Quotes & Sayings About Hadith

Islam was, at least during its first centuries, the religion of reasoning, responsible individuals capable of telling what was true from what was false as long as they were well equipped to do so, as long as they possessed the tools of knowledge - specifically, the collections of Hadith. The fact that, over the course of centuries, we have seen believers who criticize and judge replaced by muzzled, censored, obedient, and grateful Muslims in no way detracts from this fundamental dimension of Islam. — Fatema Mernissi

According to a hadith, the tongue is the "interpreter of the heart." Hypocrisy is wretched because the hypocrite says with his tongue what is not in his heart. He wrongs his tongue and oppresses his heart. But if the heart is sound, the condition of the tongue follows suit. We are commanded to be upright in our speech, which is a gauge of the heart's state. According to a prophetic tradition, each morning, when the limbs and organs awaken in the spiritual world, they shudder and say to the tongue, "Fear God concerning us! For if you are upright, then we are upright; and if you deviate, we too deviate." Engaging in the regular remembrance of God (dhikr) safeguards the tongue and replaces idle talk with words and phrases that raise one in honor. The tongue is essential in developing courtesy with God, which is the whole point of existence. — Hamza Yusuf

Knowledge is not to be taken from four types of people: a foolish person who openly acts foolish, even if he reports the most narrations; an adherent of bid'ah who calls to his desires; a person who lies, even if I don't accuse him of lying in hadith; and a righteous pious worshiper who does not accurately retain what he narrates. — Malik Ibn Anas

Although the word Jihad standing by itself means "struggle," what Westerners need to focus on when reading the Hadith regarding Mohammed's Jihad is similar to the focus needed when reading Mein Kampf (My Struggle) by Adolph Hitler. — Walid Shoebat

Teaching:
One hour's teaching is better than a whole night of prayer.
Saying of the Prophet — Idries Shah

Don't waste water even if you were at a running stream — Anonymous

Saying of the Prophet
Objects
It is your attachment to objects which make you blind and deaf. — Idries Shah

A hadith in Sahih Muslim says: "Allah does not look at your appearance or your wealth but at your hearts and deeds. (no. 2654)"

These verses put the whole issue of dress into a different perspective: one that reminds believers not to forget that what counts for Allah is their piety. This message is a strong antidote to capitalism's materialist culture that places success firmly in the material world, and that teaches people to be a slave to their desires, and to make pleasure their end goal ("Obey Your Thirst" proclaims a soft-drink commercial). Teenagers in the West can be killed for their Nike shoes, an indication of just how far capitalism has corrupted the human soul. — Katherine Bullock

If you see the Black Banners coming from Khurasan, go to them immediately, even if you must crawl over ice, because indeed amongst them is the Caliph, Al Mahdi. Then from the direction of the East will emerge black flags. FROM THE HADITH — Charles H. Dyer

Isnad: The chain of transmission for a particular hadith Sahih Sittah: The six books of hadith that Sunni Muslims consider most authentic — Nabeel Qureshi

The Koran is compared wrongly to the Bible. The Koran is only 14% of Islam's sacred texts and does not contain nearly enough information to tell someone how to be a Muslim. The Muslim Bible would be the Koran, the Sira and the Hadith. Measured by the textual doctrine, Islam is 86% Mohammed and 14% Allah. — Bill Warner

Seek knowledge from the Cradle to the Grave — Anonymous

Saying of the Prophet
Some behaviour
I am like a man who has lighted a fire, and all the creeping things have rushed to burn themselves in it. — Idries Shah

Mohammed had Sex with a Dead Woman Volume 13 Kanz Al-Ummal (the treasure of deeds) By Ali Bin Husam Ad-Din Al-Mufqi Al-Hindi, Published by Mu'assasa Ar-Risala. Beirut 1989. Pages 609-610 Hadith Numbers 37609-37611 Shirazi — Gary Cass

Saying of the Prophet
Accusations
Anyone reviling a brother for a sin will not himself die before committing it. — Idries Shah

Saying of the Prophet
Death
Die before your death. — Idries Shah

Saying of the Prophet
Desire
Desire not the world, and God will love you. Desire not what others have, and they will love you. — Idries Shah

The Muslim heaven features prominently in the Quran, Arabic poetries and Hadith. The Jewish heaven, though, is still a mystery; it's mystic. — Joshua Cohen

Like the pioneering Muslim scientists, Al Bukhari insisted on an empirical, organized method in the science of fiqh and hadith — Firas Alkhateeb

