Al-Arba'in an-Nawawi

Actions are only by intentions, and every person will have only what he intended.

— ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb (RA)

The Hadith of Jibrīl: Islam, Imān, Ihsān, and the signs of the Hour — taught when Jibrīl came in human form to teach the Companions their religion.

— ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb (RA)

Islam is built on five: the testimony that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger, establishing the prayer, paying zakah, hajj to the House, and fasting Ramadan.

— Ibn ‘Umar (RA)

Each of you is gathered in his mother's womb for forty days as a sperm-drop, then a clot for forty, then a morsel for forty — then an angel is sent to breathe the soul into him and is commanded with four matters: his provision, his lifespan, his deeds, and whether he is wretched or blessed.

— Ibn Mas‘ūd (RA)

Whoever introduces into this affair of ours that which is not from it — it is rejected.

— ‘Ā'ishah (RA)

The halal is clear, the haram is clear, and between them are doubtful matters about which many people do not know. Whoever guards against the doubtful preserves his religion and his honour.

— an-Nu‘mān ibn Bashīr (RA)

The religion is sincere counsel (naṣīḥah).

— Tamīm ad-Dārī (RA)

I have been commanded to fight people until they testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establish the prayer, and pay zakāh — and if they do that, their lives and wealth are protected from me except by the right of Islam, and their reckoning is with Allah.

— Ibn ‘Umar (RA)

What I have forbidden you, leave it; what I have commanded you, do as much of it as you can.

— Abu Hurayrah (RA)

Allah is Pure (Ṭayyib) and accepts only what is pure. Then he ﷺ mentioned a man on a long journey, dishevelled, raising his hands to the sky — but his food is haram, his drink is haram, his clothing is haram, and he is nourished by haram. So how can his du‘ā' be answered?

— Abu Hurayrah (RA)

Leave what makes you doubt for what does not make you doubt.

— al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali (RA)

Part of the excellence of a person's Islam is leaving what does not concern him.

— Abu Hurayrah (RA)

None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.

— Anas (RA)

The blood of a Muslim is not lawful except by one of three: the married adulterer, life for life, and the one who abandons his religion and the community.

— Ibn Mas‘ūd (RA)

Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him speak good or remain silent. Let him honour his neighbour. Let him honour his guest.

— Abu Hurayrah (RA)

Do not become angry.

— Abu Hurayrah (RA)

Allah has prescribed iḥsān (excellence) in everything. So if you kill, kill in the best way; if you slaughter, slaughter in the best way — let one of you sharpen his blade and put his slaughtered animal at ease.

— Shaddād ibn Aws (RA)

Fear Allah wherever you are. Follow up an evil deed with a good one — it will erase it. And deal with people with good character.

— Abu Dharr & Mu‘ādh (RA)

O young man, I will teach you words: Guard Allah's commands and He will guard you. Guard Allah's commands and you will find Him before you. When you ask, ask Allah; when you seek help, seek it from Allah.

— Ibn ‘Abbās (RA)

Among the words of the earliest prophethood that have reached people: 'If you have no shame, do as you wish.'

— Abu Mas‘ūd (RA)

Say: 'I believe in Allah,' then be steadfast.

— Sufyān ibn ‘Abdullāh (RA)

A man asked: 'If I pray the obligatory prayers, fast Ramadan, treat the halal as halal and the haram as haram, and add nothing more — will I enter Paradise?' He ﷺ said: 'Yes.'

— Jābir (RA)

Purification is half of faith. 'Alhamdulillāh' fills the scales. 'Subḥān Allāh' and 'Alhamdulillāh' fill what is between the heavens and the earth. Ṣalāh is light. Ṣadaqah is proof. Patience is illumination. The Qur'an is a proof for you or against you. Every person sets out — selling himself, freeing himself or destroying himself.

— Abu Mālik al-Ash‘arī (RA)

O My servants, I have forbidden injustice for Myself and made it forbidden between you — so do not wrong one another. O My servants, all of you are hungry except whom I feed; ask Me for food, I will feed you. O My servants, all of you are guilty except whom I forgive; ask Me, I will forgive you.

