Sermon's Title: Moderation : “And thus We have made you a justly balanced nation”
Themes of the Sermon:
The moderation of Islam.
The meaning of moderation and its standard.
The moderation of Ahl al-Sunnah.
All praise is due to Allah, who has prescribed the religion as upright justice, and chosen Islam for us as a straight path. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, alone without partner, and I bear witness that Muḥammad is His servant and messenger. May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him in abundance.
To proceed: fear Allah, servants of Allah, with the true fear of Him, and be mindful of Him in private and in public,
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ
“O you who believe, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except while you are Muslims” [Āl ʿImrān: 102].
Servants of Allah:
When a woman among the Jews menstruated, they would neither eat with her nor stay with her in their homes. The companions of the Prophet ﷺ asked him about this matter, and Allah revealed:
وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْمَحِيضِ قُلْ هُوَ أَذًى فَاعْتَزِلُوا النِّسَاءَ فِي الْمَحِيضِ وَلَا تَقْرَبُوهُنَّ حَتَّى يَطْهُرْنَ
“They ask you about menstruation. Say: it is harm, so keep away from women during menstruation, and do not approach them until they are pure” [al-Baqarah: 222].
The Prophet ﷺ said: “Do everything except intercourse.” When this reached the Jews, they said: “This man does not wish to leave anything from our affairs except that he opposes us in it!” Then Usayd ibn Ḥuḍayr and ʿAbbād ibn Bishr came and said: “O Messenger of Allah! The Jews say such-and-such, shall we then have relations with them?” The face of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ changed. (Narrated by Muslim).
Why did the Prophet ﷺ become angry and his face change?
Because the religion with Allah is Islam, and Islam is the religion of justice, the religion of moderation, the middle way that Allah has chosen for His servants. Any deviation from it, whether by excess or neglect, is a departure from justice and moderation. That is why the Prophet ﷺ was angered when he feared that some might step away from this balance and moderation.
Allah the Exalted said:
وَكَذَلِكَ جَعَلْنَاكُمْ أُمَّةً وَسَطًا لِتَكُونُوا شُهَدَاءَ عَلَى النَّاسِ وَيَكُونَ الرَّسُولُ عَلَيْكُمْ شَهِيدًا
“And thus We have made you a justly balanced nation, that you may be witnesses over the people, and the Messenger will be a witness over you” [al-Baqarah: 143].
The Prophet ﷺ himself explained this verse when he recited it and said: “And ‘the middle’ means justice.” (Narrated by al-Bukhārī).
Thus he ﷺ established that the essence of the middle path in Allah’s religion is justice and balance. Justice is putting everything in its proper place, while injustice is placing something where it does not belong. When things are placed in their proper place, that is goodness, and by it life is maintained.
And this religion has only been prescribed by the Lord of the worlds, whose names include the All-Knowing and the All-Wise. Therefore, the religion as Allah has legislated it is entirely balanced and just—it is the straight path.
Did not the Lord of the worlds say:
وَتَمَّتْ كَلِمَتُ رَبِّكَ صِدْقًا وَعَدْلًا لَا مُبَدِّلَ لِكَلِمَاتِهِ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ
“And the word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and justice. None can alter His words, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing” [al-Anʿām: 115]?
Our Lord has also commanded us:
وَأَنَّ هَذَا صِرَاطِي مُسْتَقِيمًا فَاتَّبِعُوهُ وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا السُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِكُمْ عَنْ سَبِيلِهِ ذَلِكُمْ وَصَّاكُمْ بِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
“And indeed, this is My straight path, so follow it, and do not follow other ways, for they will separate you from His way. This He has instructed you with, that you may become righteous” [al-Anʿām: 153].
Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: “We were with the Prophet ﷺ, and he drew a line, then drew two lines on his right and two lines on his left. Then he placed his hand on the middle line and said: ‘This is the path of Allah,’ then he recited this verse.” (Narrated by Ibn Mājah).
Thus, moderation is Islam itself, the religion Allah revealed and was pleased with. Whoever follows the Sharīʿah in knowledge, action, and judgment is upon moderation, and whoever opposes the Sharīʿah has deviated from moderation.
