Ibn Taymiyyah Quotes & Sayings

The sign of the people of bid'ah is that they do not follow the salaf. — Ibn Taymiyyah

A man will never fear something besides Allah unless it be due to a disease in his heart. — Ibn Taymiyyah

You should not look at what the person used to do, rather you should
look at what kind of person they are today. The one who gets bogged
down about people's pasts, is just like Iblees who said to Allaah,
"You created me from fire and you created him from clay". — Ibn Taymiyyah

What can my enemies do to me?
I have in my breast both my Heaven and my Garden.
If I travel they are with me, and they never leave me.
Imprisonment for me is a religious retreat [khalwa].
To be slain for me is martyrdom [shahada]
And to be exiled from my land is a spiritual journey [siyaha]. — Ibn Taymiyyah

What can you do with me? My jannah is in my heart! If you take me to jail, I will make zikr of Allah. If you exile me out of my land, I will make takaffur. If you execute me, I would be a shaheed. What can you do with me? Because I am not limited to this dunya. I am living for al-akhira! — Ibn Taymiyyah

Among the principles of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama'ah lie the attitude of peace and purity of their heart and tongue towards the Sahaba(Companions) of the Prophet (saw). — Ibn Taymiyyah

The highest degree of love is Tatayyum (total enthrallment). The lowest degree is 'alaqah (attachment), when the heart is attached to the beloved: then comes sabahah (infatuation), when the heart is poured out: then gharam (passion), when love never leaves the heart: the nashaq (ardent love), and finally tatayyum. — Ibn Taymiyyah

No love that a man has will only give him pleasure in return- he shall also suffer pain because of it, except for love of Allah. — Ibn Taymiyyah

Some people have the disease of criticising all the time. They forget the good about others and only mention their faults. They are like flies that avoid the good and pure places and land on the bad and wounds. This is because of the evil within the self and the spoiled nature — Ibn Taymiyyah

If you correct your hidden deeds subsequently, Allaah will correct your outward deeds. — Ibn Taymiyyah

Sins are like chains and locks preventing their perpetrator from roaming the vast garden of Tawheed and reaping the fruits of righteous actions. — Ibn Taymiyyah

Make tawba not just for sins you've committed, but also for obligations you haven't fulfilled. — Ibn Taymiyyah

This whole religion revolves around knowing the truth and acting by it, and action must be accompanied by patience. — Ibn Taymiyyah

Allah will support the just state even if it is led by unbelievers, but Allah will not support the oppressive state even if it is led by believers — Ibn Taymiyyah

Beautiful leaving (hajr), is to leave without harming, beautiful pardoning is to pardon without rebuking, and beautiful patience is to be patient without complaining. — Ibn Taymiyyah

Contentment is the greatest door that one enters to Allah, it is the source of tranquility for the worshiper and paradise on earth. Whoever does not enter it will not enter the Paradise in the Hereafter. — Ibn Taymiyyah

A believer to another believer is like two hands, one washes the other (correcting each other). — Ibn Taymiyyah

If I remained silent and you remained silent, then who will teach the ignorant? — Ibn Taymiyyah

When someone offends me, I think it's a gift from Allah (god). He (Allah) is teaching me humility. — Ibn Taymiyyah

When people help one another in sin and transgression, they finish by hating each other. — Ibn Taymiyyah

If you do good in secret, Allah will shower His good on you in public. — Ibn Taymiyyah

How many of us would be able to overcome our desires and resist the temptation of sin? How many of us even lower our gaze when we look upon something that we are not supposed to? The real prisoner is the one whose heart has been kept away from remembering his Lord, and the real captive is the one who has been captivated by his whims and desires. — Ibn Taymiyyah

The entire religion revolves around acknowledging the truth and then acting upon it. — Ibn Taymiyyah

Remembrance is to the heart what water is to the fish. And what is the state of a fish that leaves water? — Ibn Taymiyyah

As for the people of Tasawwuf, they affirm the love of Allah, and this is more evident among them than all other issues ... the affirmation of the love of Allah is well-known in the speech of their [old] and recent masters, just as it is affirmed in the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah and in agreement of the ways of the early generation (Salaf) — Ibn Taymiyyah

