Part 14
Khyber Jalal
14. The Danger of Excess and Negligence in Understanding and Practicing the Religion
Having examined in earlier parts the different aspects of balance in belief, worship, morals, dealings, social relations, and other areas of life, it is now appropriate to mention one of the important causes of deviation among individuals and societies, namely, excess and negligence in understanding and practicing the religion.
Islam is the first religion that, from its very first days, has waged a firm struggle against every kind of extremism, fanaticism, and departure from the path of balance. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) repeatedly forbade Muslims from excess in religious matters, saying:
إِيَّاكُمْ وَالْغُلُوَّ فِي الدِّينِ، فَإِنَّمَا أَهْلَكَ مَنْ كَانَ قَبْلَكُمُ الْغُلُوُّ فِي الدِّينِ.
“Beware of extremism in religion, for it was extremism in religion that destroyed those who came before you.” (Nasa’i and Ibn Majah)
Islamic history itself bears witness to this. Whenever certain groups have drifted away from the middle way, the ground has been laid for discord, division, and harm to the Muslim ummah. Just as we’ve seen in our own age too, certain people, because of fanaticism and extremism, have become a cause of discord and division within the Muslim ummah, while others have taken up the path of violence, reckless takfir, fanaticism, and baseless harshness, all in the name of defending the religion, when none of these approaches agree with the sharia texts or fit with the Seerah of the merciful Prophet (PBUH).
On the other hand, another group, under the name of open-mindedness, modernity, or keeping up with the times, grows lax about Islam’s fixed principles and values, and tries to downplay the religion’s clear rulings. This kind of conduct is also a form of negligence, a departure from Islam’s correct path. The path the Quran and Sunnah have shown Muslims isn’t the path of excess, nor the path of negligence; it’s that same middle, straight path that carries a Muslim toward his goal.
Allah (SWT) has described the Muslim ummah by this very quality, saying:
وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَاكُمْ أُمَّةً وَسَطًا. البقرة: 143
“And thus We have made you a just [moderate] community.”
For this reason, any thought, idea, movement, or approach that pulls Muslims away from balance, justice, wisdom, mercy, and correct adherence to the Quran and Sunnah needs to be reexamined and corrected.
Unfortunately, some people today, in the name of following the Sunnah and hadith, have gotten so caught up in extremism and fanaticism that other Muslims look like disbelievers or polytheists to them, and in doing so, they’ve become a cause of discord and division within the Muslim ummah. In truth, Islam and the Sunnah have nothing to do with people like this, and they remain lost, wandering in their own misguidance. An informed Muslim always tries to learn the religion on the basis of correct, balanced understanding, and to keep himself safe from the trap of both excess and negligence.