Moderation is not excluding the Sharīʿah from life, nor chasing deviant opinions to escape servitude. It is not abandoning some rulings of the Sharīʿah or breaking free from the guidance of revelation to please those of whims and desires. For Allah says:
وَأَنِ احْكُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ وَلَا تَتَّبِعْ أَهْوَاءَهُمْ وَاحْذَرْهُمْ أَنْ يَفْتِنُوكَ عَنْ بَعْضِ مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ إِلَيْكَ
“And judge between them by what Allah has revealed, and do not follow their desires, and beware lest they tempt you away from some of what Allah has revealed to you” [al-Māʾidah: 49].
Moderation is not finding a middle ground between contradictory ideas to create harmony between them. Nor is it standing halfway between truth and falsehood, wavering between the two like a lost sheep between two flocks.
مُذَبْذَبِينَ بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ لا إِلَى هَؤُلاءِ وَلا إِلَى هَؤُلاءِ
“Wavering between them, belonging neither to these nor to those” [al-Nisāʾ: 143].
Rather, Allah is the Truth, and His religion is the Truth, and after truth there is only misguidance. Allah says:
وَأَنْزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَمُهَيْمِنًا عَلَيْهِ فَاحْكُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ وَلَا تَتَّبِعْ أَهْوَاءَهُمْ عَمَّا جَاءَكَ مِنَ الْحَقِّ
“And We have revealed to you the Book in truth, confirming what came before it of the Scripture and as a guardian over it. So judge between them by what Allah has revealed, and do not follow their desires away from the truth that has come to you” [al-Māʾidah: 48].
The only true standard of moderation is that which agrees with the Qur’an and the Sunnah. That is the scale Allah sent down so that the lives of people may be established upon justice and fairness. Allah the Exalted said:
لَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا رُسُلَنَا بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ وَأَنْزَلْنَا مَعَهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْمِيزَانَ لِيَقُومَ النَّاسُ بِالْقِسْطِ
“We sent Our messengers with clear proofs, and We sent down with them the Book and the balance so that people may uphold justice” [al-Ḥadīd: 25].
And the Prophet ﷺ said: “Indeed this Qur’an is a rope, one end of it in Allah’s Hand and the other end in your hands. Hold fast to it, for you will never go astray and never perish after it.” (Narrated by Ibn Ḥibbān).
Servants of Allah:
One of the most distinctive features of the moderation of this great religion is that it stands in the middle between the deviations of other religions. Nations that went astray and incurred the wrath of Allah distorted His religion—some through excess and extremism, and others through negligence and deficiency. Allah blessed us with Islam as a balanced religion in belief, worship, law, morals, and manners—without excess and without neglect.
Look at the Jews—may Allah curse them—how they ascribed deficiency to Allah, saying that He was poor and that His hand was chained. Then look at the Christians, who made a created, needy human being into a deity to be worshiped. But Islam taught its followers that Allah is the True God, possessing the most beautiful names and the most exalted attributes, far above all deficiencies, and that ʿĪsā was the servant and messenger of Allah.
Look at the Jews—how they killed the prophets and those who commanded justice among the people. And at the Christians—how they took their priests and monks as lords besides Allah, obeying them in making the forbidden lawful and the lawful forbidden. But Islam came with reverence for the prophets and obedience to them, and with respect for the scholars and consulting them—without following them in what they erred in or slipped into.
Look at the Jews—how they worshiped the world, devouring usury, permitting forbidden things through deceit, and altering the Torah. And look at the Christians—how they regarded the world as filth, from which they could only purify themselves by inventing monasticism. Then Islam came as the balanced religion to affirm what Allah said:
وَابْتَغِ فِيمَا آتَاكَ اللَّهُ الدَّارَ الْآخِرَةَ وَلَا تَنْسَ نَصِيبَكَ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا﴾
“And seek, through what Allah has given you, the home of the Hereafter; and do not forget your share of this world” [al-Qaṣaṣ: 77].
