During the lifetime of Allaah's Messenger (peace and blessing be upon him), there was a need to send some representatives to Yemen. For that purpose, he chose two of his notable companions named Abu Muusaa al-Ashari (RA) and Muadh bin Jabal (RA) the one most knowledgeable about what is halaal and haraam in the Muslim nation. Then he said to both of them: "Make things easy for the people and do not put hurdles in their way, and give them glad tiding, and dont let them have aversion or hate doing good deeds and you both should work in cooperation and mutual understanding" (Bukhari)
So, the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessing be upon him) taught his companions moderation in all things and no one should be left out. Indeed, Allaah has described the Muslim community as the best and a justly balanced nation, favoured over the other nations and people before them due to their moderateness. He says: "Thus we have made you, a justly balanced nation, that you be witnesses over mankind and the Messenger be a witness over you" (AI-Baqarah [2]: 143)
Moderation and the Moderates. Moderation is the quality of staying within the stipulated limits, neither lagging behind nor exceeding the limits, being reasonable, and not being harsh hearted and not being to the extreme in all that we engage in from our daily endeavours.
It involves treating matters with insights and good judgement and being reasonable. It can also take the form of granting allowances and overlooking the faults of the people without unnecessarily being hard on them. One day, while the people were in the .mosque of the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him), Abu Hurairah (RA) narrated that a Bedouin urinated in then mosque, and the people shouted at him and rushed to beat him. Allaahs Messenger (peace and blessing be upon him) ordered them to leave him and pour a bucket full of water over the place where the Bedouin has passed urine.
The Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) then said: "You have been sent to make things easy (for the people) and you have not been sent to make things difficult for them." (Bukhari) So who are the Moderators? Your being moderate should not be because of what the people say, but due to love of Allaah and following His Messenger (peace and blessing be upon him). Today, you will find many people saying; "Too much of everything is what is bad, therefore a little drop of alcohol will be beneficial to the body! Or they say using the hijab or allowing the beard to grow is extremism so be liberal instead! And on and on. May Allaah preserve our faith and save us from following the views and desires of the ignorant ones. The religion is easy. Allaah the Most Exalted, has built this religion upon ease and He has facilitated it for us. He said: "He has not placed upon you difficulties in the religion." (AI-Hajj [22]: 78). No one has . been burdened beyond his scope. He says: "AIlaah burdens not a person beyond his scope. He gets reward for that good which he has earned, and he is punished for that evil which he has earned." (AI-Baqarah [2]: 286)
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) also advised us saying, "Religion is very easy and whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that way. So you should not be extremists, but try to be near to perfection and receive the good tidings that you will be rewarded; and gain strength by worshipping in the mornings and In the nights." (Bukhari) The evil effects of going beyond the limits Inability to continue with the action: Do you remember the story of Prophet Muusaa (AS) and Khidr in Suratul Kahf. He (AS) and his boy servant did not get tired on their journey until they had gone beyond what was required of them. Allaah says: "So when they had passed further on (beyond that fixed place), Muusaa said to his boy-servant: "Bring us our morning meal; truly, we suffered much fatigue in this, our journey. "(Kahf [18]: 62)
In this is a parable for those who exceeds due bounds, that they will only reap fatigue as the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings be upon him) had said, "Whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that way." (Bukhari). This is because such activity is not in accordance with the nature of man. Manifestation of going beyond the limits. In the religious affairs. A sign of exceeding the limits set by Allaah and His Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) is to seek another way in matters of worship contrary to the dictates of Allaah and His Messenger.
Narrated Anas bin Malik (RA): A group of three men came to the houses of the wives of the Prophet asking how the Prophet worshipped (Allaah), and when they were informed about that, they considered their worship insufficient and said, "Where are we from. the Prophet as his past and future sins have been forgiven." Then one of them said, "I will offer the prayer throughout the night forever." The other .said, "I will fast throughout the year and will not break my fast." The third said, "I will keep away from the women and will not marry forever." . Allaahs Messenger came to them. And said, "Are you the same people who said so-and-so? By Allaah, I am more submissive to Allaah and more afraid of Him than you; yet I fast and break my fast, I do sleep and I also marry women.
