Muhammad Quotes

“- The Azan story -

The five daily ritual prayers were regularly performed in congregation, and when the time for each prayer came the people would assemble at the site where the Mosque was being built. Everyone judged of the time by the position of the sun in the sky, or by the first signs of its light on the eastern horizon or by the dimming of its glow in the west after sunset; but opinions could differ, and the Prophet felt the need for a means of summoning the people to prayer when the right time had come. At first he thought of appointing a man to blow a horn like that of the Jews, but later he decided on a wooden clapper, ndqiis, such as the Oriental Christians used at that time, and two pieces of wood were fashioned together for that purpose. But they were never destined to be used; for one night a man of Khazraj, 'Abd Allah ibn Zayd, who had been at the Second 'Aqabah, had a dream whieh the next day he recounted to the Prophet: "There passed by me a man wearing two green garments and he carried in his hand a ndqiis, so I said unto him: "0 slave of God, wilt thou sell me that naqusi" "What wilt thou do with it?" he said. "We will summon the people to prayer with it," I answered. "Shall I not show thee a better way?" he said. "What way is that?" I asked, and he answered: "That thou shouldst say: God is most Great, Alldhu Akbar." The man in green repeated this magnification four times, then each of the following twice: I testify that there is no god but God; I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God; come unto the prayer; come unto salvation; God is most Great; and then once again there is no god but God.
The Prophet said that this was a true vision, and he told him to go to Bilal, who had an excellent voice, and teach him the words exactly as he had heard them in his sleep. The highest house in the neighbourhood of the Mosque belonged to a woman of the clan of Najjar, and Bilal would come there before every dawn and would sit on the roof waiting for the daybreak. When he saw the first faint light in the east he would stretch out his arms and say in supplication: "0 God I praise Thee, and I ask Thy Help for Quraysh, that they may accept Thy religion." Then he would stand and utter the call to prayer.”
― Martin Lings, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“In after-years he would tell of an incident that took place at one of their encampments: "We were with the Prophet when a Companion brought in a fledgling that he had caught, and one of the parent birds came and threw itself into the hands of him who had taken its young. I saw men's faces full of wonderment, and the Prophet said: 'Do ye wonder at this bird? Ye have taken its young, and it hath thrown itself down in merciful tenderness unto its young. Yet I swear by God, Your Lord is more merciful unto you than is this bird unto its fledgling. And he told the man to put back the young bird where he had found it.

He also said: "God hath a hundred mercies,and one of them hath He sent down amongst jinn and men and cattle and beasts of prey. Thereby they are kind and merciful unto one another, and thereby the wild creature inclineth in tenderness unto her offspring. And ninety-nine mercies hath God reserved unto Himself, that therewith He may show mercy unto His slaves on the day of the Resurrection.”
― Martin Lings, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“whereas the Arabs were in favour of the man but against the message, the Jews were in favour of the message but against the man. For how could God send a Prophet who was not one of the chosen people? None the less, when the pilgrims brought news of the Prophet to Yathrib, the Jews were interested despite themselves and eagerly questioned them for more details; and when the Arabs of the oasis sensed this eagerness, and when they saw how the monotheistic nature of the message increased the interest of the rabbis tenfold, they could not fail to be impressed, as were the bearers of the tidings themselves.”
― Martin Lings, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“A’ishah knew well that she could not have the Prophet for herself alone. She was one woman, and he was as twenty men. The revelation had said of him: ‘Verily of an immense magnitude is thy nature.’ It was as if he were a whole world in himself, comparable to the outer world and in some ways mysteriously one with it. She had often noticed that if there was a roll of thunder, even in the distance, his face would change colour; the sound of a powerful gust of wind would likewise visibly move him; and on at least one occasion when there was a downpour of rain he bared his head and shoulders and breast and went out into the open so that he might share the delight of the earth in receiving the bounty of heaven directly upon his skin.”
― Martin Lings, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“Few of the Arabs could read, but beauty of speech was a virtue which all Arab parents desired for their children. A man's worth was largely assessed by his eloquence, and the crown of eloquence was poetry.”
― Martin Lings, MUHAMMAD: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“Having delivered his message in this world, he had gone to fulfil it in the Hereafter, where he would continue to be, for them and for others, but without the limitations of life on earth, the Key of Mercy, the key of Paradise, the Spirit of Truth, the Happiness of God.

Verily God and His angels whelm in blessing the prophet. O ye who believe, invoke blessings upon him, and give him greetings of peace.