Thus, Islam is the religion of balance, justice, and harmony in all of its rulings and values—uprightness without tyranny, and moderation without deficiency. Allah says:
فَاسْتَقِمْ كَمَا أُمِرْتَ وَمَنْ تَابَ مَعَكَ وَلَا تَطْغَوْا إِنَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ
“So remain on a right course as you have been commanded—you and those who have turned back with you [to Allah]—and do not transgress. Indeed, He sees well what you do” [Hūd: 112].
The Prophet ﷺ established the principle of worship, saying: “Follow a moderate path—three times—for whoever overburdens himself in this religion will be overwhelmed.” (Aḥmad). Meaning: hold fast to balance in deeds, neither excess nor neglect, for this was his way.
Jābir ibn Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “I used to pray with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and his prayer was moderate, and his sermon was moderate.” (Muslim).
The Prophet ﷺ warned against both extremes, saying: “Beware of exaggeration in religion, for those before you were destroyed only because of exaggeration in religion.” (al-Nasāʾī).
He ﷺ also said: “Indeed, part of honoring Allah is to show respect to the elderly Muslim, to the carrier of the Qur’an who does not go to extremes with it nor neglect it, and to the just ruler.” (Abū Dāwūd).
Here is Abū al-Dardāʾ (may Allah be pleased with him), who engaged in so much worship that it affected his wife’s right over him. Salmān (may Allah be pleased with him) visited him and advised him, saying: “Indeed your Lord has a right over you, your own self has a right over you, and your family has a right over you, so give each its due right.” When this was mentioned to the Prophet ﷺ, he said: “Salmān has spoken the truth.” (al-Bukhārī).
May Allah bless me and you with the Great Qur’an, and benefit me and you with what is in it of verses and wise reminder. I seek Allah’s forgiveness for myself and for you, so seek His forgiveness, for He is the All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.
The Second Sermon:
All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, his companions, and those who follow him. To proceed:
Just as Islam is the straight path and the middle religion between all religions, so too were the Companions and those who followed them with excellence upon the Sunnah and the Jamāʿah. They are the saved group to whom Allah granted moderation. Those below them fell short and became negligent, while those above them overstepped and went to extremes. They, however, remained upon upright guidance.
In this ummah there appeared those who declared Muslims to be disbelievers because of sins, condemning them to eternal Hellfire. And there appeared those who said: “No sin can harm alongside faith.” But the way of the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions was that they did not declare a Muslim a disbeliever because of a sin—except for disbelief and shirk. Still, they feared punishment for the sinner and hoped for reward for the doer of good.
In this ummah there appeared those who denied divine decree, and those who claimed man is compelled in all his actions. But the true religion of Allah is faith in divine decree: that man has a will, subordinate to the will of Allah, and that he will be held accountable for his deeds.
Among the Muslims there appeared those who elevated the Prophet’s family and the righteous above their station until they made them partners with Allah. And there appeared those who belittled them or harbored enmity toward them. But the truth lies in loyalty to the believers and love for the noble family of the Prophet ﷺ, while forbidding excess in them and raising them beyond servitude to the Lord of the worlds.
Among the Muslims there appeared those who supported oppression, obeyed rulers in disobedience, and refrained from advising or forbidding evil, under the claim of avoiding tribulation. And there appeared those who rebelled against the rulers, disputed authority with its rightful holders, incited the masses, and shed blood under the pretense of forbidding evil.
The truth and the middle path that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came with is what ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “We pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to listen and obey in ease and hardship, and not to dispute authority with its rightful people, and to stand for or speak the truth wherever we may be, not fearing the blame of any blamer for the sake of Allah.” (al-Bukhārī and Muslim).
This is the true religion of Allah and the straight path. Whoever believes in it and remains steadfast upon it is from the middle ummah—standing as a witness on the Day of Judgment through its justice and excellence.
O Allah, grant victory to Islam and honor the Muslims. Destroy the disbelieving criminals. O Allah, send tranquility into the hearts of those striving in Your path, deliver Your oppressed servants, and raise high the banner of the religion, by Your might, O Mighty, O Strong.
O Allah, grant us security in our lands, rectify our leaders and those in authority over us, and place our governance in the hands of those who fear You, are mindful of You, and seek Your pleasure.
Our Lord, grant us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and save us from the punishment of the Fire.
