KHUTAB XI: 17. MODERATION

17. MODERATION

Many people in the past were either negligent or extreme in their behaviour and actions. Scholars of moral science said that the virtue was in being between two extremes, moderation. “Extremes are dangerous,” and “in excess even nectar is poison,” the proverbs say. Allah says in the Qur’ān.

وَلَا تَجْعَلْ يَدَكَ مَغْلُولَةً إِلَى عُنُقِكَ وَلَا تَبْسُطْهَا كُلَّ الْبَسْطِ

فَتَقْعُدَ مَلُومًا مَحْسُورًا (الإسراء:29)

And let not your hand be tied (like a miser) to your

neck, nor stretch it forth to its utmost reach (like

a spendthrift), so that you become blameworthy

and in severe poverty (Q. 17:29)

It means that we Muslims should neither be stingy like the Jews who said that Allah did not give and spend of His bounty,[1] nor extravagant and giving more than we can afford, or paying more than what we earn, lest we become blameworthy and become in severe poverty. People will condemn and blame us for being miser, and having nothing left to spend. In another verse Allah mentions that good Muslims spend in moderation, as follows:

وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا أَنفَقُوا لَمْ يُسْرِفُوا وَلَمْ يَقْتُرُوا وَكَانَ بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ قَوَامًا (الفرقان:67)

And faithful slaves of Allah] those who, when they

spend, are neither extravagant nor niggardly, but hold

a medium (way) between those (extremes) (Q. 25:67

They spend in moderation, neither extravagant, nor miserly. Moderation is not only in spending, but also in other characters, such as bravery. Cowardice and weakness are blameworthy, so is recklessness. Moderation is also in speaking. When the Prophet (ﷺ) heard Abū Bakr praying in a low voice he asked him the reason. He said that as he was talking to Allah he did it in a low voice as He heard what he said. The Prophet (ﷺ) asked him to raise his voice. When the Prophet (ﷺ) heard ‘Umar praying in loud voice he asked him the reason. He said that he wanted to wake up the sleepers and to scare away Satan. The Prophet asked him to lower his voice.

 As human beings consist of body and soul, both of them have their own needs. In order to survive, the body needs food, water, etc., and the soul needs its spiritual food, such as dhikr (remembering Allah), reading the Qur’ān, contemplation, fearing and desiring Allah. It is said that the Jews and the Christians were in excess in one side and negligent on the other. The Jews were in extreme in material side, such as fishing on Friday and Sunday instead of Saturday which was prohibited from fishing, and were negligent in spiritual side. On the contrary, the Christians especially in the past were negligent on material side, but extreme in satisfying the spiritual side, such as inventing monasticism and other kinds of worship, as mentioned in the Qur’ān, as follows:

... وَرَهْبَانِيَّةً ابْتَدَعُوهَا مَا كَتَبْنَاهَا عَلَيْهِمْ إِلَّا ابْتِغَاءَ رِضْوَانِ اللَّهِ

فَمَا رَعَوْهَا حَقَّ رِعَايَتِهَا (الحديد:27(

… But the monasticism which they invented for themselves,

We did not prescribe for them, but (they thought it) only

to please Allah therewith, but they did not observe

it with the right observant (Q. 57:27)

Muhammad Asad comments on the term rahbāniyyah in the above verse. He says, “The term rahbāniyyah combines the concepts of monastic life with an exaggerated asceticism, often amounting to a denial of any value in the lives of this world—an attitude characteristic of early Christianity but disapproved of in Islam. (M. Asad, The Message of the Qur’ān, p. 30, n. 118).

Anas ibn Mālik narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ عَنْ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: لِكُلِّ نَبِيٍّ رَهْبَانِيَّةٌ

 وَرَهْبَانِيَّةُ هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةِ الْجِهَادُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ (رواه أحمد (

Every Prophet has Rahbāniyyah (monasticism); Jihād

in the cause of Allah is the Rahbāniyyah of this

Ummah (Reported by Aḥmad).

