Words That Fell Upon the Heart from Aliya Izetbegović
The wisdoms of Aliya Izetbegović are a selection of short sayings that touch upon the human heart, morality, and inner discipline. Although each saying may appear as a simple note on its own, behind them lie fundamental issues such as discipline of the nafs (the lower self), awareness of mortality, knowledge, adab (proper conduct), and maturity of the qalb (the heart).
On this page, a concise selection of 72 sayings has been compiled for Aliya Izetbegović.
01
"If we too become among the oppressors, then our struggle against oppression loses its meaning. We will follow the Book."
02
"Our path does not begin with seizing power, but with winning people."
03
"O submission, your name is Islam!"
04
"Islam must define its own politics."
05
"Religion is morality; to bring it to life is discipline."
06
"We can think whatever we wish about the human species, but if we do not idealize it, we come closer to the truth."
07
"Animals become dangerous when hungry. Humans, on the other hand, become dangerous when they are full."
08
"In some Islamic countries, various kings and emirs in power, or civilians who have been bought, are a sure sign that 'something is rotten' among the people."
09
"People touched by madness are happy; I believe I am one of them."
10
"It is not possible to live, produce, have fun, and rule in a non-Islamic way with Islamic belief."
11
"Nationality is based on a natural bond of kinship, whereas Islam is a bond based on spirit, law, and morality."
12
"The Mahdi is the name of our laziness."
13
"The whole of history is a part of what is called our destiny."
14
"They threaten to destroy us. But let them know that Muslims will not be annihilated."
15
"To escape the narrow confines of tribe and nation, begin to think of yourself as a Muslim."
16
"War is lost not when you die, but when you become like the enemy."
17
"A truly believing generation can accomplish much more than dozens of generations who are in a mindless religious affiliation."
18
"A human cannot live without ideals, or at least cannot live as a human."
19
"Because love and death are the same. I do not know to whom these words belong, but they are engraved deep in my memory."
20
"O Allah, I seek refuge in You from those who are honest but have no heart."
21
"Generations educated not to govern but to be governed cannot ensure the progress of Islam."
22
"We have only one debt to our enemy, and that is to be just!"
23
"Evil, like goodness, is within the human being. And a person cannot be reformed by any external influence, by changing circumstances, by forced habituation, by laws, or by brute force. Only behavior can change."
24
"An animal is only dangerous when it is hungry or faced with a threat; a human, however, is dangerous when he is full and strong."
25
"Submission to the will of Allah means independence from the wills of people."
26
"Man is the child of the heavens, the wolf of the earth."
27
"I am sure that everything that can be said has been said, but I am not sure that all has been heard."
28
"When you become like your enemy, there is no point in fighting."
29
"The worst combination is a full stomach with an empty spirit."
30
"History is not only the story of constant change, but also and continually the realization of the impossible and the unexpected."
31
"We will not bear grudges, but we will never forget what has been done."
32
"A wise man knows how to speak. A sagacious man also knows how to remain silent."
33
"The progress of Islam will not be achieved by calm and submissive people, but by those with brave and rebellious spirits."
34
"Malcolm X humorously describes the absence of any racist sentiment in the Islamic world as 'color blindness.' Muslims see not color, but the human being."
35
"Muslims produced extensive knowledge about how the Qur'an should be read in order to avoid the question of how it should be applied in life."
36
"We cannot be good Muslims without being good people."
37
"Remain as you are. Preserve your religion and your nationality. The price of losing your identity is slavery."
38
"Some believe that their religious devotion exempts them from contemplation."
39
"Hope is the last thing to die."
40
"The messengers of Allah never came merely to establish forgotten cults or neglected acts of worship."
41
"To free yourself from the narrow confines of tribe and nation, think of yourself as a Muslim."
42
"Yes, I am afraid too, but the reasons that require me to walk are more than the reasons that require me to fear."
43
"If knowledge and religion are separated from each other, religion leads people to backwardness, and knowledge leads to atheism."
44
"Religion broadened the scope of our struggle for freedom, and enabled us to see the differences between good and evil more clearly."
45
"There can be no greater mistake than to think that everything we encounter in the Islamic world is also Islamic, or more precisely, based on the principles of the Noble Qur'an."
46
"Why do those who applaud those who undress for art, oppress those who dress for Allah?"
47
"Innocence is the state that exists before knowledge of the possibility of choice, that is, before knowledge of freedom."
48
"Law is the weapon not of the strong, but of the weak."
49
"If we too become among the oppressors, then our struggle against oppression loses its meaning. We will follow the Book."
50
"Our slogan is this: love those who are your own, show respect to the other."
51
"I am among those who do not see democracy as the rule of the majority. For me, democracy is when the minority possesses all rights."
52
"There are only two nations: executioners and innocent victims, there is no third nation. All executioners belong to the same kind, and all innocent victims to another kind."
53
"I do not believe there are any insurmountable differences between peoples and cultures."
54
"It is not possible to understand life solely thanks to scholars, because life is as much a phenomenon as it is a miracle."
55
"All living beings suffer, but only humans clothe suffering with thought."
56
"Our slogan is this: Love those who are your own, show respect to the other."
57
"Because zakat (almsgiving) wants not only the safes but also the hearts to be opened."
58
"Power and law are only means of justice. Justice itself exists in the hearts of people; otherwise, there is no justice."
59
"Both religion and revolution are born in pain and suffering. Both perish in prosperity and comfort. Indeed, what truly endures is only the effort for their realization."
60
"This may not be a just peace; but it is better than a continuing war."
61
"We see that our problems decrease and we mature when we blame ourselves, not the enemy's plans for disaster, for our problems."
62
"Because fortune follows only the brave, and only good and healthy peoples have the 'fortune' of having a good government."
63
"Let no one pursue revenge. Seek only justice."
64
"Islam is the best, but we are not the best."
65
"I love Yugoslavia, but I love freedom more."
66
"There are miracles in everything around us; but man is still the greatest miracle in the universe."
67
"Freedom is not given, it is taken."
68
"What could be more natural than for those who govern Muslim peoples to be people trained within Islam and inspired by Islamic thought."
69
"You can write poetry with love and hate, but not history!"
70
"But Muslims are not following Islam. For the first, I take history as witness; for the second, myself, you, and all of us."
71
"A utopia that is believed in and striven for ceases to be a utopia."
72
"We will not seek our future in our past. We will not pursue hatred and revenge."