— Abu Dharr (RA)

The wealthy have taken away all the rewards. They pray as we pray, fast as we fast, and give in charity from their excess wealth. He ﷺ said: 'Has Allah not given you what you can give in charity? Every tasbīḥ is charity, every takbīr is charity, every taḥmīd is charity, every tahlīl is charity, enjoining good is charity, forbidding evil is charity, and even in your private intimacy with your spouse there is charity.'

— Abu Dharr (RA)

Every joint of the human body must give charity each day the sun rises. Reconciling between two is charity, helping a man onto his mount is charity, a good word is charity, every step toward prayer is charity, removing harm from the road is charity.

— Abu Hurayrah (RA)

Righteousness is good character. Sin is what wavers in your chest and you would dislike for people to discover.

— an-Nawwās ibn Sam‘ān (RA)

I advise you with taqwā of Allah, and hearing and obeying — even if a slave is appointed over you. Whoever among you lives long will see much disagreement, so cling to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly-guided caliphs after me. Bite onto it with your molar teeth. And beware of newly invented matters — for every innovation is misguidance.

— al-‘Irbāḍ ibn Sāriyah (RA)

A man asked: 'Tell me of an act that will take me to Paradise and away from Hell.' He ﷺ said: 'You have asked about a great matter — but it is easy for whom Allah makes it easy: worship Allah and associate nothing with Him, establish ṣalāh, give zakāh, fast Ramadan, and perform hajj to the House.' Then: 'Shall I tell you of the head of the matter, its pillar, and its peak? The head: Islam. The pillar: prayer. The peak: jihad.' Then: 'Shall I tell you the controller of all of that?' He took hold of his tongue and said: 'Restrain this.'

— Mu‘ādh (RA)

Allah has prescribed obligations — so do not neglect them. He set limits — so do not exceed them. He forbade things — so do not violate them. And He was silent on things, out of mercy, not forgetfulness — so do not search them out.

— Abu Tha‘labah (RA)

A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: 'Show me a deed that, if I do it, Allah will love me and people will love me.' He said: 'Be detached from the dunyā — Allah will love you. Be detached from what people have — people will love you.'

— Sahl ibn Sa‘d (RA)

There is no causing harm, nor reciprocating harm.

— Abu Sa‘īd (RA)

Proof is upon the claimant, and the oath is upon the denier.

— Ibn ‘Abbās (RA)

Whoever sees an evil among you, let him change it with his hand. If he is unable, then with his tongue. If he is unable, then with his heart — and that is the weakest of faith.

— Abu Sa‘īd (RA)

Do not envy one another, do not bid against one another inflating prices, do not hate one another, do not turn your backs on one another, do not undercut one another's transactions — and be servants of Allah, brothers. The Muslim is the brother of the Muslim — he does not wrong him, abandon him, or look down on him.

— Abu Hurayrah (RA)

Whoever relieves a believer of a worldly distress, Allah will relieve him of a distress on the Day of Judgement. Whoever conceals a believer's faults, Allah will conceal his faults in this world and the next. Allah is in the help of the servant as long as the servant is in the help of his brother.

— Abu Hurayrah (RA)

Allah has written down good and bad deeds: whoever intends a good deed but does not do it, Allah writes it as one full good deed; if he does it, Allah writes it as ten to seven hundred and beyond. Whoever intends an evil deed but does not do it, Allah writes it as a full good deed for him; if he does it, Allah writes it as one evil deed.

— Ibn ‘Abbās (RA)

Allah said: 'Whoever shows enmity to a walī of Mine, I have declared war on him. My servant draws nearer to Me with nothing more beloved than what I have made obligatory upon him. He continues to draw near with voluntary deeds until I love him. When I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks. If he asks Me, I will give him; if he seeks refuge in Me, I will protect him.'

— Abu Hurayrah (RA)

Allah has overlooked for my Ummah: mistakes, forgetfulness, and what they are forced to do.

— Ibn ‘Abbās (RA)

Be in the dunyā as a stranger or a passer-by. — Ibn ‘Umar said: When you reach evening, do not expect morning; when you reach morning, do not expect evening. Take from your health for your sickness, and from your life for your death.

— Ibn ‘Umar (RA)