammad
on
Knowledge
(cont'd) |
Whoever
seeketh knowledge, and findeth it, will get two rewards; one of them
the reward for desiring it, and the other for attaining it; therefore,
even if he does not attain it, for him is one reward. |
| Muhammad on Knowledge (cont'd) | He who knoweth his own self, knoweth God. |
| Muhammad
on
Knowledge
(cont'd) |
To
listen to the words of the learned, and to instill into others the lessons
of science, are better than religious exercises. |
| Muhammad on Knowledge (cont'd) | The ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of the martyr. |
| Muhammad
on
Knowledge
(cont'd) |
He who leaveth home in search of knowledge, walketh in the path of God. |