Inspiration from Past & Present

April 8, 2010

On Wasting Time

Many people used to pay me social visits and I likewise, until I realized that time is a most noble and precious thing and hence began to dislike visiting. However, I became caught between two possibilities: if I refused their visits, I would feel lonely and miss something which I had grown accustomed to, but if I accepted their visits, my time would be wasted. Consequently, I began to avoid visits to the best of my ability and if it became unavoidable, I would limit the conversation in order to hasten the visit’s end. I also prepared work to do during my visits so that no time would pass idly by.

—Ibn al-Jawzi [d. 597H]

The Devil’s Deception. Al-Hidaayah Publishing and Distribution. UK: 1996.

April 8, 2010

On Treatment of Spiritual Ailments

We see you when you are inflicted with a disease, you knock every physician’s door looking for treatment and bearing whatever pain that may result from surgical operations and the bitterness of medicine. Why do you not do the same when your heart is spiritually sick with sins?

—Shaykh Muhammad bin Salih al-Uthaymeen [d. 1421/2001]

The Muslim’s Belief (Aqeedat-ul-Muslim). Riyadh, 1998.

April 8, 2010

On Faith and Science

And faith continues to wait for the companionship of science, while science stands lost in need of the guidance of faith.

—Syed Abul Hassan Ali Nadwi [d. 1420/1999]

Muslims in the West- The Message and Mission. The Islamic Foundation. 1983.