Reality is that there will always be someone with more wealth, beauty, popularity, and other favors than you. Allah’s gifts are different for us all. Don’t ask Allah for what someone else has. Ask Allah for His favor, and you’ll be happier.

Dr. Bilal Philips (via Twitter)

Every new day the Almighty gives you is a bonus. It’s a blessing not everyone gets. Use the time to deliberately slow down and reflect on the countless good things you have going for you. There’s so much to be grateful for in your life. Don’t let anyone make you feel otherwise.

Mufti Ismail Menk (via Twitter)

One may admit that love, compassion, truth, and other qualities bring the greatest joy – so why were we not created with these qualities from the start? It seems that we have arrived at where we began. Why were we not put into Paradise from the start? Why were these virtues not simply programmed into us?

The answer is almost obvious: virtue, if programmed, is not true virtue; it is always something less. You can program a computer to never make an incorrect statement but it does not thereby become a truthful computer; nor does a CAT scanner possess compassion, although it is made to help the sick.

[..] to learn to be truthful requires the option to lie, and hence the ability to choose and discern. A higher level of honesty is attained if we insist on speaking the truth in adversity, say at the threat of physical or material loss. To grow in compassion, there must be suffering and the choice to ignore it. And so it is with all the virtues: love, charity, justice, forgiveness, and the like. To grow in each of them, we must have the alternative to do otherwise and the possibility for the existence of hate, indifference, greed, vengeance, and, obviously, suffering.

Struggling to Surrender by Dr. Jeffrey Lang (page 55, 56)

A safe haven in this world necessitates that you prefer the guidance Allah (God) bestowed upon you over everything that distances you from His guidance

Not having enough good deeds will be the fault of the believer alone.

Be in a safe haven today to be safe in heaven tomorrow.

Jamal Abdinasir (via Twitter)

To save just one life is like saving all of humanity.

To be a source of guidance for just one seeker is better than the world and all that is in it.

Never let the brokenness of the world stop you from healing or helping that one person in front of you.

Dr. Omar Suleiman (via Twitter)

Be careful what you say. Don’t let your words wound people’s hearts. Be selective in your choice. Use words that encourage, empower and motivate. Use your words to invest in all that’s good. We need that now more than ever. Keep negativity far away.

Mufti Ismail Menk (via Twitter)

If anyone continually asks forgiveness, Allah (God) will appoint for him a way out of every distress, relief from anxiety, and will provide for him from where he never realized.

Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him)

The “signs” [Qur’anic references to natural phenomena] accomplish exactly what their designation suggest: they act as guideposts, capture one’s attention, assist in guiding one to deeper reflection, and, sometimes, to belief. Their power lies not in giving explicit and precise descriptions of natural phenomena, but in their ability to inspire man’s curiosity and awe throughout the ages.

Struggling to Surrender by Dr. Jeffrey Lang (page 38)

You cannot simply read the Qur’an, not if you take it seriously. You either have surrendered to it already or you fight it. It attacks tenaciously, directly, personally; it debates, criticizes, shames, and challenges. From the outset it draws the lines of battle, and I was on the other side.

I was at a severe disadvantage, for it became clear that the Author knew me better than I knew myself.

Struggling to Surrender by Dr. Jeffrey Lang (page 9)

It’s the Almighty’s plan that you’ve made it this far. Many things could’ve halted your progress but you’ve moved past them with grit. Many times you were tempted to give up but you’ve managed to find light where it was dim. You are exactly where you need to be. Trust Him.

Mufti Ismail Menk (via Twitter)