“There are among the narrations many that strongly encourage thanks and remembrance of God at festival times in order to prevent heedlessness from prevailing and deviation into the illicit. Then at such times this may transform the bounties of joy and happiness into thanks (shukr) and make the bounty continue and increase it. For thanks increase bounty and dispel heedlessness.”
– Badiuzzaman Said Nursi- from the Risala-i Nur Collection/The Flashes –
O my Lord! If your mercy is reserved only for those with pure hearts, then where will the sinful find refuge? O my Almighty Allah! If you accept only the pious people, then to whom will the guilty turn in prayer? …. Surely, you are the Most Compassionate.
– Mevlana Rumi rahimahu Llah –
Q: What is a fundamental mistake of man’s?
A: To think that he is alive, when he has merely fallen asleep in life’s waiting-room.
Whenever sorrow comes, be kind to it.
For God has placed a pearl in sorrow’s hand
– Mevlana Rumi rahimahu Llah –
Reciting the Qur’an disciplines the soul in many respects. It teaches man what he is required to do and stirs in him what he needs to purify his soul. Reciting the Qur’an enlightens the heart and reminds it of every proper conduct. In this… way, it aids the other duties of Islam bringing forth their fruits, such as the Prayer, alms-giving, fasting and the pilgrimage. Reciting the Qur’an is more likely to be effective if one ponders over the meanings with humility and contemplation
The Ten Inner Prerequisites of Reciting the Qur’an are:
- Understanding the original meaning of the words in the Qur’an
- Feeling of awe
- Consciousness of the heart
- Pondering over the meanings
- Deep understanding
- Abandoning the barriers of understanding
- The feel that Allah is addressing you
- To respond to the meanings of the words
- To be aware that Allah is witnessing your recitation
- To believe the words of the Qur’an are referring to you
– Imam al-Ghazzali rahimahu Llah –
Of what use is the fast as a means of conquering God’s enemy and abating appetite, if at the time of breaking it one not only makes up for all one has missed during the daytime, but perhaps also indulges in a variety of extra foods? It has become the custom to stock up for Ramadan with all kinds of foodstuffs, so that more is consumed during that time than in the course of several other months put together.
It is well known that the object of fasting is to experience hunger and to check desire, in order to reinforce the soul in piety. If the stomach is starved from early morning till evening, so that its appetite is aroused and its craving intensified, and it is then offered delicacies and allowed to eat its fill, its taste for pleasure is increased and its force exaggerated; passions are activated which would have lain dormant under normal conditions.
– Hujjat’ul-Islam Imam al-Ghazzali (rahimahu Llah) –
Fasting is a hidden form of worship; no one can come to know about your fast until you tell it to others. Allāh sūbhanahu wa ta’ala likes hidden worship, more than any kind of worship.
If we do not get upset whenever we miss an act of virtue or prayer and if we do not feel shame after committing an act of disobedience to Allah then that is a sign of the death of our (spiritual) heart.
— Shaykh Ibn Ata’illah al-Iskandari rahimahu Llah