What's Up With Those Crazy Muslims. Irfan Alli
them as much as I continue to do:
“He who remembers his Lord and he who does not are as different from each other as the living and the dead.” (Abu Musa Al-Ashari in Bukhari and Muslim)
“When you are three together, two (of you) must not converse privately without the third until you are in the company of other people, because it makes the third sad.” (Abdullah ibn Mas’ud in Bukhari and Muslim)
“None of you should be alone with a woman unless you are her father, her husband or her brother.” (Ibn Abbas in Bukhari and Muslim)
“Among the believers who show most perfect faith are those who have the best disposition and are kindest to their families.” (Aisha in Tirmidhi)
“Four traits make anyone who possesses them a hypocrite, and anyone who possesses one of them possesses a part of hypocrisy till he abandons it: When he is trusted, he betrays his trust; when he speaks, he lies; when he makes a covenant, he acts treacherously; and when he quarrels, he abuses.” (Abdullah ibn Amr in Bukhari and Muslim)
“Charity is due upon every limb of a human being on each day that the sun rises. To act justly between two (people) is a charity. To help a man mount his riding beast, or to load his provisions on it is a charity. A good word is a charity. Every step towards prayer is charity. Removing from the road what causes harm is a charity.” (Abu Huraira in Bukhari and Muslim)
“When one commits fornication he is not a believer, when one steals he is not a believer, when one drinks intoxicants he is not a believer, when one takes plunder on account of which men raise their eyes at him he is not a believer, and when one of you defrauds he is not a believer; so beware, beware!” (Abu Huraira in Bukhari and Muslim)
“A man asked what faith was, to which the Prophet (peace be upon him) replied, “When your good deed pleases you and your evil deed grieves you, you are a believer.” He then asked what was sin and received the reply, “When a thing disturbs (the peace of) your heart, give it up.” (Abu Amama in Ahmad)
“The one who will be dearest to God and nearest to Him on the Day of Resurrection is a just leader, and the one who will be most hateful to God on the Day of Resurrection and will receive the severest punishment will be a tyrannical leader.” (Abu Sa’id in Tirmidhi)
“If anyone protects the propriety of what is between his jaws and what is between his legs (i.e. he should not commit fornication or adultery), I can assure him paradise.” (Sahl ibn Sa’d in Bukhari)
“The major sins are associating other objects of worship with God, disobedience to parents, murder, and giving false witness.” (Abdullah ibn Amr in Bukhari and Muslim)
“Take advantage of five things before five others overtake you: your youth before you grow old; your health before you fall sick; your money before you become poor; your leisure before you become busy; and your life before you die.” (Amr ibn Maymum in Tirmidhi)
“It is better for a man to give a small amount of money as charity during his lifetime than to give a hundred times more at the time of his death.” (Abu Sa’id al-Khudri in Abu Dawud)
To read more sayings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) see my eBook:
101 SELECTED SAYINGS OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD (peace be upon him)
CAN YOU TELL ME MORE ABOUT PROPHET MUHAMMAD?
Muslims consider Muhammad (peace be upon him) to be God’s last prophet and Messenger to mankind. We do not worship him, nor do we pray to God through Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Muslims believe the same angel Gabriel who came to Prophets Abraham, Moses and Jesus also came to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon them all). Muslims also believe that God, through the angel Gabriel, revealed the Quran to Muhammad (peace be upon him). This was done over a period of twenty-three years. Muslims consider the Quran to be God's last revelation to mankind and Muhammad (peace be upon him) is God’s last prophet and messenger to mankind. Since one in every five persons on earth is a Muslim, the Quran enlightens and guides over one and a half billion people around the world.
Muhammad (peace be upon him) lived during the sixth and seventh centuries. He was born in Arabia in the year 570 of the Christian era. He was called to prophet hood at the age of 40 and died at the age of 63. The Quran, which we have referred to throughout this book, was revealed to him in small amounts over 23 years. In this short span of 23 years he was able to change the whole of the Arabian Peninsula from drunkenness, idol-worship and paganism to the worship of one God; from moral decay to moral excellence; from tribal wars to solidarity and purpose; from the exploitation of women and killing of female infants to respect for women. He did all this by applying the Quran. Human history had never seen such a comprehensive change in a society before or since.
To this day the details of his private and public utterances have been preserved for all to read and hear. Out of a barren desert a civilization grew that was to impact the ways of Africa, Asia and Europe. Today Muslims are in every country of the world and Islam is the fastest growing religion.
The Encyclopedia Britannica calls him “the most successful of all religious personalities of the world.” Others had this to say:
“My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world’s most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels.” (From: The 100 - A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History by Michael H. Hart.)
“People like Pasteur and Salk are leaders in the first sense. People like Ghandi and Confucius, on one hand, and Alexander, Caesar and Hitler on the other, are leaders in the second and perhaps the third sense. Jesus and Buddha belong in the third category alone. Perhaps the greatest leader of all times was Mohammed, who combined all three functions. To a lesser degree Moses did the same.” (Professor Jules Masserman)
“Philosopher, Orator, Apostle, Legislator, Warrior, Conqueror of ideas, Restorer of rational beliefs, of a cult without images; the founder of twenty-terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is Muhammad. As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater than he?” (From: Historie de la Turquie by Alphonse de LaMartine)
HOW DOES ISLAM VIEW OTHER PROPHETS?
Muslims believe that Adam (peace be upon him) was the first prophet and Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the last prophet, and in between the two of them there were numerous prophets sent. Here are some names:
“We have sent you inspiration, as We sent it to Noah and the Messengers after him: We sent inspiration to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon, and to David We gave the Psalms.” (Quran 4:163)
Since all prophets invited to the same one God, Muslims see them as all inviting to the same religion as well, the religion of Islam. As mentioned earlier, Islam is an attributive title. It literally means peace, submission, and obedience. In the religious sense, Islam means: The way to peace and salvation through submission to the will of God and by obedience to His laws. A person who chooses this path is called a Muslim. The Quran therefore describes the prophets and their followers as Muslims.
In the Quran Abraham, Moses, and Jesus (peace be upon them) are mentioned as praying to God to make them Muslims, or instructing their people to be Muslims. Here is what God reveals in the Quran on:
ABRAHAM (peace be upon him)
Abraham (peace be upon him) prayed:
“Our Lord! Make of us Muslims, bowing to Your (Will), and of our progeny a people Muslim, bowing to Your (Will); and show us our places for the celebration of (due) rites; and turn to us (in mercy); for you are the Oft-Relenting, Most Merciful.” (Quran 2:128)
MOSES