1
Faith
Actions Are Judged by Intentions
إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى
Actions are only by intentions, and every person will have only what they intended. Whoever emigrated for the sake of Allah and His Messenger, their emigration is for Allah and His Messenger; and whoever emigrated for some worldly gain or to marry a woman, their emigration is for what they emigrated for.
3
Faith
The Five Pillars of Islam
بُنِيَ الْإِسْلَامُ عَلَى خَمْسٍ
Islam is built upon five: testifying that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establishing the prayer, giving zakat, making pilgrimage to the House, and fasting Ramadan.
6
Faith
The Lawful Is Clear and the Unlawful Is Clear
إِنَّ الْحَلَالَ بَيِّنٌ وَإِنَّ الْحَرَامَ بَيِّنٌ
The lawful is clear and the unlawful is clear, and between them are doubtful matters that many people do not know. Whoever guards against the doubtful matters has protected their religion and honour… Truly, in the body there is a morsel of flesh: if it is sound, the whole body is sound, and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt. Truly, it is the heart.
7
Character
The Religion Is Sincere Counsel
الدِّينُ النَّصِيحَةُ
“The religion is sincerity (naṣīḥah).” We asked: to whom? He said: “To Allah, to His Book, to His Messenger, to the leaders of the Muslims and to their common people.”
9
Worship
Do What You Are Able
What I have forbidden you, avoid it; and what I have commanded you, do as much of it as you are able. Those before you were destroyed only by their excessive questioning and their disagreeing with their prophets.
10
Worship
Allah Is Good and Accepts Only What Is Good
إِنَّ اللهَ طَيِّبٌ لَا يَقْبَلُ إِلَّا طَيِّبًا
Allah is good and accepts only what is good. Allah has commanded the believers with what He commanded the messengers… Then he mentioned a man on a long journey, dishevelled and dusty, raising his hands to the sky — “O Lord, O Lord!” — while his food, drink and clothing are unlawful: how can he be answered?
11
Heart
Leave What Makes You Doubt
دَعْ مَا يَرِيبُكَ إِلَى مَا لَا يَرِيبُكَ
Leave what makes you doubt for what does not make you doubt.
12
Character
Leaving What Does Not Concern You
مِنْ حُسْنِ إِسْلَامِ الْمَرْءِ تَرْكُهُ مَا لَا يَعْنِيهِ
Part of the excellence of a person’s Islam is that they leave what does not concern them.
13
Brotherhood
Love for Your Brother What You Love for Yourself
لَا يُؤْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى يُحِبَّ لِأَخِيهِ مَا يُحِبُّ لِنَفْسِهِ
None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.
15
Character
Speak Good or Remain Silent
مَنْ كَانَ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ فَلْيَقُلْ خَيْرًا أَوْ لِيَصْمُتْ
Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let them speak good or remain silent. Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let them honour their neighbour. And whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let them honour their guest.
16
Character
Do Not Become Angry
لَا تَغْضَبْ
A man said to the Prophet ﷺ, “Advise me.” He said, “Do not become angry.” The man repeated his request several times, and each time he said, “Do not become angry.”
17
Character
Excellence in Everything
إِنَّ اللهَ كَتَبَ الْإِحْسَانَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ
Allah has prescribed excellence (iḥsān) in all things. So if you kill, kill well; and if you slaughter, slaughter well. Let each of you sharpen his blade and spare the animal suffering.
18
Heart
Be Mindful of Allah Wherever You Are
اتَّقِ اللهَ حَيْثُمَا كُنْتَ
Be mindful of Allah wherever you are. Follow a bad deed with a good one and it will wipe it out. And treat people with good character.
19
Heart
Be Mindful of Allah and He Will Protect You
احْفَظِ اللهَ يَحْفَظْكَ
Be mindful of Allah and He will protect you. Be mindful of Allah and you will find Him before you. When you ask, ask Allah; and when you seek help, seek help from Allah. Know that if the whole nation gathered to benefit you, they could only benefit you with what Allah has already written for you.
20
Character
Modesty
Among the words people have received from the earliest prophecy is: if you feel no shame, then do as you wish.
21
Faith
Say “I Believe in Allah”, Then Be Steadfast
قُلْ آمَنْتُ بِاللهِ ثُمَّ اسْتَقِمْ
I said, “O Messenger of Allah, tell me something about Islam that I will not need to ask anyone else about.” He said: “Say, ‘I believe in Allah,’ and then be steadfast.”
23
Worship
Purity Is Half of Faith
الطُّهُورُ شَطْرُ الْإِيمَانِ
Purity is half of faith. “Al-ḥamdu lillāh” fills the scale, and “SubḥānAllāh wa al-ḥamdu lillāh” fill what is between the heavens and the earth. Prayer is light, charity is proof, patience is illumination, and the Qurʾān is an argument for you or against you.
26
Worship
Charity Is Due on Every Joint
Charity is due on every joint of a person, every day the sun rises. Bringing justice between two people is charity; helping a man onto his mount or lifting his luggage onto it is charity; a good word is charity; every step you take to prayer is charity; and removing something harmful from the road is charity.
27
Heart
Righteousness Is Good Character
الْبِرُّ حُسْنُ الْخُلُقِ
Righteousness is good character, and sin is what wavers in your soul and you would dislike people to find out about.
32
Brotherhood
No Harm and No Reciprocal Harm
لَا ضَرَرَ وَلَا ضِرَارَ
There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm.
34
Faith
Changing What Is Wrong
Whoever among you sees something wrong, let him change it with his hand; if he cannot, then with his tongue; and if he cannot, then with his heart — and that is the weakest of faith.
35
Brotherhood
The Muslim Is the Brother of the Muslim
الْمُسْلِمُ أَخُو الْمُسْلِمِ
Do not envy one another, do not inflate prices against one another, do not hate one another, and do not turn your backs on one another… Be, O servants of Allah, brothers. The Muslim is the brother of the Muslim: he does not wrong him, abandon him or look down on him. Piety is here — and he pointed to his chest three times.
36
Brotherhood
Relieve a Believer’s Hardship
Whoever relieves a believer of a hardship of this world, Allah will relieve him of a hardship of the Day of Resurrection. Whoever makes things easy for someone in difficulty, Allah will make things easy for him in this world and the next… Allah helps His servant as long as the servant helps his brother.
40
Heart
Be in This World as a Stranger
كُنْ فِي الدُّنْيَا كَأَنَّكَ غَرِيبٌ أَوْ عَابِرُ سَبِيلٍ
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ took hold of my shoulder and said: “Be in this world as though you were a stranger or a traveller passing through.”
English renderings are our own, kept close to the meaning; for the full Arabic text, chains of narration and grading, follow the “Source” link to Sunnah.com.