Moderation
The Holy Quran states:
’’وَ کَذٰلِکَ جَعَلْنٰکُمْ اُمَّۃً وَّسَطًا لِّتَکُوْنُوْا شُہَدَآءَ عَلَی النَّاسِ وَ یَکُوْنَ الرَّسُوْلُ عَلَیْکُمْ شَہِیْدًا‘‘ (سورۃ البقرہ: ۱۴۳)
Translation: “And (Muslims!) Thus have We made you a moderate nation, that you may be witnesses over others, and the Messenger may be a witness over you.”
This is a verse from Surah Al-Baqarah in which Allah, the Almighty, states a special thing regarding the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). In the context of the above-mentioned article of the Holy Quran, things have been mentioned regarding the Muslim Ummah: 1- The individuals of the Ummah, i.e. the Muslim Ummah. 2- The center of the Ummah, i.e. the House of Allah. 3- The Prophet of the Ummah, i.e. the Holy Prophet Muhammad Mustafa (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
The Characteristics of the Muslim Ummah
Allah, the Almighty, says: “And thus We have made you a moderate nation” and “(O Muslims!) Thus We have made you a moderate nation.”
In this verse, Allah, the Almighty, mentions a special term while describing the characteristics of the Muhammadan Ummah, saying that We have made you a “middle nation.” In Arabic, “middle” means moderation, moderation, moderation, and the middle path.
An example of this is that what is in the middle looks better and is more prominent. And similarly, when a stage is set up in a gathering, it is set up right in the middle and the chair of the chairman of the gathering is placed right in the middle of the stage, so that it is known that he is the most respected person in the gathering.
Then Allah, the Almighty, says that your characteristic is also such that you are not prone to excess and extravagance, neither are you going beyond the limits nor are you going beyond the limits, because We have made you a moderate and intermediate nation that is based on moderation and justice, so that on the Day of Judgment you can be witnesses against people and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) can be witnesses against you. Therefore, your greatest characteristic is that you are a moderate and intermediate nation and know how to live with moderation and you know how to be moderate and just.
The Speciality of the Muslim Ummah on the Day of Judgment
Before the advent of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), there were many Ummahs in the past, but Allah, the Almighty, did not grant any Ummah or nation the honor that He has granted to the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). This can also be estimated from the fact that on the Day of Judgment, when all people gather, a total of one hundred and twenty rows will be established, out of which 80 rows will be of the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and the remaining forty rows will be of other Ummahs.
Excess and Extravagance in Previous Nations and the Excellence of the Muhammadan Nation
The same defect had developed in all the previous nations that they would exaggerate things or make them too trivial. So the characteristic of the Muhammadan Nation (Ali Sahib, may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is that it knows the moderation of things and it is up to this nation to understand the nature of religion and Sharia and act upon it. For this reason, this nation is being called the last and most excellent nation.
This series of excellence and blessings was also bestowed by Allah, the Almighty, on the Children of Israel, but they acted excessively and excessively and eventually became involved in many superstitions, to the point where they even denied monotheism by declaring Sayyiduna Uzair (peace be upon him) as the son of God, and the Christians called Hazrat Jesus (peace be upon him) Allah forbid! If they accept the Son of Allah, then on the one hand they are making the mistake of giving the prophets the status of God and on the other hand they are denying miracles, as if there is no middle ground between them, on the one hand they are giving them such a high status that they take the matter to the heavens and on the other hand when the prophets show miracles in front of them, they refuse.
If the same thing is seen in the companions, then their temperament seems to be full of moderation, that at a sign from the Prophet (peace be upon him), every companion (peace be upon him) is ready to sacrifice his life and property, but he never says that he will give the Messenger (peace be upon him) the status of God, Nauzabullah! Rather, he says: “Ashhadu anna Muhammadan ‘Abduhu wa Rasulullah” “I bear witness that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the servant of Allah and His Messenger.”
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) taught moderation to his companions (may Allah be pleased with them).
