Excessiveness in ‘ibadah.
check out the original pic lol.
Part One
I had this wonderful discussion with a dear sister regarding moderation in Islam, a concept she strongly advocates and rightfully so. This aspect in Islam is often undermined by Muslims… Not because we are ignorant of it but rather due to our lack of proper understanding of it. See, to recognise the moderate way, we need to identify the extreme way. And what do you know! There’s our first mistake - to state the extreme as singular. To find the moderate way, we need to realise that there are two extremes in which one can go. But often times, people are only able to see one extreme and that is the extreme of inaction.
So for example, you have a most noble deed in Islam, spending in the cause of Allah. The extreme most people see is in being miserly and giving nothing at all in charity. But there exists excessiveness even in such a good deed and that is when a person spends beyond what is in accordance, appropriate with his means.
وَالَّذÙينَ Ø¥Ùذَا Ø£ÙŽÙ†ÙÙŽÙ‚Ùوا لَمْ ÙŠÙسْرÙÙÙوا وَلَمْ يَقْتÙرÙوا وَكَانَ بَيْنَ Ø°ÙŽÙ„ÙÙƒÙŽ قَوَاماً
And those, who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor niggardly, but hold a medium (way) between those (extremes).
Surah al-Furqan: 67
If we think about it, we’d easily figure out the other extreme in just about every simple deed we perform. Some are clearly pointed out for us…
“Do not waste water even if performing ablution on the bank of a fast-flowing (large) river.”
[al-Tirmidhi]
While others are implicit. All can be easily understood as you continously gain and practise with knowledge.
“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.“
[Sahih al-Bukhari]
May Allah help us in reclaiming our pride of being the Ummah Wasat (middle nation).
Part Two
A beautiful lesson I heard related to this topic (infaq and extremism) too is that the ‘ulama (scholars) have agreed on four groups of people that exist in this world (and there can never be a fifth):
- Those who work (deeds) only for the akhirah while they only take what is sufficient (basic necessities) from the dunya.
- Those who work with a balanced objective - half for the akhirah and half for the dunya.
- Those who work more for the dunya and less for the akhirah.
- Those who work only for the dunya whilst completely neglecting the akhirah.
It is agreed that the last two groups are wretched and while the first two groups are saved, obviously the first one preceeds the second in righteousness. And the reason there cannot be a fifth group - one that works only for the akhirah - is simply because it is impossible (extremism alert!). One has to turn to the dunya for basic things such as clothes, food and so on in worshipping Allah. How does one pray while he is not covered properly? How does one feed the ones under his responsibility if he does nothing for the dunya? This is why there can never be a fifth group.
Excellent categorisation… And such wisdom can only come with knowledge favoured upon by Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. So work towards it…
After-thought :P
Oh and another interesting point. Sorta linked to my moon post.
A lot of people like to take the example of a candle in some analogies. But it can never be applied in the case of knowledge and ‘ibadah. In Islam, when you do good to others, to help others, by physically helping them out or by teaching them… nothing from the good (rewards or the knowledge itself) that you attain is decreased…
وَالَّذÙينَ آمَنÙوا وَاتَّبَعَتْهÙمْ Ø°ÙرّÙيَّتÙÙ‡ÙÙ… بÙØ¥Ùيمَان٠أَلْØَقْنَا بÙÙ‡Ùمْ Ø°ÙرّÙيَّتَهÙمْ وَمَا أَلَتْنَاهÙÙ… مّÙنْ عَمَلÙÙ‡ÙÙ… مّÙÙ† شَيْء٠كÙلّ٠امْرÙئ٠بÙمَا كَسَبَ رَهÙينٌ
And those who believe and whose offspring follow them in Faith, to them shall We join their offspring, and We shall not decrease the reward of their deeds in anything. Every person is a pledge for that which he has earned.
Surah at-Tur: 21
So there is no concept of burning yourself to shed light upon others. On the other hand, harming yourself in the name of helping another in good… That’s an extreme!
And Allah knows best.
All good is from Him and any mistakes are my own.
Mashaa`Allaah wonderful post as always, I love your blog :), please don’t delete it ever.
May Allaah increase you in your knowledge and protect you always :)
Uhibbuki fillaah :)
Jazakillahu khair! Ameen ameen.
May He, for whose sake you love me, love you also, ameen :D
jazakallahu khair- that was a nice post. Good candidate for being converted to an article in my opinion.
Wa iyyakum. Well I’ve a couple of proper essays to write so I doubt I could elaborate on this one. But thank you anyway.
And a big jazakillahu khair to the sis who inspired this post. She deserves credit too (Y).
Asalaam alaikum,
Mashallah this is a nice topic. When you mentioned the 4 groups of people, I thought about this hadith:
Anas said, “Three people came to the houses of the wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to ask about how the Prophet worshipped. When they were told, it was as if they thought it was little and said, ‘Where are we in relation to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who has been forgiven his past and future wrong actions?’” He said, “One of them said, ‘I will pray all of every night.’ Another said, ‘I will fast all the time and not break the fast.’ The other said, “I will withdraw from women and never marry.’ The Messenger of Allah came to them and said, ‘Are you the ones who said such-and-such? By Allah, I am the one among you with the most fear and awareness of Allah, but I fast and break the fast, I pray and I sleep, and I marry women. Whoever disdains my sunna is not with me.’” [Agreed upon]
So where would this group of people fit in?
I understand what you are saying about recognizing the middle path by being aware of the extreme paths, but do you think its that easy? I think for a lot of things it is, but I think there are some difficult things as well. What about Muslims today? I personally think the overwhelming majority are towards the extreme of not practicing all of the aspects of Islam.
wa ‘alaykum as-salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh
See, that hadith shows a prime example of the extreme of activity. When you worship beyond what is prescribed, you are in fact following your own desires. And desires are a part of the dunya. So they almost fall into the non-existent “fifth group”… Had they persisted, it would have been merely working for the dunya. They feel good about themselves while they avail nothing for the akhirah.
I agree that there are many things in which it is difficult and almost impossible to identify the extremes to. Especially so in contemporary matters.
The problem I see with the extreme of inactivity amongst Muslims today is partly the extreme of the ‘active’ Muslims. What I mean by this is the way we call out (or do not call out) to these non-practising Muslims. And I could go on about that but I’m sure you know it very well too so there’s no need for more rhetoric on that.
There is much improvement needed, insha Allah… And very much of it begins with the self.
Wallahu a’lam.
Asalaam alaikum,
Yes, you’re right about how one goes about calling people to Islam. In fact that gives me an idea for a discussion on my blog.
wasalaam,
Arshad