The Content of Character: Ethical Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad
Collected by Shaykh Al-Amin Mazrui
Sarah Ali gave me this book as an expression of gratitude for writing her a letter of recommendation. We will discuss it in a couple of days when next we meet at Blackberry Café. The following is a sample of Islamic perennial wisdom that caught my attention…
— Monday 11 July 2005
The Messenger of God said, “Keep God in mind wherever you are; follow a wrong with a right that offsets it; and treat people courteously.”
The Messenger of God said, “Love for humanity what you love for yourself.”
The Messenger of God said, “Should you become eager to mention another’s faults, recall your own.”
The Messenger of God said, “Should you wish to act, ponder well the consequences. If good, carry on; if not, desist.”
The Messenger of God said, “If your good deeds delight you and your foul deeds distress you, you are a believer.”
The Messenger of God said, “Abandon desire for this world, and God will love you. Abandon desire for others’ goods, and people will love you.”
The Messenger of God said, “Pursue knowledge even to China, for its pursuance is the sacred duty of every Muslim.”
The Messenger of God said, “The most virtuous behavior is to engage those who sever relations, to give to those who withhold from you, and to forgive those who wrong you.”
The Messenger of God said, “The best charity a Muslim practices is acquiring some knowledge and teaching it to his brother.”
The Messenger of God said, “The majority of man’s sins emanate from his tongue.”
The Messenger of God said, “God does not regard your externals or your riches but rather your hearts and your deeds.”
The Messenger of God said, “God loves a servant who when performing a task does so skillfully.”
The Messenger of God said, “To acquire some useful knowledge is of greater merit than to perform a hundred devotional prayers voluntarily.”
The Messenger of God said, “He who directs others to a good deed is as the one who did it; and, assuredly, God loves the act of aiding the distressed.”
The Messenger of God said, “One beneficial scholar is better than a thousand worshipful devotees.”
The Messenger of God said, “A person’s spiritual practice is only as good as that of his close friends; so consider well whom you befriend.”
The Messenger of God said, “Gentleness never accompanies anything without enhancing it, nor is it ever removed from anything without demeaning it.”
The Messenger of God said, “Beautiful Islam entails minding one’s own business.”