So he - who does not follow my tradition in religion, is not from me (not one of my followers)." (Bukhari). Does this sound familiar? We hear it these days as well. "Oh, that was the time of the Prophet and . sins were few, so we have to do more (rather invent more worship) than they did." May Allaah save us from innovating into His religion. Allaahs Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) happened to pass by Sad as he was performing ablution. Whereupon he said: Sad what is this extravagance?He said: Can there be any idea of extravagance in ablution? Whereupon he (the Prophet) said: Yes ,even if you are by the side of a flowing river. (Tirmidhi) Similarly, in the salaah, you should avoid stretching similar to that of a dog.
Narrated Anas ibn Malik (RA) The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Observe moderation in prostration, and let none of you stretch out his forearms (on the ground) like a dog. (Muslim) Whoever is tired during the acts of worship like salaah should sit and not exceed the limit of what is permissible. Anas bin Malik (RA) related that: "Once the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) entered the Mosque and saw a rope hanging in between its two pillars. He said, "What is this rope?" The people said, "This rope is for Zaynab who, when she feels tired, holds it (to keep standing for the prayer.)" the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) said, Dont use it. Remove the rope. You should pray as long as you feel active, and when you get tired, sit down." (Bukhari)
Even while picking the pebbles for stoning the Shaytaan during the hajj rites, you should be moderate. Abdullah bin Abbaas (RA) narrated that the Messenger of Allaah. (peace and blessing be upon him) asked him to collect pebbles for him to use during the pilgrimage. He (RA) brought him small sized pebbles. When he put them into the Prophets hand, the Prophet said: "How excellent are the likes of these sizes. Beware of going beyond the bounds of the religion. The people before you were destroyed by going to extremes in the religion." (Ahmad)
Adhering exclusively to the view of only one scholar or group: This is one of the ways that people go to extreme. Apart from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), no single individual can be singled out to be followed unconditionally, because we are all prone to making mistakes. So we see some of our brothers today who can only take from their shaykh or from their as if the truth only comes from their leader. Moderation in day to day affairs. In spending: In spending, people are of two extremes: the misers and the spendthrifts. So you will find the misers hand tied to his neck, while the spendthrift is extravagant.
The moderate position is in between this two. Allaah says, "And let your hand be tied to your neck (like a miser) nor stretch it forth to its outmost reach (like a spendthrift), so that you become blame worthy and in severe poverty. "(AI-Israa [17]:29) .
Eat moderately: A Muslim is not supposed to overeat rather he should eat moderately. Eating too much is a characteristic of non- Muslims and the hypocrites. Narrated Nafi: Ibn Umar never used to take his meal unless a poor man was called to eat with him. One day I brought a poor man to eat with him, the man ate too much, whereupon Ibn Umar said, "0 Nafi! Dont let this man enter my house, for I heard the Prophet saying: "A believer eats in one intestine (is satisfied with a little food), and a kafir (unbeliever) eats in seven intestines (eats much food). " (Bukhari)
The cure for going beyond the limits.
Supplication. We should pray to Allaah to keep us free of the extreme ways. Allaah said we should say: "Guide us to the right path. The path of those whom you have blessed, not of those whose portion is wrath nor of those who have gone astray. "(Faatiha [1]: 6 - 7)
Follow the Sunnah. The Prophet took things easy: Narrated Aisha (RA) "Whenever Allaah's Messenger was given the choice of one of two matters, he would choose the easier of the two, as long as it was not sinful to do so, but if it was sinful to do so, he would not approach it. (Bukhari) Anas ibn Malik (RA) narrated that he also said, "Do not be strict on yourselves forthen Allaah will be strict upon you. Verily a people were strict upon themselves so Allaah was strict upon them. It is the remnants of those people who are in hermitages and monasteries.
