The Journey to Allah Quotes

“Virtue is not attained by doing a great deal of outward deeds, rather it is attained by deeds being sincere for Allah and being correct in that they are done in accordance to the Sunnah, and through gnosis of the heart and its actions. Whoever has more knowledge of Allah, His religion, and His ordinances, and has more fear, hope, and love for him is better than one who has not attained his level, even if the latter do more outward deeds. This understanding is derived from the hadith of ‘A’ishah, “Be firm, steadfast, and balanced upon which have glad tidings for indeed actions alone will not cause one to enter Paradise. The most beloved deeds to Allah are those that are done continuously and persistently, even if they be few.”
― ابن رجب الحنبلي, The Journey to Allah

“Ibn Mas‘ud said to his companions, ‘You fast and pray more than the Companions of Muhammad (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) but they were better than you.’ They asked, ‘How so?’ He replied, ‘They were more abstinent of this world than you and more desirous of the Hereafter.’ [Abu Nu‘aym, vol. 1, p. 136]”
― ابن رجب الحنبلي, The Journey to Allah

“Virtue is not attained by doing a great deal of outward deeds, rather it is attained by deeds being sincere for Allah and being correct in that they are done in accordance to the Sunnah, and through gnosis of the heart and its actions. Whoever has more knowledge of Allah, His religion, and His ordinances, and has more fear, hope, and love for him is better than one who has not attained his level, even if the latter do more outward deeds. This understanding is derived from the hadith of ‘A’ishah, “Be firm, steadfast, and balanced upon which have glad tidings for indeed actions alone will not cause one to enter Paradise. The most beloved deeds to Allah are those that are done continuously and persistently, even if they be few.” Therefore”
― ابن رجب الحنبلي, The Journey to Allah

“Shibli said, ‘Whoever holds fast to this world will be burned by its blaze until he becomes ashes blown about by the wind. Whoever holds on to the Hereafter will be burned by its light such that he becomes pure gold of the highest quality and is benefited from. Whoever holds on to Allah will be burned by the light of Tawhid and will become a jewel that is beyond value.”
― ابن رجب الحنبلي, The Journey to Allah

“Tawus said, ‘I cannot imagine that someone would sleep during the last part of the night!’ [ibn al-Jawzi, vol. 2, p. 285;”
― ابن رجب الحنبلي, The Journey to Allah

“Remembrance after Fajr is more beloved than freeing four slaves and remembrance after ‘Asr is better than freeing eight slaves.” [Ahmad #22185-22254]”
― ابن رجب الحنبلي, The Journey to Allah

“Ibn ‘Umar reports that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said, “Son of Adam, remember me for an hour in the beginning of the day and an hour at the end and I will forgive you your sins committed between them save any major sins for which you must repent.” [Abu Nu‘aym, vol. 8, p. 213]”
― ابن رجب الحنبلي, The Journey to Allah

“Whoever has the intention of waking up to pray by night but is overcome by sleep will have the reward of the night prayer recorded for him and that sleep of his would be a charity from Allah. [Abu Dawud #1314 and ibn Majah #1344]”
― ابن رجب الحنبلي, The Journey to Allah

“the one who is eating and grateful has the reward of the one who is patiently fasting.” [Tirmidhi #2486 and Ibn Majah #1765 ]”
― ابن رجب الحنبلي, The Journey to Allah

“It is for this reason that some of the Salaf said, ‘Abu Bakr did not outstrip you by virtue of much fasting or prayer, but rather because of something that had taken root in his heart.’ [Muslim #867/2005] Some of them said, ‘What was in the heart of Abu Bakr (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) was the love of Allah and sincerity to His servants.”
― ابن رجب الحنبلي, The Journey to Allah

“Whoever has more knowledge of Allah, His religion, and His ordinances, and has more fear, hope, and love for him is better than one who has not attained his level, even if the latter do more outward deeds. This understanding is derived from the hadith of ‘A’ishah, “Be firm, steadfast, and balanced upon which have glad tidings for indeed actions alone will not cause one to enter Paradise. The most beloved deeds to Allah are those that are done continuously and persistently, even if they be few.” Therefore he ordered us to take a middle path in deeds and to add to this knowledge of the most beloved deeds to Allah, and he informed us that deeds alone will not cause one entry into Paradise.”
― ابن رجب الحنبلي, The Journey to Allah

“Virtue is not attained by doing a great deal of outward deeds, rather it is attained by deeds being sincere for Allah and being correct in that they are done in accordance to the Sunnah, and through gnosis of the heart and its actions.”
― ابن رجب الحنبلي, The Journey to Allah