I read, read enormously on all different fields of Islamic thought, from philosophy to Islamic literature, poetry, exegeses, knowledge of the Hadith, the teachings of the prophet. That's how I trained myself. And then I was appointed imam by a Sufi master from Istanbul, Turkey. — Feisal Abdul Rauf

Saying of the Prophet
Practice
Who are the learned? Those who put into practice what they know. — Idries Shah

Live in this world as if you are a stranger or a wayfarer — Anonymous

But even the most accurate ones are the word of Muhammad , not the word of Allah. We must not equate the hadith to the Quran. — Nabeel Qureshi

Saying of the Prophet.
Lies, promises, trust
He is not of mine who lies, breaks a promise or fails in his trust. — Idries Shah

Of course, a single verse of the Holy Qur'an or a hadith moves the faithful to good actions, but volumes of books would not move an unwilling person who is like an ass carrying a load of books. — Muhammad Zakariyya Kandhalvi

Muhammad says, 'Love of one's country is a part of the faith.' But don't take that literally! Your real 'country' is where you're heading, not where you are. Don't misread that hadith. — Rumi

Ka'b ibn Malik reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Two hungry wolves loose among sheep do not cause as much damage as that caused to a man's deen by his greed for money and reputation. — Muhammad Al-Tirmidhi

Saying of the Prophet
Helping others
I order you to assist any oppressed person, whether he is a Muslim or not. — Idries Shah

Death was sweetened for the martyrs by the promise of 72 virgins waiting in paradise. She had researched the 72 virgins. The number wasn't actually in the Quran but in the Hadith 2687, collected in the Book of Sunan. The Quran, in Sura 56, was vague on the point. And theirs shall be the dark-eyed houris, chaste as hidden pearls ... A new analysis translated houris from the Aramaic dialect Syriac as "white raisins", which put everything in a very different light. — Leslie Cockburn

In Pakistan both branches [of the Ahmadis] fell to persecutions, sanction by the state in 1984 with General Zia Ul-Haq's Ordinance XX, which forbade Ahmadis of either branch from calling themselves Muslims, their religion Islam, or their temples mosques. Under penalty of law, they could not perform the call to pryaer, pray in the manner of Muslims, quote the Qur'an or hadith, greet each other with "as-salamu alaikum," or receite the shahadah ... In the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, it was illegal for some people to say, "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his Messenger. — Michael Muhammad Knight

Saying of the Prophet
Obligation to Learn
The pursuit of knowledge is obligatory on every Muslim. — Idries Shah

Treat this world as I do, like a wayfarer; like a horseman who stops in the shade of a tree for a time, and then moves on. — Idries Shah

The strongest man is the one who, when he gets angry and his face reddens and his hackles rise, is able to defeat his anger.
(Reported by Imaam Ahmad, 5/367, and classified as hasan in Saheeh al-Jaami', 3859) — Anonymous

The Quran says nothing about the veil, except for an injunction to veil the bosom, which is obvious. As for the face, Muhammad's wife Khadijeh never wore the veil, nor did the other wives of the Prophet after Khadijeh died. [ ... ] The ulema have twisted the Quran with their hadith, always twisting it toward those in power, until the message Muhammad laid out so clearly, straight from God, has been reversed, and good Muslim women are made like slaves again, or worse. — Kim Stanley Robinson

Saying of the Prophet
Truth
Speaking the truth to the unjust is the best of holy wars. — Idries Shah

Whoever treads a path seeking knowledge, Allah will make easy for him the path to Paradise.
(reported by Ibn Majah and others, fulfilling the conditions of Imam al Bukhari and Imam Muslim) — Anonymous

Without the isnad, the hadith was considered worthless. Muslims put less stock into sirah literature than hadith specifically because sirah does not record isnad. — Nabeel Qureshi

Saying of the Prophet
Sleep
Sleep is the brother of death. — Idries Shah

It's time that Islam should be redefined by the world based upon, the goodness of all the peace-loving Muslims, instead of the theoretical teachings of some books, be it Quran or the Hadith. — Abhijit Naskar

The best person is the one who benefits all human beings. — Anonymous

A hadith states, "Anxiety is half of aging." Another hadith states, "Righteousness will lengthen your life. — Hamza Yusuf

Saying of the Prophet
Struggle
The holy warrior is he who struggles with himself. — Idries Shah

Abdur Rab offers a comprehensive vision of Islam using the Quran as his sole religious textual source. He intentionally avoids the hadith literature, which he believes, and argues, has done much damage to the message of the Quran. His work provides many thought-provoking insights and should be a significant contribution to the 'Quran only' movement in modern Islam. — Jeffrey Lang

When you see a person who has been given more than you in money and beauty, then look to those who have been given less. — Anonymous

