Virtues and Manners

Abu Muhammad Abdullāh ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There are forty good qualities, the best of which is the lending of a milch goat. Whoever carries out any of these virtuous deeds seeking its reward (from Allah) with firm confidence that he will receive it, Allah will admit him to Paradise."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When the end of time draws near, the dream of a believer can hardly be false, and the dream of a believer is one part from forty-six parts of prophet-hood." In another narration, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Those of you who have the most truthful dreams are those who are the most truthful in speech."

Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) say: "The best dhikr is lā ilāha illa Allah (there is no god but Allah), and the best supplication is Alhamdulillah (praise be to Allah)."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Shall I not guide you to what Allah erases the sins and elevates the ranks with?" They said: Yes, O Messenger of Allah. He said: "Performing ablution thoroughly despite the hardships, frequent steps to mosques, and waiting for one prayer after another; such is the Ribāt (garrison)."

Abu ad-Dardā’ (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Shall I not inform you of the best of your deeds and the purest in the sight of your Sovereign and the highest in your ranks and better for you than spending gold and silver, and better for you than encountering your enemy so you strike their necks and they strike your necks?" They said: Yes. He said: "Dhikr (remembrance) of Allah Almighty."

Sulaymān ibn Surad (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I was sitting with the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) when two men started to insult each other, and the face of one of them turned red and his jugular veins got swollen. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Verily, I know a word; if he said it, his rage would go away. If he said: I seek refuge with Allah from the devil, his rage would go away." They said to him: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Seek refuge with Allah from the devil." Thereupon he said: Am I mad?

Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When the son of Adam gets up in the morning, all of his body organs humble themselves before the tongue, and say: 'Fear Allah concerning us! For indeed, we are only as you are (our condition depends upon yours); if you are upright, we shall be upright, and if you are crooked, we shall be crooked.’"

Ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Paradise is nearer to one of you than his shoelaces, and so is Hellfire."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This world is a prison for the believer and a paradise for the disbeliever."

At-Tufayl ibn Ubay ibn Ka‘b reported that he used to visit Abdullāh ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) in the morning and accompany him to the market. Abdullāh would offer greetings of peace to every one he met on the way, be they sellers of petty goods, store owners, or poor people. At-Tufayl said: "One day when I went to Abdullāh ibn ‘Umar, he asked me to accompany him to the market. I said to him: "What do you do in the market if you do not sell, nor ask about merchandise, nor offer a price for them, nor you sit in the market gatherings? and said to him: Let us sit here and talk." He replied: "O Abu Batn, we only go to the market to greet with peace everyone we meet."

Abu Qatādah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The good vision is from Allah, and the dream is from the devil. So, if any of you has a dream of which he is afraid, let him spit on his left and seek refuge with Allah from its evil, for it will not harm him."

‘Imrān ibn Husayn (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A man came to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and said: As-salāmu ‘alaykum (peace be upon you). He responded to him and then sat down. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Ten." Then another came and said: As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāh (may the peace and mercy of Allah be upon you). He responded to him and so he sat down. He said: "Twenty." Then another came and said: As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāh wa barakātuh (may the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you). He responded to him and so he sat down. He said: "Thirty."

Ma‘qil ibn Yasār (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Worship during times of turmoil is like emigration to me.”

‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to say: "Allāhumma inni as’aluka al-huda wa at-tuqa wa al-‘afāf wa al-ghina (O Allah, I ask You for guidance, piety, chastity, and self-sufficiency)."

Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to say: "O Allah, to You I have submitted, and in You I have believed, in You I have put my trust, to You I have turned in repentance, and for You I have argued. O Allah, I seek refuge with Your power, there is no god but You, that You lead me astray. You are the Ever Living, the One who never dies, whereas the human beings and jinn will all die."

Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said to Ubay ibn Ka‘b (may Allah be pleased with him): "Allah, the Almighty, ordered me to read to you {Those who disbelieve among the People of the Book and the Polytheists were not going to depart (from their ways) until there should come to them the Clear Evidence.} [Sūrat al-Bayyinah: 98]" Ubay asked: "Did He (Allah) name me?" The Messenger of Allah replied: 'Yes.' So Ubay cried. In another narration: "So Ubay started to cry."

‘Uqbah ibn ‘Āmir (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I said: O Messenger of Allah, what is salvation? He said: "Control your tongue, abide in your house, and weep over your sin."

Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'If a slave serves his master sincerely and worships Allah properly, he will have a double reward.'" Abu Mūsa al-Ash‘ari (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: "A slave who worships his Lord properly and discharges his duties towards his master, and is sincere and obedient to him will get a double reward."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "A person may utter a word pleasing to Allah, the Almighty, without considering it of any significance, and because of it Allah raises his ranks; and a person may utter a word displeasing to Allah, the Almighty, without considering it of any significance, and because of it he sinks down into Hellfire." Abu ‘Abdur-Rahmān Bilāl ibn al-Hārith al-Muzani (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "A person may utter a word pleasing to Allah, the Almighty, and he does not think it will yield such a result, and because of it Allah writes for him His pleasure until the Day he will meet Him; and a person may utter a word displeasing to Allah, the Almighty, and he does not think it will yield such a result, and because of it Allah writes for him His displeasure until the Day he will meet Him."

Abu Umāmah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The closest people to Allah are the ones who give the Salām first" [Abu Dāwud]. In the narration of At-Tirmidhi: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was asked: "When two persons meet, who should give the Salām first?" He said: "The one who is closer to Allah."