14 – Chapter: Moderation in Worship

Allah the Exalted says, “Ta Ha. We did not send down the Qur’an to you that you be distressed” (Taha 20:1-2), and He says, “Allah intends ease for you and does not intend hardship for you” (al-Baqarah 2:185).

[Explanation]
After the author—may Allah have mercy on him—set out in the previous chapter the many avenues that lead to goodness, he now clarifies that one must be moderate in worship. Hence he entitled this chapter “Moderation in Worship.” Moderation (iqtiṣād) means remaining between excess and negligence, for this is what is required of a person in all circumstances: to steer a course between extremism and laxity. Allah the Exalted says, “Those who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor stingy but hold a course between the two” (al-Furqan 25:67).

The same principle applies to worship: you should—and indeed must—be moderate in it, and not burden yourself with what you cannot bear. When the Prophet ﷺ was told of three men—one who said, “I will not marry women,” another, “I fast continuously and never break my fast,” and the third, “I pray all night and never sleep”—he addressed the people and said, “What is the matter with people who say such-and-such? By Allah, I pray and I sleep, I fast and I break my fast, and I marry women. Whoever turns away from my sunnah is not of me.” Thus the Prophet ﷺ declared himself free of anyone who abandons his sunnah and burdens himself