اللهم صل على سيدنا محمد وعلى آل سيدنا محمد كما صليت على إبراهيم وعلى آل إبراهيم إنك حميد. اللهم بارك على سيدنا محمد وعلى آل سيدنا محمد كما باركت على إبراهيم وعلى آل إبراهيم إنك حميد مجيد.”
― Martin Lings (أبو بكر سراج الدين), Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“Umar said: “One day when we were sitting with the Messenger of God there came unto us a man whose clothes were of exceeding whiteness and whose hair was of exceeding blackness, nor were there any signs of travel upon him, although none of us knew him. He sat down knee unto knee opposite the Prophet, upon whose thighs he placed the palms of his hands, saying: “O Muhammad, tell me what is the surrender (islam)’. The Messenger of God answered him saying: ‘The surrender is to testify that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is God’s Messenger, to perform the prayer, bestow the alms, fast Ramadan and make, if thou canst, the pilgrimage to the Holy House.’ He said: ‘Thou hast spoken truly,’ and we were amazed that having questioned him he should corroborate him. Then he said: ‘Tell me what is faith (iman).’ He answered: ‘To believe in God and His Angels and His Books and His Messengers and the Last Day, and to believe that no good or evil cometh but by His Providence.’ ‘Thou hast spoken truly,’ he said, and then: ‘Tell me what is excellence (ihsan).’ He answered: ‘To worship God as if thou sawest Him, for if thou seest Him not, yet seeth He thee.’ ‘Thou hast spoken truly,’ he said, and then: ‘Tell me of the Hour.’ He answered: ‘The questioned thereof knoweth no better than the questioner.’ He said: ‘Then tell me of its signs.’ He answered: ‘That the slave-girl shall give birth to her mistress; and that those who were but barefoot naked needy herdsmen shall build buildings ever higher and higher.’ Then the stranger went away, and I stayed a while after he had gone; and the Prophet said to me: ‘O ‘Umar, knowest thou the questioner, who he was?’ I said: ‘God and His Messenger know best.’ He said: ‘It was Gabriel. He came unto you to teach you your religion.”
― Martin Lings, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“Degrees of superiority are also implied by the Revelation in its mention of the heart. In speaking of the majority, it says: ‘Not blind are the eyes, but blind are the hearts within the breasts.’ The Prophet on the other hand, like Prophets before him, said that his heart was awake, which means that its eye was open; and the Koran indicates that this possibility can be shared, if only in some measure, by others also, for it sometimes addresses itself directly to ‘those who have hearts.’ It is reported that of Abu Bakr the Prophet said: “He surpasseth you not through much fasting and prayer but he surpasseth you in virtue of something that is fixed in his heart.”
― Martin Lings, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“Fixed settlements were perhaps inevitable, but they were dangerous. Their ancestors' way of life had been the nobler one, the life of tent-dwellers, often on the move. Nobility and freedom were inseparable, and the nomad was free. In the desert a man was concious of being the lord of the space, and in virtue of that lordship he escaped in a sense from the domination of time. By striking camp he sloughed off his yesterdays; and tomorrow seemed less of a fatality if its where as well as its when had yet to come. But the townsman was a prisoner; and to be fixed in one place, - yesterday, today, tomorrow - was to be a target of time, the ruiner of all things. Towns were places of corruption. Sloth and slovenliness lurked in the shadow of their walls, ready to take an edge off a man's alertness and vigilance. Everything decayed there, even language, one of man's most precious possessions.   ”
― Martin Lings, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“among the Arabs a gifted poet was like a multitude of men, for his verses were repeated from mouth to mouth. If good, he was a power for good; if evil, a power for evil,”
― Martin Lings, MUHAMMAD: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“Just as he loved sweet scents and fragrance in general, so also he was exceedingly sensitive to the slightest unpleasantness of odour, especially in the breath, in himself and in others.”
― Martin Lings, MUHAMMAD: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“the Prophet spoke of the pleasures of the senses and of prayer in the same context: "It hath been given me to love perfume and women, and coolness hath been brought to mine eyes in the prayer." 2”
― Martin Lings, MUHAMMAD: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“To Fatimah he said: “Thou art the highest of the women of the people of Paradise, excepting only the Virgin Mary, daughter of ‘Imran.” In prediction of the great part to be played by ‘Ali as one of the chief transmitters of his wisdom to future generations, he said: “I am the city of knowledge, and ‘Ali is its gate”; and he said in general: “My Companions are even as the stars: whichsoever of them ye follow, ye shall be rightly guided.”
