and others with needs not found in any other congregation.(1) Even though it is performed in the sweltering heat and is preceded by two sermons, the dawn prayer and the like—which are offered in the cool of the day with only a small gathering—are all the more deserving and worthier of being lengthened. Numerous aḥādīth attest to this.

We have mentioned this only to clarify,(2) in connection with the ḥadīth of Anas, the measure of the Messenger of Allah’s prayer—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—for anyone who hears these reports might suppose that they contain some contradiction, or certain people may cling to part of them while neglecting the rest and remain ignorant of the meaning of what they cite.(3)

[Imposing Excessive Rigor upon Oneself: Its Types and Consequences]

In the ḥadīth of Anas cited above, the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said: “Do not impose severity upon yourselves, lest Allah impose severity upon you. A people once imposed severity upon themselves, so Allah imposed severity upon them; their remnants are those who live in hermitages and monasteries—monasticism they invented; We did not prescribe it for them.”(4-6) In this narration the Prophet—peace be upon him—prohibits undue rigor in religion by adding to what the Law has ordained.

Such rigor may take two forms: at times it consists in treating something that is neither obligatory nor recommended as though it were obligatory or recommended in acts of worship,(7) and at other times it consists in treating something that is neither forbidden nor disliked as though it were forbidden or disliked with respect to lawful pleasures. He explained that those Christians who burdened themselves with severity were consequently burdened by Allah, until their affair ended in the innovated monasticism in which they are now engaged.

This indicates the Prophet’s disapproval—peace and blessings be upon him—of the monasticism practiced by the Christians.