Qur'an: Those who do good

"... Those who spend in prosperity and adversity

and who control their anger and forgive people.

And Allah loves those who do good.

And those who,

when they commit a shameful act or wrong themselves,

remember Allah and seek forgiveness for their sins

- and who is there to forgive sins except Allah? -

and do not persist in what they have done, knowingly.

Their reward is forgiveness from their Lord

and gardens beneath which rivers flow

where they shall live forever.

And excellent is the reward of those who work.

(Al-Qur'an, Surah Aal Imran, Verses 134-136)

We see here in this sequence of verses that qualities relating to the rights of men are mentioned together with qualities relating to the rights of God. It's important to remember though that the rights of God are not meant to benefit God in any way! God does not suffer in any way if they are not fulfilled. The one who worships Him is the one who gains.

Qur'an: Forgiveness, Paradise

"And race one another towards Forgiveness from your Lord

and towards a Paradise as wide as the heavens and the earth,

prepared for the righteous..."

(Al-Qur'an, Surah Aal Imran, Verse 133)

Interesting that the mention of Forgiveness in this verse precedes the mention of Paradise. Perhaps this is to suggest that seeking God's Forgiveness is the way to Paradise, that entry to Paradise is impossible without humility before God, that Forgiveness tilts one's balance of deeds to be worthy of Paradise...

Qur'an: You are the best of communities

"... you are the best of communities raised for mankind:

you order what is right, forbid what is wrong,

and believe in God..."

(Surah Aal Imran, Verse 110)

If there's anything that singles you out as a community

it is your camaraderie

in establishing what is right and proper

and your assisting each other

in steering clear of the wrong and improper.

And your belief in God.

And there is nothing intrinsic within you

neither your blood line nor your skin colour

that warrants you for merit

except this.

Qur'an: Unity

"... Hold onto the rope of God, all of you,

and be not divided.

And remember the blessing of God upon you:

When you were enemies to each other

and He brought your hearts together

and you became, by His grace, brothers..."

(Al-Qur'an,  Surah Aal Imran, Verse 103)

The rope of God,

the connecting link,

between the believers and their Lord,

and the believers one to another,

it is the Qur'an.

And in the Qur'an is their unity,

and in their unity is their strength.

Qur'an: Spending the cherished

"You shall never attain righteousness

until you spend from what you love.

And whatever it is you spend,

God is fully aware of it."

(Surah Aal Imran, Verse 92)

Spending the cherished:

to give away what one likes and holds dear,

preferring another over one's self,
knowing with certitude that God recompenses.

Umar: Spiritual well-being

"Pay a great deal of attention to your heart.

Talk to your troops, exhort them

and remind them of the importance of good intentions

and of checking on themselves.

Patience, patience.

For the help of God comes

in accordance with how much one checks himself.

Ask God to keep you safe and sound,

and frequently repeat the words:

'There is no power and no strength except with God.'

Fear God and put your hope in Him,

and do not take anything for granted..."

(Snippets of Umar ibn al-Khattab's advice to Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqas [may God be pleased with them both] when he appointed him commander over the Muslim army in Iraq)

Umar: The visible and hidden signs of faith

"The signs of faith are instilled by God in the heart;

some are hidden and some are visible.

As for that which is visible,

it is when the one who praises a person

and the one who criticises him

on the basis of truth

are the same to him.

As for that which is hidden,

it may be manifested in wisdom

flowing from his heart on his tongue

and people's love for him.

Indeed you can think of your status before God

by checking your status before the people who are with you..."

(Snippets of Umar ibn al-Khattab's advice to Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqas [may God be pleased with them both] when he appointed him commander over the army in Iraq)

Ja'far Ibn Abi Talib's summary of Islam for the Negus

"... we were a people in a state of ignorance and immorality,

worshipping idols and eating the flesh of dead animals,

committing all sorts of abomination and shameful deeds,

breaking the ties of kinship,

treating guests badly

and the strong among us exploited the weak.

We remained in this state until God sent us a Prophet,

one of our own people

whose lineage, truthfulness and integrity were well known to us.

He called us to worship God alone

and to renounce the stones and the idols

which we and our ancestors used to worship besides God.

He commanded us to speak the truth,

to honour our promises,

to be kind to our relations,

to be helpful to our neighbours,

to cease all forbidden acts,

to abstain from bloodshed,

to avoid obscenities and false witness,

not to appropriate an orphan's property

nor slander chaste women.

He ordered us to worship God alone

and not to associate anything with Him,

to uphold Salah,

to give Zakah,

and fast in the month of Ramadan.

We believed in him

and what he brought to us from God

and we follow him in what he has asked us to do

and we keep away from what he forbade us from doing..."

Qur'an: The desires of the heart

"Beautified for people

is the love of that which they desire;

of women and sons,

heaped-up sums of gold and silver,

fine branded horses,

and cattle and tilled land.

That is the enjoyment of the worldly life.

And God has with Him the best return."

(Surah 3, Verse 14)

How lucky man is
to have in the desires of his heart

a means
to distinguish himself:

to realise the temporariness of his wants;

to act on them only in what is necessary;

to overcome them for deeds eternal.

Qur'an: The Ever-Living, the All-Sustaining

"God:

there is no god but Him,

the Ever-Living, the All-Sustaining."

(Surah 3, Verse 2)

Herein lies a declaration and a proof:

God has no beginning and no end,

and it is He Who sustains all that exists.

And can there be two gods

who have no beginning and no end,

and sustain all that exists?

And can there by any other than God

who is worthy of adoration and worship?