― Martin Lings, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“One day ‘Umar rebuked his wife for something and she sharply answered him back: and when he expostulated with her she replied that the wives of the Prophet were in the habit of answering him back so why should she not do the same. “And there is one of them,” she added, meaning their daughter, “who speaketh unto him her mind unabashed from morn till night.” Greatly troubled by this, ‘Umar went to Hafsah, who did not deny that what her mother had said was true. “Thou hast neither the grace of ‘A’ishah nor the beauty of Zaynab,” he said, hoping to shake her self-confidence; and when these words seemed to have no effect, he added: “Art thou so sure that if thou angerest the Prophet, God will not destroy thee in His anger?” Then he went to his cousin Umm Salamah and said: “Is it true that ye speak your minds unto God’s Messenger and answer him without respect?” “By all that is wonderful,” said Umm Salamah, “what call hast thou to come between God’s Messenger and his wives? Yea, by God, we speak unto him our minds, and if he suffer us to do so that is his affair, and if he forbid us he will find us more obedient unto him than we are unto thee.”
― Martin Lings, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“Umar came one morning to the house of the Messenger, and as he approached he heard the sound of women’s voices raised to a pitch which he considered unseemly in the prophetic presence. The women were moreover of Quraysh, that is, of the Emigrants, which confirmed his opinion that they were learning bad ways from the women of Medina who for generations had been less restrained and more self-assertive than the women of Mecca. The Prophet hated to refuse a request, as well they knew, and they were now asking him with some insistence to give them various garments which had come to him as part of his fifth in the spoils of war. There was a curtain spread across part of the room, and when ‘Umar’s voice was heard asking permission to enter there was a sudden total silence and the women hid themselves behind the curtain with such speed that he entered to find the Prophet speechless with laughter. “May God fill thy life with laughter, O Messenger of God,” he said. “Wondrous it was,” said the Prophet, “how these women who were with me even now - how speedily upon hearing thy voice they were gone behind that curtain!” “It is rather thy right, not mine, that they should stand in awe of thee, not of me,” said ‘Umar. Then, addressing the women, he said “O enemies of yourselves, fear ye me, and fear ye not God’s Messenger?” “It is even so,” they said, “for thou art rougher and harsher than God’s Messenger.” “That is true, O son of Khattab,” said the Prophet. Then he added: “By Him in whose hand is my soul, if Satan found that thou wert travelling upon a certain path, he would choose to go himself by any other path but thine.”
― Martin Lings, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“A’ishah was at that time in her sixteenth year, old for her age in some respects but not in others. Her feelings were always clear from her face, and nearly always from her tongue. On one occasion the Prophet said to her: “O ‘A’ishah, it is not hidden from me when thou art angered against me, nor yet when thou art pleased.” “O dearer than my father and my mother,” she said, “how knowest thou that?” “When thou art pleased,” he said, “thou sayest in swearing ‘Nay, by the Lord of Muhammad’, but when thou art angered it is ‘Nay, by the Lord of Abraham’.”
― Martin Lings, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“But work was in danger of invading the Prophet’s whole life, because no voice in all Medina could compare with his for solving a problem or answering a question or settling a dispute. Even those who did not believe him to be a Prophet would seek his help if need be, unless they were too proud...Those who were with him were always loathe to leave him. Nor could they have been blamed if they stayed, for when he spoke to anyone he would turn to him so fully and make him so amply the object of his attention that the man might well imagine himself to be privileged enough for liberties which others dared not take; and when he took a man’s hand he was never the first to relinquish his hold.”
― Martin Lings, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“Not one of you has faith until I am dearer to him than his son and his father and all men together.” But this utterance of the Prophet was not so much a demand as a confirmation of the rightness of a love that had already been given - a love which found its expression so often in the words: “May my father and my mother be thy ransom.”
― Martin Lings, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“There was no question of ‘Umar’s keeping his Islam secret. He wished to tell everyone, in particular those who were most hostile to the Prophet. In after years he used to say “When I entered Islam that night, I thought to myself: Which of the people in Mecca is the most violent in enmity against God’s Messenger, that I may go to him and tell him I have become a Muslim? My answer was: Abu Jahl. So the next morning I went and knocked at his door, and Abu Jahl came out and said: “The best of welcomes to my sister’s son! What hath brought thee here?” I answered: “I came to tell thee that I believe in God and in His Messenger Muhammad; and I testify to the truth of that which he hath brought.” “God curse thee!” he said, “and may His curse be on the tidings thou hast brought!” Then he slammed the door in my face.”
