22 Quotes by Muhammad Asad

The average European or American easily succumbs to the illusion that thecultural experiences of the West are not merely superior but outof all proportion to those of the rest of the world; and thus, thatthe Western way of life is the only valid norm by which otherways of life could be adjudged - implying, of course, that everyintellectual concept, social institution or ethical valuation thatdisagrees with the Western 'norm' belongs ipso to lowergrade of existence.

For, according to the teachings of Islam, moral knowledge automatically forces moral responsibility upon man. A mere Platonic discernment between Right and Wrong, without the urge to promote Right and to destroy Wrong, is a gross immorality in itself, for morality lives and dies with the human endeavour to establish its victory upon earth.

Batılı geçmişi bulanık, uzak bir düş sanki; büsbütün unutamayacağım kadar reel, ama şimdinin bir parçası olamayacak kadar da realitenin dışında.

We allow ourselves to be blown by the winds because we do know what we want: our hearts know it, even if our thoughts are sometimes slow to follow- but in the end they do catch up with our hearts and then we think we have made a decision

It was not the philosophers and the prophets who taught us to believe in life after death; all they did was give form and spiritual content to an instinctive perception as old as man himself.

Ayaklarımız kaskatı kesilinceye kadar evde oturup yaşlılığın gelip çatmasını beklemek, senin benim gibi insanlara göre değil de ondan." diyor Zeyd, gülümseyerek, "Hem evlerine tıkılan insanlar da ölmüyor mu sanki? Nereye giderse gitsin, insan kaderini boynunda taşımıyor mu?

İşin garibi, otuz iki yaşının biraz üzerindeyim ve neredeyse kendimi bildim bileli beni öylesine huzursuz kılan, beni tehlikeden tehlikeye, rastlantıdan rastlantıya sürükleyip duran bu gezip dolaşmak dürtüsü, macera düşkünlüğünden çok, dünyada bana ait sükun dolu köşeyi bulmak tutkusundan, başıma gelenlerle düşündüklerim, hissettiklerim ve arzuladıklarım arasında açık, yalın bir ilişki kurabileceğim o denge noktasına ulaşmak tutkusundan gücünü alıyor.

The vast majority of administrators, at all times and in all societies, are prone to commit grievous errors if left entirely to their own devices. Hence, they should not be left to their own devices, and should be allowed to govern only in consultation with the accredited representatives of the whole community, which is one of the classical lessons of history that no nation may neglect except at its own peril.

Islam appears to me like a perfect work of architecture. All its parts are harmoniously conceived to complement and support each other; nothing is superfluous and nothing lacking; and the result is a structure of absolute balance and solid composure.