’’عَنْ اَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِکٍ رَضِيَ اللہُ عَنْہُ يَقُولُ: جَاءَ ثَلَاثَۃُ رَہْطٍ إِلٰی بُيُوتِ اَزْوَاجِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّی اللہُ عَلَيْہِ وَسَلَّمَ يَسْاَلُوْنَ عَنْ عِبَادَۃِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّی اللہُ عَلَيْہِ وَسَلَّمَ، فَلَمَّا أخْبِرُوْا کَاَنَّہُمْ تَقَالُّوْہَا فَقَالُوْا وَأيْنَ نَحْنُ مِنَ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّی اللہُ عَلَيْہِ وَسَلَّمَ قَدْ غُفِرَ لَہٗ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِہِ وَمَا تَأخَّرَ، قَالَ أحَدُہُمْ: أمَّا أنَا فَإِنِّيْ اُصَلِّيْ اللَّيْلَ أبَدًا وَقَالَ آخَرُ: أنَا أصُوْمُ الدَّہْرَ وَلَا أفْطِرُ وَقَالَ آخَرُ أنَا أعْتَزِلُ النِّسَاءَ، فَلَا أتَزَوَّجُ أبَدًا فَجَاءَ رَسُوْلُ اللہِ صَلَّی اللہُ عَلَيْہِ وَسَلَّمَ إِلَيْہِمْ فَقَالَ: أنْتُمُ الَّذِيْنَ قُلْتُمْ کَذَا وَکَذَا أمَا وَاللہِ إِنِّيْ لَأخْشَاکُمْ لِلہِ وَأتْقَاکُمْ لَہٗ لَکِنِّيْ أصُوْمُ وَاُفْطِرُ وَأصَلِّيْ وَأرْقُدُ وَأتَزَوَّجُ النِّسَاءَ فَمَنْ رَغِبَ عَنْ سُنَّتِيْ فَلَيْسَ مِنِّيْ۔‘‘(مشکوٰۃ،ص:۱۴۵)
“Hazrat Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: Three people came to the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to ask about the worship of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). When they were told about it, they felt inferior, so they said: What is our relation to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)? Allah has forgiven all their past and present sins. One of them said: I will always pray all night. Another said: I will always fast during the day and will not break my fast. And the third said: I will avoid women and I will never marry. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came to them and said: You are the ones who said such and such, by Allah! I fear Allah more than you and am more pious than you, but I also fast and break my fast, I pray at night and sleep, and I also marry women, so whoever deviates from my Sunnah is not from me. In a very beautiful and comforting way, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) gave the message of moderation to the Ummah through his companions and explained it by giving his own example,
so that it would be easy to act on it, observe it, and learn it. He stated a final point as follows: This is my way, this is the Sharia, and in this moderate way is the success of this world and the Hereafter. Otherwise, whoever will be prone to excess and excess like the Jews and Christians, has no connection with the Muslim Ummah, because the identity of this Ummah is moderation.
The spirit of Sharia
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Sharia does not say that religion or worldly life will be the same in life, it is not that if I am engrossed in worship, I will not be related to anyone, nor that I should cling to the market or the mosque completely, but Sharia tells us that you have to carry religion and worldly life together. You have to trade and perform the duties of worship, you have to pay the rights of Allah and the rights of His servants.
It is not that you become oblivious to the rights of the servants in paying the rights of Allah, nor that you are so busy in serving the servants that you forget the service of God. However, Sharia explains the difference that you must work hard for wealth, but consider it your need, not your goal, otherwise you will fall victim to the disease of “love of wealth”.
Similarly, live in the world, but try as much for the world as you have to live here, and try as much for the Hereafter as you have to live there. If you start working hard for the hereafter for the short life of this world, you will suffer from the disease of “love of the world”, which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) described as the root diseases.
Teaching moderation in beliefs
A Muslim believes in some important things, but it is very important for him to understand that not all beliefs are equal, but rather there is an order among them, for example, monotheism has the first place among beliefs and prophethood has the second. Now, if someone emphasizes the belief in prophethood so much that it proves it to be more important than monotheism, then this is a deviation from the path of moderation.
Similarly, a major form of lack of moderation in beliefs is to explain the belief in monotheism with such intensity that every other member of the ummah is considered a polytheist. Believing in monotheism does not mean that one should insult the saints of Allah, deny their miracles, and, God forbid!, use humorous phrases against the people of Allah under the pretext of explaining monotheism. This is not the way to explain monotheism, nor is it in accordance with the strategy of da’wah.
Indeed, monotheism is the central pillar of religion and polytheism is the greatest sin, indeed the greatest injustice, but under the guise of this, using cheap marketable phrases while mocking the role of the Sufis and saints who preach monotheism is not at all worthy of these great men. All of these are behaviors that deviate from moderation with regard to monotheism.
Similarly, developing a relationship of devotion and love with the Prophets (peace be upon them) and the great men of religion is a great blessing and without it, many aspects of religion remain incomplete, but it is wrong to call everyone except oneself impudent and to consider love and devotion as one’s own contract.
Similarly, under the guise of devotion, giving saints a higher status than the Companions or giving the Prophets the status of God, and then, under the guise of devotion, engaging in the mists of polytheism and innovation, eating among the graves of ancestors, and doing all this by labeling oneself as a lover of the Messenger, to which is added the fact that with the help of this devotion, one considers oneself exempt from acts of worship such as monotheism, prayer, fasting, and Hajj, thinking that this devotion alone is enough for one’s salvation, this is the height of ignorance, which is completely contrary to the moderate characteristic of the Muslim Ummah. The way to be moderate in this is to believe in monotheism, but also understand the position of the religious leaders, to believe in the Messengership, but also learn the correct use of devotion and love.
The need for moderation in movements
In the funeral procession of moderation, ignorant workers of various religious movements also take the lead, and everyone wants to do the work of religion in the same way as our movement operates, although we know very well that there are different branches of religion and the specialty of doing all the branches together was possessed only by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who is described in the Quran as reciting the Book, teaching the Book, teaching wisdom, and purifying the soul among his attributes and positions.
As for the rest, as soon as he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) passed away, all these tasks were well distributed among the first class of the Ummah, i.e. the group of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). This is exactly the order that is found in the current segment of the Ummah, which is being carried out by the Ummah in the form of politics, education and learning, behavior and Sufism, invitation and preaching, research, writing and compilation, jihad and exaltation of the Word of Allah, etc.
Considering any one of these tasks as indispensable and considering all the others as useless or of lesser importance, or demanding that everyone organize their own movement, all of these are attitudes of immoderation. And the only way to bring all of these to moderation is to work hard on one sector of the Ummah and instead of considering the other sectors as your rivals and opponents, become their friends. It is not necessary to become friends and move around, sometimes with one and sometimes with another, but rather to be united in one sector and not oppose the other sectors.
Education of moderation in religion and world
The blessed hadith is:
And Abd Allah bin Amr said: A man came to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and asked him for Jihad, and he said: Am I alive? He said: No, he said: So he fought. Agreed upon. And in a narration: So return to your parents, and keep them in good company.’’ (Mishkat: 3817) Hazrat Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that a man came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and asked him for permission to join the Jihad. He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Are your parents alive?” He said: Yes! He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Strive hard for them both.” In another narration, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Go to your parents and treat them well.” It was understood that jihad is a great deed, but for this companion (may Allah be pleased with him) at that time, serving his parents was a greater deed. So the Prophet (peace be upon him) ordered him to go to his parents and continue serving them. By his decision, he seemed to have explained the nature of the Shariah as to what is the best way for you to practice your religion at this time.
Justice and moderation
. On one occasion, a tribal dispute arose. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) addressed the Companions and said:
“Help your brother, whether he is an oppressor or an oppressed person.” We said: “O Messenger of Allah! You helped him when he was oppressed, so how can you help him when he was oppressed?” He said: “Forbid him from oppression, so that is your victory over him.” (Jami’ al-Tirmidhi: 2255)
“Help your brother, whether he is an oppressor or an oppressed person.” The Companions said: “O Messenger of Allah! I helped him when he was oppressed, but how can I help him when he was oppressed?” He said: “Stop him from oppression, this is your help for him.”
He (peace be upon him) said: Help your brother, whether he is an oppressor or an oppressed person. Now the companions (may Allah be pleased with him) were about to ask, so they asked: O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)! Helping the oppressed person is understood to mean protecting him from oppression, but what does it mean to help the oppressor? So he (peace be upon him) said: Helping the oppressor means preventing him from oppression, this is his help, so that he is prevented from further oppression, that is, if your Muslim brother is oppressing, then you have to support him and prevent him from oppression, and if your brother is oppressed and oppressed, then you have to help him and protect him from oppression. The Sharia has explained the rules regarding both, which attitude you have to adopt here and which attitude you have to adopt there.