― Martin Lings, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“Thou fastest every day," said the Prophet, "and keepest vigil every night in prayer." "Yea, that indeed I do," said 'Uthrnan, for he had heard him speak again and again of the merits of fasting and of night prayer. "Do not so," said the Prophet, "for verily thine eyes have their rights over thee, and thy body hath its rights, and thy family have their rights, So pray, and sleep, and fast, and break fast."!”
― Martin Lings, MUHAMMAD: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“The bridal bed was a sheepskin and there was a faded coverlet of striped cloth from the Yemen. For a pillow they stuffed a leather cushion with palm fibre.”
― Martin Lings, MUHAMMAD: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“As to the rich caravan load which Abu Sufyan had brought safely to Mecca, it was unanimously agreed in the Assembly that all the profits should be devoted to raising an army so large and so powerfully equipped that it could not fail to crush any resistance that Yathrib might be able to put up against it; and this time women would march out with the men, to urge them on and spur them to excel themselves in deeds of valour.”
― Martin Lings, MUHAMMAD: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“When others were overcome by the heat, his hand would be "cooler than snow and more fragrant than musk".”
― Martin Lings, MUHAMMAD: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“Gabriel came to him one day on the high ground above Mecca, and struck with his heel the turf of the hillside, whereupon a spring gushed forth from it. Then he performed the ritual ablution to show the Prophet how to purify himself for worship, and the Prophet followed his example. Then he showed him the postures and movements of the prayer, the standing, the inclining, the prostrating and the sitting, with the repeated magnification, that is, the words Alldhu Akbar, God is Most Great, and the final greeting as-Saldmu 'alaykum, Peace be on you, and again the Prophet followed his example. Then the Angel left him, and the Prophet returned to his house, and taught Khadijah all that he had learnt, and they prayed together.”
― Martin Lings, MUHAMMAD: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“Having decided, after an earnest discussion, that it was imperative to found an order of chivalry for the furtherance of justice and the protection of the weak, they went in a body to the Ka'bah where they poured water over the Black Stone, letting it flow into a receptacle. Then each man drank of the thus hallowed water; and with their right hands raised above their heads they vowed that henceforth, at every act of oppression in Mecca, they would stand together as one man on the side of the oppressed against the oppressor until justice was done, whether the oppressed were a man of Quraysh or one who had come from abroad.”
― Martin Lings, MUHAMMAD: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“The nomad had the age-old God-given way of life to offer, the way of Abel. The sons of Cain -for it was Cain who built the first villages -had possessions and power.”
― Martin Lings, MUHAMMAD: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“So the bond with the desert had to be renewed in every generation -fresh air for the breast, pure Arabic for the tongue, freedom for the soul; and many of the sons of Quraysh were kept as long as eight years in the desert, so that it might make a lasting impression upon them, though a lesser number of years was enough for that:”
― Martin Lings, MUHAMMAD: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“When the army reached Ta'if, the men of Thaqif came out to meet them, afraid that Abrahah might destroy their temple of al-Lat in mistake for the Ka'bah. They hastened to point out to him that he had not yet reached his goal, and they offered him a guide for the remainder of his march. Although he already had Nufayl, he accepted their offer, but the man died on the way, about two miles from Mecca, at a place called Mughammis, and they buried him. Afterwards the Arabs took to stoning his grave, and the people who live there still stone it to this day. Abrahah halted at Mughammis, and sent on a detachment of horse to the outskirts of Mecca.”
― Martin Lings, MUHAMMAD: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“Feeling rose so high that the women of the clan of 'Abdu Manaf brought a bowl of rich perfume and placed it beside the Ka'bah; and Hashim and his brothers and all their allies dipped their hands in it and swore a solemn oath that they would never abandon one another, rubbing their scented hands over the stones of the Ka'bah in confirmation of their pact. Thus it was that this group of clans were known as the Scented Ones.”
― Martin Lings, MUHAMMAD: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

“The descendants of Ishmael became too numerous to live all in the valley of Mecca; and those who went to settle elsewhere took with them stones from the holy precinct and performed rites in honour of them. Later, through the influence of neighbouring pagan tribes, idols came to be added to the stones; and finally pilgrims began to bring idols to Mecca. These were set up in the vicinity of the Ka'bah, and it was then that the Jews ceased to visit the temple of Abraham.”
― Martin Lings, MUHAMMAD: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources