"O disciple, listen to another statement from me, and think about it to find salvation. If you were notified that the ruler would be coming to you on a visit in a week's time, I know that during this period you would occupied with nothing but putting in order what you knew his glance would fall on of your clothing, your person, house, furnishings and so on. Now think what it is I am hinting at, for you are intelligent. A single word is enough for someone clever." --- Al-Ghazali, Letter to a Disciple
"Islam has never been a barrier to progress and science. It appreciates the intellectual activities of man to such a degree as to place him above the angels. No other religion ever went quite so far in asserting dominance of reason and, consequently, of learning, above all other manifestations of human life." --- Muhammad Asad, revert to Islam
"Reality does not contradict itself; it only contradicts our assumptions of it." --- Abdullah Al Andalusi
Until the lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter. --- Azerbaijan Proverb
Hasan bin Sahl asked Dinar bin 'Abdullah, "What is your religion?" He said, "I never thought that anyone alive would ask this question, for it is the question of Munkar and Nakir to the dead."
Nāṣiyah - ناصية - Forelock "I put my trust in Allah, My Lord and your Lord! There is not a moving creature, but He hath grasp of its fore-lock. Verily, it is my Lord that is on a straight Path." --- The Holy Qur'an (11:56)
[...] wrong doing and sin are really maladies of the heart, just as fever and pain are maladies of the body. When someone who has been ill recovers, he regains his [previous] strength and [...] others actually become healthier, stronger and more vigorous than before, for the remedy is [so] strong and overpowering, and it so completely overcomes the causes of the weakness and illness, that sickness becomes their way to health. Or as the poet said: "Perchance a reprimand from You is healing And perchance a body is strengthened through illness." --- Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, The Invocation of God
I saw everyone relying on something created - some on the dinar and dirham, some on wealth and property, some on their business and trade, and others on some similar created thing. So I meditated on His statement (the Exalted), "And whoso relies upon God - He is his sufficiency. Verily, God brings His command to pass. God has made a portion for everything." So I relied on God, and He is my sufficiency and the most exalted trustee! --- Hatim al Asamm, as quoted in 'Letter to a Disciple' by Al-Ghazali.
Whoever will not endure the affliction of being taught, will stay for ever in the debasement of ignorance. --- Ali ibn Abi Talib (ra)
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Khilāfah - خلافة The dominion of a caliph or vicegerent of Allah; the Islamic system of government. "It is the Muslim’s conception of himself as the khulifa [vicegerent] of Allah on the earth that makes him the vortex of human history. Only as God’s khulifa, and hence only in proper commitment to the vision of Islam, may man act responsibly in the totality of space-time.” --- Isma’il Raji al-Farqui, Tawhid for Thought and Relevance.
In the tongue there are two great diseases; the disease of speech, and the disease of silence. If the tongue is saved from one, it will not be saved from the other. For, the one who is silent in regards to justice is a mute Shaitan, and the one who conveys injustice is an articulate Shaitan. --- Ibn al Qayyim
In principle a balance between the spirit of the religion–any traditional religion–and the letter, must be established, however difficult this may be; and it is very difficult for most people. Extreme positions always offer a certain comfort. You can take your rest at the extreme. Tension and effort are involved in maintaining a balance, together with skill and judgment. Those who watch ballet with enjoyment may think that it looks easy. They do not know that sometimes the dancers have blood in their shoes. --- Hasan Le Gai Eaton, Remembering God: Reflections of Islam
Muqarnas - مقرنص Stalactite vault; a type of corbel used as a decorative device in traditional Islamic architecture, involving three-dimensional architectural decorations composed of niche-like elements arranged in tiers; reminds me of pomegranate shell. (Arabic: مقرنص Muqarnas)
Ḥanīf - حنيف One who scorns the false creeds surrounding him and professes the true religion; a follower of Abraham (as); one-faced. (Arabic: حنيف, Ḥanīf; plural: حنفاء, ḥunafā’)