Moderation in Islam
Moderation in Islam or Moderate Islam is one of the basic term and deliberately used topic in Islam. In the sense of shariah, it is a central characteristic of Islamic creed and It has been used from the very beginning of Islam. it refers to a justly balanced way of life, avoiding extremes and experiencing things in moderation.[1][2][3]
Etymology
Wasat, also called wasatiyyah (وسط, وسطية) is the Arabic word for best, middle, centered, balanced, middle way or moderation.[1] In the Islamic context, meanwhile Qasd (قصد) and Iqtisad (اقتصاد) is another term for moderation in Islam, means right way, middle way, honest, truthful way.[1] The person who follow wasat/qasd is called wasati/wasiti'/Muqsidin'.
In scripture
As Wasat
And thus we have made you a wasat (moderate) community that you will be witnesses over the people and the Messenger will be a witness over you. And We did not make the qiblah which you used to face except that We might make evident who would follow the Messenger from who would turn back on his heels. And indeed, it is difficult except for those whom Allah has guided. And never would Allah have caused you to lose your faith. Indeed Allah is, to the people, Kind and Merciful.
"The best among them"(Awsatauhom) said: “Did I not tell you: why do you not say: Insha’ Allah (If Allah will)).
— Al-Qalam 68:28
As Qasd
And upon Allah we the direction of the [right/moderate/straight] way, and among the various paths are those deviating. And if He willed, He could have guided you all.
— An-Nahl 16:9
And if only they upheld [the law of] the Torah, the Gospel, and what has been revealed to them from their Lord, they would have consumed [provision] from above them and from beneath their feet. Among them are a moderate community, but many of them - evil is that which they do.
— Mayidah 5:66
Had it been an easy gain and a moderate trip, the hypocrites would have followed you, but distant to them was the journey. And they will swear by Allah, "If we were able, we would have gone forth with you," destroying themselves [through false oaths], and Allah knows that indeed they are liars.
— At-Tawbah 9:42
And be moderate in your pace and lower your voice; indeed, the most disagreeable of sounds is the voice of donkeys."
— Luqman 31:19
And when waves come over them like canopies, they supplicate Allah, sincere to Him in religion. But when He delivers them to the land, there are [some] of them who are moderate [in faith]. And none rejects Our signs except everyone treacherous and ungrateful.
— Luqman 31:32
Then we caused to inherit the Book those We have chosen of Our servants; and among them is he who wrongs himself, and among them is he who is moderate, and among them is he who is foremost in good deeds by permission of Allah . That [inheritance] is what is the great bounty.
— Fatir 35:32
In hadiths
As wasat
In a hadith, Islamic prophet Muhammad said that, the meaning of wasat (moderation) in verse 2:143 of Quran is adl (justice).
As qasd or iqtisad
Abu Huraira reported: The Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) said, “The religion (of Islam) is easy, and whoever makes the religion a rigour, it will overpower him. So, follow a middle course (in worship); if you can’t do this, do something near to it and give glad tidings and seek help (of Allah) at morn and at dusk and some part of night”.
— Bukhari:39[6]
Narrated `Aisha: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately and know that your deeds will not make you enter Paradise, and that the most beloved deed to Allah is the most regular and constant even if it were little."
— Sahih Bukhari, chapter: 68, Hadith no: 6020
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once asked a companion: "(Is it true) that you fast all day and stand in prayer all night?" The companion replied that the report was indeed true. The Prophet then said: "Do not do that! Observe the fast sometimes and also leave (it) at other times. Stand up for prayer at night and also sleep at night. Your body has a right over you, your eyes have a right over you and your wife has a right over you."
— Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Hadith 127
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately. . .Always adopt a middle, moderate, regular course, whereby you will reach your target (of paradise)."
— Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Hadith 470
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "The good deeds of any person will not make him enter Paradise (i.e., no one enters paradise only through his good deeds)." The Prophet's companions asked: "Not even you?" The Prophet replied: "Not even myself, unless God bestows His favor and mercy on me. So be moderate in your religious deeds and do what is within your ability. And none of you should wish for death, for if he is a doer of good, he may increase his good deeds, and if he is an evil doer, he may repent to Allah."
— Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Hadith 577
Ibn Abbas reported Allah’s Messenger (May Allah exalt his mention) as saying, “A good manner of conduct and moderation are a 25th part of Prophethood.”
— Sunan Abī Dāwūd 4776
Hakam bin Hazan Qulafi narrated that the Messenger of Allah said, O mankind! You will not be able to do all that you are ordered to do. But follow moderate means and give good news.
— Ahmad 17856, Abu Dawood 1098, Sahihul Jami '7871
In popular culture
A newspaper in Bahrain is named Al-Wasat ('the middle') for its editorial viewpoint of "Promoting the rational middle-ground in debate and tendencies."[7]
See also
- Al-Aqidah Al-Waasitiyyah, a book of Islamic creed by Ibn Taymiah
- Wasatiyyah Institute Malaysia, a Malaysian NGO preaching moderate Islam.
- Al-Wasat Party, a moderate ('middle') political party in Egypt
- Al-Wasat (Bahraini newspaper)
- Delta Geminorum, a star also known by its Arabic name, Wasat, for middle (star)
- Islam Nusantara, an Indonesian distinct Islamic philosophy that promotes the idea of theological moderation called tawasut within its ideology.
- Centrism, a political ideology
- Lagom, a Swedish concept with similar meaning
- Liberalism and progressivism within Islam
- Moderate Islam, a modern moderate denomination of Islam
- Moderation, the process of eliminating or lessening extremes.
- Moderate, a middle position in a left/right political scale
- Via media, the philosophy of the 'middle way'
References
- Kamali, Mohammad Hashim (2015). The Middle Path of Moderation in Islam: The Qurʼānic Principle of Wasaṭiyyah. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190226831.
- Moderation in Islam: In the Contex[t] of Muslim Community in Singapore : a Compilation of Working Papers Presented in the PERGAS Ulama Convention 2003, Held on 13th and 14th September 2003, which Carried the Theme of Moderation in Islam. PERGAS. 2004. ISBN 9789810510329.
- Hashem, Ahmad Omar (1999). Moderation in Islam. United Printing Publishing and Distributing. p. 177.
- Yousif, Ahmad F.; Adeel, M. Ashraf; Wilkinson, Taraneh; Alagha, Joseph; Baidhawy, Zakiyuddin; Ugur, Etga; Bruckmayr, Philipp; Hamid, Sadek; Dar, Showkat Ahmad; Davary, Bahar; Piela, Anna; Bullock, Katherine; Sabet, Amr G. E.; Ebrahimian, Mojtaba; Gada, Muhammad Yassen; el-Muhammady, Ahmad; Haron, Muhammad; Pervez, Saulat (2015). American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 32:3. International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT). pp. 20, 21. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- Moghimi, Seyed Mohammad (2018). Principles and Fundamentals of Islamic Management. Emerald Group Publishing. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-78769-674-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- Brinton, Jacquelene G. (2015). Preaching Islamic Renewal: Religious Authority and Media in Contemporary Egypt. University of California Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-520-28699-3. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- Mansoor Al-Jamri (editor-in-chief) (29 July 2014). "About Alwasat". Al-Wasat.