Indeed, the term body (jism), organs ('arad), extent (mutahayyiz) and their like are all newly-invented terminologies. We have mentioned many a time before that the Salaf and the Imaams have not spoken about such things, neither by way of a negation nor by way of affirmation. Rather, they declared those who spoke about such matters to be innovators and went to great lengths to censure them. — Ibn Taymiyyah

Dhikr (remembrance of Allah) is to the heart as water is to a fish; see what happens to a fish when it is taken out of water — Ibn Taymiyyah

Avoiding the temptation to sin and being patient upon that, is greater than being patient whilst being afflicted with trials. — Ibn Taymiyyah

Through patience and certainty, leadership in the religion is obtained. — Ibn Taymiyyah

Allah guards the justice loving government, even if it is the government of non-Muslims, and destroys the tyrant government, even if it is the government of Muslims. — Ibn Taymiyyah

Don't depend too much on anyone in this world because even your own shadow leaves you when you are in darkness. — Ibn Taymiyyah

Whoever considers the Attributes of Allaah to be like the attributes of the creation, such that the Istawaa of Allaah is like the ascending of the creation, or His Descending (Nuzool) is like the descending of the creation or other than that, then he is a deviated innovator. — Ibn Taymiyyah

Sins cause harm and repentance removes the cause — Ibn Taymiyyah

Men mixing with women is like fire mixing with wood. — Ibn Taymiyyah

The disease that knowledge brings is arrogance, and the disease that worship brings is showing off — Ibn Taymiyyah

The sincere hearts and the pious supplications are soldiers which can never be defeated — Ibn Taymiyyah

The more humble, needy, and subdued you are before Allah, the closer you will be to Him. — Ibn Taymiyyah

What really counts are good endings, not flawed beginnings. — Ibn Taymiyyah

Don't depend too much on anyone ... — Ibn Taymiyyah

Everyone experiences bouts of jealousy; but the dignified person conceals it, while the vulgar one acts upon it — Ibn Taymiyyah

Whatever is not done by the permission of Allah will not happen, and what is not done for the sake of Allah will not benefit or remain. — Ibn Taymiyyah

Guidance is not attained except with knowledge and correct direction is not attained except with patience. — Ibn Taymiyyah

In this world there is a paradise, whoever does not enter it will not enter the Paradise of the Hereafter. — Ibn Taymiyyah

A calamity that makes you turn to Allah is better for you then a blessing which makes you forget the remembrance of Allah — Ibn Taymiyyah

It is strange that a person may find it easy to protect himself from: eating Haraam, oppression and injustice, adultery, theft, drinking khamr (alcoholic drinks), and from unlawful looking, but it is hard for him to restrain the movement of his tongue. How often do we see people who are very cautious about falling into shameful deeds or injustice, but their tongue lashes against the living and the dead and they don't mind it? — Ibn Taymiyyah

What can my enemies do to me? My paradise is in my heart, it is with me wherever I go. To imprison me is to provide me with seclusion. To send me into exile is to send me away in the Path of Allah. And to kill me is to make me a martyr. — Ibn Taymiyyah

Verily, I constantly renew my Islam until this very day, as up to now, I do not consider myself to have ever been a good Muslim. — Ibn Taymiyyah

Perpetually is the servant either the recipient of a blessing from Allaah, in which case he is need of gratitude; or he is the perpetrator of sin, in which case he is in need of repentance; he is always moving from one blessing to another and is always is in need of repentance. — Ibn Taymiyyah

Seek (beneficial) knowledge,
because seeking it for the sake of Allaah is a worship.
And knowing it makes you more God-fearing;
and searching for it is jihad,
teaching it to those who do not know is charity,
reviewing and learning it more is like tasbeeh.
Through knowledge Allaah will be known and worshiped. — Ibn Taymiyyah

The one who is [truly] imprisoned is the one whose heart is imprisoned from Allah and the captivated one is the one whose desires have enslaved him. — Ibn Taymiyyah

The People of the Sunnah are the most knowledgeable of mankind concerning the truth, and the most merciful of the creation towards the rest of creation. — Ibn Taymiyyah