Moderation in earning wealth
If someone says that I do not earn at all, because earning is worldly and I want to be religious, he said: This is a wrong attitude, because lawful earning is also included in religious duties, there are many acts of worship that are performed by spending money, such as Zakat, Sadaqah, Fitrah, Sacrifice, Hajj, kinship ties, etc. Similarly, if someone makes wealth the goal of his life and becomes obsessed with accumulating earnings on it, then Shariah guides that this is also a wrong approach, because Allah has created wealth to serve and need man, He did not create himself to spend on it, so you earn wealth, but not for your own purpose, but to fulfill your needs, when your needs are fulfilled, you should no longer make wealth your goal.
Moderation in Spending
Similarly, when it comes to spending money, if someone spends their money extravagantly, the Shariah forbids you to avoid wastefulness and extravagance, and if someone does not spend their money at all, the Shariah says that you should also avoid stinginess, as Allah, the Almighty, says in the Holy Quran:
“And those who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor stingy, and there is a balance between that (excess and extravagance)” (Al-Furqan: 67)
“And those who spend, are neither extravagant nor stingy, but their way is a way of moderation between that (excess and extravagance).”
That is, Allah the Almighty is telling us that The servants of the Most Gracious are those who are moderate and moderate in their spending, and who avoid excess and extravagance, because when they spend wastefully, they will fall into sin and luxury and will bear the burden of buying many unnecessary things, considering them necessary. And if they are stingy, how will they pay Zakat, sacrifice, Hajj, charity, kinship ties, the rights of family and relatives, etc.? That is why the Sharia has shown the path of moderation, that you have to spend and also avoid extravagance.
Moderation between Nawafil and Farid
Fardis are those that are not forgiven under any circumstances, while Nawafil refers to worship that is not obligatory, but rather becomes a source of additional reward. There is also a lot of exaggeration in this regard that we give so much importance to Nawafil that we do not give it to Farid, such as when nights of virtue come, worship is done all night, but when the time comes to perform the Fard prayer of Fajr, all those who perform Nawafil worship fall asleep, in this case, more importance is being given to Nawafil worship, which will not be questioned, but Fard is being left out, although the first question on the Day of Judgment will be about Fard prayer.
Similarly, on the occasion of the sacrifice, those of us who intend to sacrifice do not clean our nails and excess body hair from the first of Dhul-Hijjah until the sacrifice, even though we know that this is a recommended act, which means that whoever does this act will receive a reward and whoever does not do it will not incur any sin,
However, it is surprising that a person continues to perform this optional act for ten days, an act that is a reward, if he does not do it, he will not incur any sin. However, as soon as he sacrifices, he also cleans the hair on his beard, although he knows that if I had cut that hair during those ten days, I would not have incurred any sin, but cutting the beard is a major sin, and is makruh-e-tahrimi.
On the one hand, there is concern for voluntary worship and on the other hand, there is no concern for forbidden acts. This is a matter of excess and extravagance. Going too far and giving so much importance to voluntary acts that even obligatory acts are not given, and doing the recommended acts as they are, but there is no concern for the forbidden acts, which shows that the nature of religion has not been understood and the wise middle teaching of religion has not been understood.
Moderation regarding graves
Regarding graves, we have stood at two extremes of excess and extravagance, while Shariah teaches moderation here too, for example: Take care of the limbs while bathing the deceased, use lukewarm water instead of very cold or very hot water, bury him with honor during burial, offer a funeral, cover his shoulders and when burying him, do not step on the grave, do not make the grave your seat, do not demolish the grave, all of this is a moderate form of respect for your deceased.
Similarly, the Sharia also states that you should not do things that are beyond limits, such as building a grave, building a shrine, lighting a lamp, circumambulating the grave, making it a place of worship, or asking the owner of the grave for prayers, etc., as if both things simultaneously explain that you should neither try to exceed the limits nor try to fall below the limits.
Moderation on the Occasion of Marriage
Regarding our marriage rituals, scholars generally say that if you do the marriage according to Sharia, then it comes to our mind that marriage according to Sharia is probably like mourning. If the marriage is according to Sharia, then there will be a mourning atmosphere, Tasbeeh will have to be recited, Quran recitation or verses of the Holy Quran will have to be finished and then it will seem that there is no atmosphere of happiness, whereas this is not the case at all.
Marriage is an occasion of happiness and it should be celebrated happily and whatever method of celebrating happiness is adopted is not prohibited, but a few conditions are being mentioned which must be considered, for example, there should be no revealing of the veil, there should be no drums, there should be no Hindu customs and traditions, with the rest of these conditions, celebrate your happiness as you wish, even to the extent that you yourself, peace be upon you, are encouraging you to organize the marriage ceremony in a large gathering, to get married in a mosque, to hold a wedding reception and share your happiness with everyone, etc.
Moderation in relationships
Often, there is a glimpse of excess and deficiency in our relationships. If we want to build a relationship with someone, we will establish such a relationship that we will sacrifice our lives for them. We will sit with them all the time, gossip, look for a friend from time to time, go somewhere, attend events, even do business with them. But with a disagreement, this deep friendship turns into enmity and then there comes a time when we cannot even look at each other.
This is a very common imbalance found in our relationships that we keep doing. Now, the Sharia does not say that we should befriend everyone and make everyone the crown of our heads and start doing business with everyone, but rather, regarding the approach that should be adopted towards ordinary Muslims, it said: “You should protect the property, life, honor and dignity of a Muslim, greet him with peace, and help him when he is in need.” That is enough.
However, being friends with someone in such a way that we consider his wrongdoings to be right and hating someone in such a way that we ignore all his good deeds, both attitudes are wrong. If we are related to someone, he may have both good and bad qualities, so we should keep an eye on his good qualities and ignore his bad qualities.
We need to maintain moderation in our relationships, so that we do not turn the relationship into hostility due to a single disagreement, which is a matter of great injustice, for example: Someone is asked: “You are not in touch with so-and-so these days, how are you?” The answer is that he once said something to me that broke my heart, now this is also over, this is also over and this is also over, this is also over, this is also over, this is also over, this is the wrong way.
Moderation of Temper
If someone has so much bravery in his temper that he becomes a tyrant, then Shariah condemns this behavior and if someone brings so much laxity in his temper that he becomes a complete coward, then Shariah also prohibits this cowardice and emphasizes that you should develop courage within yourself, if you remain a coward, how will you wage jihad?! How will you cope with situations that test patience?! Similarly, if a person is so much afflicted with a sense of inferiority that he starts to be ungrateful, then Shariah says that this ingratitude can disappoint you from the mercy of Allah and can push you into the well of disbelief.
And if someone is afflicted with an excessive sense of superiority, which is causing him to be arrogant and conceited, then Shariah also prevents this behavior by instilling humility and modesty in yourself. Do not consider yourself too lowly or too high. Cultivate a habit of humility within yourself and maintain moderation.
Moderation between intellect and emotions
In the same way, there are very strong elements of intellect and emotions in man which often do not allow him to remain moderate. In the light of this verse, this important principle can be understood that you are a moderate nation. You should try to understand the nature of religion and the real foundation and backbone of religion and do not bring your emotions and intellect in between.
Since man is such that sometimes he makes wrong decisions due to emotions, and sometimes he can get caught in the self-made trap of his intellect and make poor decisions, and can fall prey to sensual desires, therefore this nation was explained that you should not make decisions according to your nature, but rather make decisions as the Shariah guides you, whether it comes to your intellect or not, whether your heart agrees or not, whether it is in accordance with your nature or not.
It is quite possible that there is excess and indifference in your nature or your intellect is prone to high and low and thus the matter gets worse in the cycle of your desires. But when you bring yourself together with rational and sensual desires and the Shariah If you submit to the will of God, the Sharia will neither allow you to go beyond the limits nor will it allow you to fall below them, because there is moderation in the Sharia, and ultimately the result will be moderate.
Summary
Allah, the Almighty, described the characteristic of the Ummah of Muhammad in this verse: “And thus We have made you a moderate nation.” Therefore, we need to cultivate moderation in every action we take, in faith, in worship, in paying our dues, in spending, in politics, in good deeds, in our relationships with each other, and in our moods and important decisions.