Then Islam comes to go between the two extremes. One example is in the following Qur’ānic verses:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا نُودِيَ لِلصَّلَاةِ مِنْ يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ فَاسْعَوْا

إِلَى ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَذَرُوا الْبَيْعَ ذَلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ. فَإِذَا

قُضِيَتِ الصَّلَاةُ فَانْتَشِرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَابْتَغُوا مِنْ فَضْلِ

اللَّهِ وَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ (الجمعة:9-10(

O you who believe (Muslims)! When the call is

proclaimed for the Salat (prayer) on Friday (Jumu‘ah

prayer), come to the remembrance of Allah [Jumu‘ah

religious talk (Khutbah) and Salat (prayer)] and leave

off business (and every other thing). That is better for

you if you did but know! Then when the (Jumu‘ah)

Salat (prayer) ended, you may disperse through the

land, and seek the bounty of Allah (by working),

and remember Allah much, that you may

be successful (Q. 62:9-10)

Here we see that calling for prayer, coming to remember Allah and leaving off business are spiritual matters, whereas dispersing through the land and seeking Allah’s bounty after the prayer are material and worldly matters., and yet, to be successful it has to be accompanied with remembering Allah much. This is an indication of balance between religious and worldly matters, and no one is required to stay in the mosque for further spiritual matter after performing the obligatory Friday prayer. This reminds us of the Arabic proverb: خَيْرُ اْلأُمُورِ أَوْسَطُهَا which means “Following the middle path is a virtue.”

The term أُمَّةً وَسَطًا mentioned in the Qur’ān is sometimes cited to indicate that Muslim community is “a middlemost nation.” The term is in the Qur’ānic verse as follows:

وَكَذَلِكَ جَعَلْنَاكُمْ أُمَّةً وَسَطًا لِتَكُونُوا شُهَدَاءَ عَلَى النَّاسِ

وَيَكُونَ الرَّسُولُ عَلَيْكُمْ شَهِيدًا (البقرة:143)

Thus We have made you a waṣaṭ (middle, justly

balanced, just, best) nation, that you be witnesses

over mankind and the Messenger (Muhammad)

be a witness over you (Q. 2:143).

Muhammad Asad translates the term waṣaṭ as “a community of the middle way,” keeping an equitable balance between two extremes, namely, moderation. He said:

In tune with its oft-repeated call to moderation in every

aspect of life the Qur’ān exhorts the believers not to place

too great an emphasis on the physical and material aspects

of their lives, but postulates, at the same time, that man’s

urges and desires relating to this “life of the flesh”

are God-willed and therefore, legitimate.[2]

Al-Ṭabarī holds the same view when he said that Allah called the Muslim community waṣaṭ (“middle”) because of their being moderate in practicing religion (Islam), neither the extreme of the Christians in asceticism and in exaggerating the position of Jesus, nor the negligence of the Jews who replaced the book of Allah, killed their Prophets, and denied their Lord, as the best thing according to Allah is in its moderation.

M.M. Pickthall translates ummatan waṣaṭan as “a middle nation,” whereas A.Yusuf Ali translates it as “an Ummah justly balanced.” The Qur’ān translation published in Saudi Arabia translates it as “a just (and the best) nation.” This translation is based on many traditions from the Prophet (ﷺ) and interpretations of earlier commentators. Among the traditions of the Prophet (ﷺ) are narrated by Abū Hurayrah and Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī and reported by Bukhārī, Muslim, al-Tirmidhī and others, that the term أُمَّةً وَسَطًا (ummatan waṣaṭan) means أُمَّة عُدُولًا (honest people), and the term وَسَط means عَدْل, (just, honest). This is also the view of classical Qur’ān commentators, such as: Mujāhid, Qatādah, ‘Aṭā’ and Ibn ‘Abbās. Explaining the above verse the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

The Prophet would come on the Day of Resurrection with

two or more people (his only following!), and his people

would also be summoned and asked, “Has he (their

Prophet) conveyed (the Message) to you?” They would say, ‘No.’ He would be asked, ‘Have you conveyed (the Message)

to your people?’ He would say, ‘Yes.’ He would be asked,

‘Who testifies for you?’ He would say, ‘Muhammad and his Ummah.’ Muhammad and his Ummah would be then summoned and asked, ‘Has he conveyed (the Message)

to his people?’ They would say, ‘Yes.’ They would be

asked, ’Who told you that?’ They would say, ‘Our Prophet (Muhammad) came to us and told us that the Messenger

have conveyed (their Messages.’ Hence Allah’s statement:

وَكَذَلِكَ جَعَلْنَاكُمْ أُمَّةً وَسَطًا meaning the ‘adl (just people)

Reported by Aḥmad)

According to modern standard Arabic there is no difference between the term وَسْط (wasṭ), وَسَط (wasaṭ), and أَوْسَط (awsaṭ) meaning “middle”. The term الْشَّرْقُ الأَوْسَط means “the Middle East.” But in classical Arabic which is the language of the Qur’ān, according to the linguist Abū Naṣr Ismā‘īl al-Jawharī (d.393/1003) who was the first person who had tried to fly but failed, there is distinction between the term وَسْط (wasṭ) and وَسَط (wasaṭ); the former means “middle”, and the latter has other meanings, namely, "just" and "best". However, there is relationship between the two words, as being “in the middle” means not taking sides, being just, which is the best.

The term وَسَط in the expression of the Arabs has two meanings: (a) just, honest, such as the expression, كُنْ مِنَ النَّاسِ جَمِيعًا وَسَطَا meaning “Be just among all people.” (b) the best, as in the expression فُلَانٌ مِنْ أَوْسَطِ قَوْمِهِ meaning “So-and-so is one of the best among his people,” or فُلَانٌ وَسَطُ قَوْمِهِ meaning “So-and-so is the best among his people” (أَيْ مِنْ خِيَارِهِمْ وَأَهْلُ الْحَسَبِ مِنْهُم). These two meanings are used in translating أُمَّةً وَسَطًا as “a just (and the best) nation” mentioned above. These two meanings are also used in the following verse:

قَالَ أَوْسَطُهُمْ أَلَمْ أَقُلْ لَكُمْ لَوْلَا تُسَبِّحُونَ (القلم:28)

The best among them said: “Did I not tell you,

why do you not say “If Allah wills”?[3] (Q. 68:28)

According to Ibn ‘Abbās, Mujāhid, Ibn Jubayr, ‘Ikrimah, Muḥammad ibn Ka‘b, al-Rabī‘ ibn Anas, al-Ḍaḥḥāk, and Qatādah, the term أَوْسَطُهُمْ in the verse means “the most just of them and the best of them” .(أَعْدَلُهُمْ وَخَيْرُهُمْ) Al-Qurṭubī put it “the ideal, the most just and the most intelligent among them.” (أَمْثَلُهُمْ وَأَعْدَلُهُمْ وَأَعْقَلُهُمْ).                

(CIVIC, 6 January, 2017)

المراجع:

المكتبة الشاملة

تفسير الطبري (ت. 310 هـ(

تفسير القرطبى (ت. 671 هـ(

( تفسير ابن كثير (ت. 774 هـ(

The Noble Qur’ān. (Ministry of Islamic Affairs) Riyad.

M. Asad, The Message of the Qur’ān

M.M. Pickthall. The Glorious Qur’ān

A.Y. Ali. The Meaning of the Holy Qur’ān. https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/ إسماعيل_بن_حماد_الجوهري

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[1] It is mentioned in the Qur’ān the following verse: وَقَالَتِ الْيَهُودُ يَدُ اللَّهِ مَغْلُولَةٌ غُلَّتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَلُعِنُوا بِمَا قَالُوا بَلْ يَدَاهُ مَبْسُوطَتَانِ يُنْفِقُ كَيْفَ يَشَاءُ... (المائدة:64)  “The Jews say: ‘Allah’s Hands tied up (i.e., He does not give and spend of His bounty.)’ Be their hands tied up and be they accursed for what they uttered. Nay, both His Hands are widely outstretched. He spends (of His bounty) as He wills … (Q. 5:64)

[2]M. Asad, The Message of the Qur’ān, p. 30, n. 118

[3] The term لَوْلَا تُسَبِّحُونَ in the above verse means “why don’t you glorify Allah and thank Him for what He has given you and favoured you with?” but in his context it means “why don’t you say ‘if Allah wills’ (إنْ شَاءَ اللّه)?” It is about persons who swore to pluck the fruits of their garden in the morning, so that poor people and beggars would not know, and would keep its fruits for themselves, and would not give anything of it in charity. Because they did not say “if Allah wills (إنْ شَاءَ اللّه)” their crops were destroyed. Then they repented to Allah and acknowledged their mistake (See Q. 68:17-32)