6. I'tidal — Moderation
اعتدال
Dear friends! Islam is one of the most important and foundational principles — and that principle is moderation (i'tidal). Moderation means balance. Too much heat is harmful, too much cold is harmful — the ideal is the middle. Too much is death, too little is weakness and death. God Most High commands:
وَأَقِيمُوا الْوَزْنَ بِالْقِسْطِ وَلَا تُخْسِرُوا الْمِيزَانَ
"And establish weight in justice and do not make deficient the balance." (Ar-Rahman, 55:9) — That is, keep the balance of balance (mizan), and do not create deficiency in it — do not go to any extreme.
Moderation appears in every Quranic verse:
لَا تَظْلِمُونَ وَلَا تُظْلَمُونَ
"You do wrong to none, and no wrong is done to you." (Al-Baqarah, 2:279) — That is, do not oppress anyone and do not be oppressed.
وَآتِ ذَا الْقُرْبَىٰ حَقَّهُ وَالْمِسْكِينَ وَابْنَ السَّبِيلِ وَلَا تُبَذِّرْ تَبْذِيرًا إِنَّ الْمُبَذِّرِينَ كَانُوا إِخْوَانَ الشَّيَاطِينِ وَكَانَ الشَّيْطَانُ لِرَبِّهِ كَفُورًا
"And give the relative his right, and the needy and the traveler, and do not squander wastefully. Indeed, the wasteful are brothers of the devils, and ever has the devil been to his Lord ungrateful." (Al-Isra, 17:26-27) — Give the near relative, the needy, and the traveler their due, and do not squander your wealth in excess — for those who squander are brothers of the devil.
وَلَا تَجْعَلْ يَدَكَ مَغْلُولَةً إِلَى عُنُقِكَ وَلَا تَبْسُطْهَا كُلَّ الْبَسْطِ فَتَقْعُدَ مَلُومًا مَّحْسُورًا
"And do not make your hand tied to your neck, nor extend it completely and sit blamed and regretful." (Al-Isra, 17:29) — That is, neither be completely tight-fisted nor completely extravagant — both extremes are condemned.
In the Hadith Sharif: from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), the Prophet said: three men came to the houses of the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) asking about his acts of worship. When they were told, they considered it inadequate and said: where are we compared to the Prophet? His past and future sins have been forgiven. One of them said: as for me, I will pray every night forever. The second said: I will fast every day without breaking my fast. The third said: I will never marry women. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came to them and said: "Are you those who said such and such? By God, I am the most God-fearing among you and the most aware of Allah — yet I fast and I break my fast, I pray and I sleep, and I marry women. Whoever turns away from my Sunnah is not of me." (Bukhari and Muslim)
That is, three of the Companions came to the houses of the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) asking about his worship. When they learned of it, they thought it was less than expected. They said: where are we compared to the Prophet? Allah has already forgiven his past and future sins. So each one resolved to outdo the Prophet in worship. When the Prophet came to them and heard what they had said, he declared that his Sunnah is the middle path — moderation — and to turn away from the middle path and go to extremes is to stray from Islam. The middle path — neither excessive nor deficient.
Dear friends! Islam is a foundational principle — and that principle is moderation.