Then he quoted the verse, "But the monasteries which they invented for themselves, We did not prescribe for them (AI-Hadeed [57] :27) (Abu Dawood) Doing regular deeds even if little: Narrated Aisha (RA): The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say, "those deeds which you can do easily, as Allaah will not get tired (of giving rewards) till you get bored and tired (of performing religious deeds)." The most beloved prayer to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was the one that was done regularly (throughout the life) even if it were little. And whenever the. Prophet offered a prayer he used to offer it regularly" (Bukhari) Narrated Abu Huraira (RA): Allaahs Messenger said, "The deeds of anyone of you will not save you (from the (Hell) )." They said, "Even you (will not be saved by your deeds), O Allaah's Messenger?" He said, "No, even I (will not be saved) unless and until Allaah bestows His Mercy on me. Therefore, do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately ,and worship Allaah in the forenoon and in the afternoon and during a part of the night, and always adopt a middle, moderate, regular course whereby you will reach your target (Paradise)." (Bukhari)
A parting gift. We can see from the above that Islaam is the moderate path between two extreme, the extreme of being lax and the other extreme of going overboard. It is Allaah that has made moderateness the essence of the religion. Allaah says, "Thus have We made of you a nation justly balanced, that you may be witnesses of the people and the Messenger a witness over yourselves"(AI-Baqarah [2]: 143). He also says, "You are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind;" (Aali Imran[3]: 110).
So being balanced is also being best. Allaah also informed us of the reason why we have been made a justly balanced nation; it is to act as a witness other people because if they are not Muslims, then they have fallen short of the mark. We do not discriminate against any Prophet of Allaah; but on the other hand some people went to extreme and raised a prophet to the station of being God, the Almighty; while others denied some of their prophets to the point of killing them. Everything that Allaah sent down to us through his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is justly balanced and it is the best way there could be. Any other thing is at best not good enough or at worst plain evil. Even in matters of this world, people take extreme approaches.
Some are as Allaah says, "And verily, you will find them the greediest of mankind for life" (AI-Baqarah [2]: 96); These are the Jews, and some are as He says, "But the monasterie which they invented for themselves, We did not prescribe for them" (Hadeed [57]: 27); those are the Christians. But look at what Muslims were commanded to do, Allaah says, "But seek with the (wealth) which Allaah has bestowed on you, the home of the Hereafter, yet do not forget your portion in this world" (Qasas [28]: 77).
That is Islaam, just and balanced in all its affairs.
The goals of Shaytaan. Leaving the moderate path of Islaam is the true goal of Shaytaan. As Ibn Qayyim, one of our pious predecessors observed; "Allaah never orders anything except that shaytaan takes two contradictory stances towards it: either shortcoming arid negligence or over zealousness and exaggeration. It does not matter [to him] by which of these two mistakes he becomes victorious over the slave. He comes to the heart of the slave and examines it. If he finds in it apathy and looking for loopholes, he deals with him from that position. He impedes him and makes himself.
He strikes him with laziness and lethargy. He opens for him the door to reinterpretations (taweel), hopes and so forth until the slave may not fulfill anything of what he is commanded. If he finds in the slaves heart alertness, seriousness, desire to work and potential, Shaytaan despairs from attacking him through the above means. Instead, he orders him to strive even harder. He convinces him that what he is doing is not sufficient for him. His ambition is to be greater than that. He must work more than the other workers. He should not sleep when they sleep. He should not break his fast when they break their fasts. He should not rest when they rest. If one of them washes his hands and face three times, he should wash them seven times.
If one makes wudhu for prayer, he must make ghusl. [He orders him to] similar acts of exaggeration and extremism. He makes him go to extremes and beyond the limits. He makes him stray from the straight path in the same way that he makes the first person [described above] fall short of the straight path and not approach it. Shaytaans intention for both is to keep them from the straight path: the first by making him not come close or near to it and the second by making him pass it and go beyond it. Many of creation are misled by these two strategies. There is no escape from them except deep knowledge, faith and the strength to fight shaytaan and stay along the middle path."
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited