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“Our Lord, indeed we have heard a caller calling to faith, [saying], ‘Believe in your Lord,’ and we have believed. Our Lord, so forgive us our sins and remove from us our misdeeds and make us to die with the righteous.”
Holy Qur’an 3:193
"If food comes my way, It is grace. If not, It's a fast. That is the way I think on my Lord."
Pir Shams, A Scent of Sandalwood (Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2002)
“O people, for whosoever follows the Qur'an, there is no poverty or indigence; and without following the Qur'an, there is no riches or freedom from want. So throughout your lives, sow the seed of the Qur'an [in your hearts] and follow it.”
“God does not burden any soul with more than it can bear: each gains whatever good it has done, and suffers its bad – ‘Lord, do not take us to task if we forget or make mistakes. Lord, do not burden us as You burdened those before us. Lord, do not burden us with more than we have strength to bear. Pardon us, forgive us, and have mercy on us. You are our Protector…’”
Holy Qur’an 2:286
"In dealing with nature, human beings must respect and pay what is due to each creature; each creature has its corresponding claims or rights. Islam stands totally against the idea that humans have all the rights and other creatures have none except what we give them. The rights of creatures were accorded by God; they are not to be treated arbitrarily by humans."
Seyyed Hossein Nasr, "Ecology", in A Companion to Muslim Ethics (Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2010)
"Designers of genius are those who have managed to extend that space of possible solutions and to convince the populations concerned of the appropriateness of the solutions that have pushed back the boundaries of the acceptable. Innovations, by getting accepted, expand the domain of the ordinary. But innovations, to be accepted, must be rooted in a profound knowledge of self and of society and its needs if they are not to be mere artifice or caprice. Such knowledge of society and its needs requires an understanding of history and religion as much as of sociology, politics, or economics. Without such a wellspring of knowledge to draw upon, the inspiration of the designers is likely to promote an impoverished vision and produce a pedestrian output."
"As an individual, one can make a difference. Might we try to stop using plastic completely? Buy glass instead. Insist on reusable straws and more. Might you please try to recycle everything you can? Plant more. Plant everywhere [...] Have a plant in your kitchen. Buy local as much as you can [...] if you don’t urgently have to travel for work, you can choose to teleconference instead. You can sometimes take a train instead of the plane...if being a carnivore isn’t paramount to you, you could consider eating less meat. A long list of options I know, [but] we can, must, all start somewhere."
"In the Shia Ismaili Muslim tradition, voluntary service to others is viewed as an integral and positive part of daily life, and never as a burdensome obligation or an elective activity. Service is a means for each individual to actualise Islam's ethics of inclusiveness, of compassion, of sharing, of the respect for life, and of personal responsibility for sustaining a healthy physical, social and cultural environment."