“Ahmad records on the authority of Buraydah (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) who said, ‘I went out only to see the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), so I joined him. We saw a man in front of us praying many prayers and he (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) asked, “Do you think he is showing off?” I said, “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He released his hand from mine and joined both his hands together, lowering and raising them saying, “Stick to a middle path for whoever makes this religion difficult will find that it overwhelms him.”’ [Ahmad #19786,-22963]”
― ابن رجب الحنبلي, The Journey to Allah

“My sins, were I but to ponder them, are copious. But greater yet is my Lord’s forgiveness: In my righteous deeds lies not my expectation, But in the mercy of Allah have I anticipation.”
― ابن رجب الحنبلي, The Journey to Allah

“Abu Sulayman would say, ‘How can an intelligent person be amazed with his deeds? Deeds are one of Allah’s blessings, as such it is upon him to show gratitude and to show humility. It is only the Qadariyyah who are amazed at their deeds!’ [Abu Nu‘aym, vol. 8, p. 155 #13896] i.e. those who do not believe that the actions of the servant are created by Allah, Mighty and Magnificent.”
― ابن رجب الحنبلي, The Journey to Allah

“Wahb ibn al-Ward, when asked about the reward of a particular deed, said, ‘Ask not about its reward, but ask about the gratitude due upon one who was guided to it.’ [Abu Nu‘aym, vol. 8, p. 155]”
― ابن رجب الحنبلي, The Journey to Allah

“Hakim records on the authority of Jabir that the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said that Jibril said, “A servant worshipped Allah on the top of a mountain, in the middle of an ocean, for five hundred years. Then he asked his Lord to let him die in the state of prostration. We used to pass by him each time we would descend and ascend and we would find written in the (pre-eternal knowledge) that he would be resurrected on the Day of Judgment and would stand before Allah, Mighty and Magnificent. The Lord would say, ‘Enter My servant into Paradise by virtue of My mercy.’ The servant will say, ‘My Lord, rather by virtue of my deeds!’ This will happen three times, then Allah will say to His angels, ‘Weigh my favours against his deeds,’ and they will find that the blessing of sight alone takes up all the deeds he did during his five hundred years of worship, with the other bodily blessings still remaining. He will say, ‘Enter My servant into the Fire!’ He will be dragged towards the Fire and will cry out, ‘Enter me into Paradise by virtue of Your mercy! Enter me into Paradise by virtue of Your mercy!’ Thereupon he shall enter Paradise.” Jibril went on to say, “Muhammad, things only happen by the mercy of Allah.” [Hakim #7637]”
― ابن رجب الحنبلي, The Journey to Allah

“He also records that Wahb ibn Munabbih said, ‘A servant worshipped Allah for fifty years. Allah inspired him with the words, “I have forgiven you.” The servant asked, “Lord, what have you to forgive, I have committed no sin!” Thereupon Allah ordered a vein in his neck to throb painfully such that he could not pray or sleep. After a while it was cured and an angel came to him, and to him he complained about the vein. The angel said to him, “Your Lord, Mighty and Magnificent says: your worship for the last fifty years equates to the soothing of that vein.”’ [Abu Nu‘aym, vol. 4, p. 70 #4784; and ibn Abi al-Dunya #148]”
― ابن رجب الحنبلي, The Journey to Allah

“Abdu’l-‘Aziz ibn Abu Rawwad said, ‘Allah inspired Dawud (‘alayhis-salam) saying, “Dawud, give glad tidings to the sinners and warn those who give in charity.” Surprised, Dawud said, “My Lord, why should I give glad tidings to the sinners and warn those who give in charity?” He replied, “Give glad tidings to the sinners that there is no sin that I find too grievous to forgive (even shirk if one repents from it) and warn those who give in charity that there is no servant upon whom I mete My justice and judgment except that he is destroyed.”’ [Abu Nu‘aym, vol. 8, p. 211 #11906]”
― ابن رجب الحنبلي, The Journey to Allah

“Yahya ibn Mu‘adh said, ‘When He extends His grace, not a single evil deed remains for that person! When His justice is brought forth, not a single good deed remains for that person.’ [Abu Nu‘aym, vol. 10, p. 69 #14593]”
― ابن رجب الحنبلي, The Journey to Allah

“Ibn Mas‘ud (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) said, while describing good deeds, ‘If one is an ally (wali) of Allah, and there remain an atoms weight of good [after the mutual recompense], Allah would increase this manifold such that he enter Paradise through it [4].”
― ابن رجب الحنبلي, The Journey to Allah

“It is with this overall meaning that some of the Salaf said, ‘When a servant commits a sin and says, “My Lord, You decreed this for me!” His Lord will say, “You are the one who sinned and disobeyed Me!” Now if the servant says, “My Lord, I erred, committed a sin, and wrought evil,” Allah will respond by saying, “I decreed this upon you and I will forgive you.”
― ابن رجب الحنبلي, The Journey to Allah