Saying of the Prophet
The Tongue
A man slips with his tongue more than with his feet. — Idries Shah

Saying of the Prophet
Understanding
Speak to everyone in accordance with his degree of understanding. — Idries Shah

Saying of the Prophet
Food
Nobody has eaten better food than that won by his own labour. — Idries Shah

Ibn Mas'ud reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Shall I tell you who is unlawful for the Fire - or the one for whom the Fire is unlawful? It is unlawful for everyone who is easy, flexible, modest and uncomplicated. — Muhammad Al-Tirmidhi

Saying of the Prophet
Humility
Humility and courtesy are themselves a part of piety. — Idries Shah

Saying of the Prophet
Monkishness
No monkery in Islam. — Idries Shah

Bistami watched his fellow scholars around the fire in the evenings, intent on a point of doctrine, or the questionable isnad of a hadith, and what that meant, arguing with exaggerated punctilio and little debater's jokes and flourishes, while a pot of thick hot coffee was poured with solemn attention into little glazed clay cups, all eyes gleaming with firelight and pleasure in the argument; and he thought, these are the Muslims who make Islam good. — Kim Stanley Robinson

We need in the "Ummah" to move away from the normative attitudes towards the acceptance of pluralism of the "Ummah", and that pluralism starts from the time of the Prophet himself and "Hadith" (Sayings of the Prophet Mohammad) as well as the Prophet's historical footprints show that in the life time of the Prophet himself he knew that there would be pluralism in the interpretation of the faith"

His Highness The Aga Khan Geneva, Switzerland 2006 — Aga Khan

Saying of the Prophet
THE PEOPLE
It is the people who are God's family.
(Muhammad the Prophet) — Idries Shah

As a legal text, the Qur'an reflects its origins in a tribal or clan-based society, particularly on issues concerning inheritance, male guardianship, the validity of a woman's testimony in court, and polygamy. This is even more obvious in the hadith, the compilation of sayings attributed to the Prophet or documenting his actions. This combination of the Qur'an and the example of Muhammad forms the basis of sharia. The derivation of these legal rules, known as fiqh, is the responsibility of Islamic jurists and takes place on the basis of ijma (consensus). When conflicts of interpretation arise, scholars consult the Qur'an and hadith. — Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: By his good character a believer will attain the degree of one who prays during the night and fasts during the day. — Abu Dawood

It is not merely that we are at war with an otherwise peaceful religion that has been "hijacked" by extremists. We are at war with precisely the vision of life that is prescribed to all Muslims in the Koran, and further elaborated in the literature of the hadith, which recounts the sayings and actions of the Prophet. — Sam Harris

Saying of the Prophet
Tasks
Whoever makes all his tasks one task, God will help him in his other concerns. — Idries Shah

Ya Rabb, I was thinking my position later Hereafter. Could I side with the prince of the women Khadija al-Kubra who struggle with the treasure and his life? Hafsah bint Umar or defended by God when will the divorced because shawwamah (diligent fasting-ed) and qawwamahnyaI (diligent tahajud)? Or with Aisha who has memorized hadith early 3500, I was .... 500 Ehm not yet ... or at Umm Sulaym who shabiroh (patient) or with Asma who take care of him and denounced his son vehicles at rest from jihad ... or with whom huh. Ya Allah, please give them the strength to pursue amaliah worthy ... so I can meet them even conversed with them in your garden Firdaus — Yoyoh Yusroh

Saying of the Prophet
The Judge
A man appointed to be a judge has been killed without a knife. — Idries Shah

But when a faithful Muslim is alone by himself, he is not lonely. As a matter of fact being alone is prized by faithful Muslims. There is a Hadith from Imam Sajjad (A.S.) in which the Imam is quoted as saying: 'If all between the East and West were to die, I would not feel lonely as long as the Qur'an was with me. — Mohammad Ali Shomali

In a proper Islamic University, fard 'ain knowledge which represents the permanent intellectual and spiritual needs of the human soul
should form the core curriculum, and should be made obligatory to all students. Fard kifayah knowledge
reflecting societal needs and global trends
is not obligatory to all, but must be mastered by and adequate number of Muslims to ensure the proper development of the Community and to safeguard its proper place in world affairs. The fard 'ain knowledge shall include knowledge of the traditional Islamic sciences such as the Arabic language, metaphysics, the Qur'an and Hadith, ethics, the shari'ah sciences, and the history of Islam. Consonant with our position that these fard 'ain sciences are not static but dynamic, they should be continuously studied, analyzed, and applied in relation to the fard kifayah sciences; i.e. the fields of their specialization. — Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud