MAKTAB MAHMUD PADANG TERAP

SPEECH TEXT
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You Have A Duty To Your Lord,
You Have A Duty To Your Body,
And You Have A Duty To Your Family,
So Give Each One Its Right.

Intro: Give Salam

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, And the Most Merciful

Islam teaches us to be moderate and balanced in all aspects of life, whether it is

religion, worship, relationships, ideas, or daily activities. Principled moderation is one of
the defining characteristics of good character in Islam

Allah said:

َ ‫سو ُل َعلَ ْي ُك ْم‬

‫ش ِهيدًا‬ ِ َّ‫ش َه َدا َء َعلَى الن‬
َّ َ‫اس َويَ ُكون‬
ُ ‫الر‬ ُ ‫طا ِلت َ ُكونُوا‬ َ ‫َو َك َٰذَلِكَ َجعَ ْلنَا ُك ْم أ ُ َّمةً َو‬
ً ‫س‬

Thus, We have made you a justly balanced community that you will be witnesses
over the people and the Messenger will be a witness over you.

Moderation is the center point between two extremes. Every one of our virtues sits at
the moderate center of two vices that stray from it. Our goal should be to find that center
and always return back to it when we move away from it.

Moderation is closely related to balance (tawazun) and justice (‘adl), as justice implies
balancing rights and duties and setting everything in its rightful place. The moderate,
just, and correct action in any given situation often involves the balancing a various
concerns and seeking the middle ground between them.

Verily, everything has two ends and a middle. If you hold one of the ends, the other will
be skewed. If you hold the middle, the two ends will be balanced. You must seek the
middle ground in all things.

This understanding of moderation is alluded to in our concept of the straight path to

Allah in Islam. The straight path is the one that traverses the middle ground, neither
swerving right nor left.
In fact, it is Satan who sets up his partners along the straight path to call people away
from it. The devils intend to mislead humanity into the extremes of any direction as long
as it is away from the straight and middle path.

Try to imagine that this is the straight path of Allah and there is another path that a devil
is upon it calling to its way.
Verily, this is the straight path, so follow it and do not follow other paths.

As such, the principle of moderation should be pervasive in our thought processes and
at the forefront of our reasoning in daily life.

We should be moderate when it comes to balancing the duties of religion and the duties
of worldly life.

Some of the companions complained to the Prophet about the mixed feelings they
experienced. When they were in the study circle of the Prophet, their awareness of the
Hereafter and its realities would be at its peak, while when they returned to family and
work their lives would carry on as usual. The Prophet told them that this was normal and
that a Muslim ought to devote time to the Hereafter as well as worldly life.

As part of this, we should be moderate in our acts of worship such as prayer, fasting,
and even charity. For example, our prayers should be recited in a moderate voice,
neither too loud nor too soft.

Allah said:

Do not recite too loudly in your prayer nor to softly, but seek a way between
them.

Abu Musa reported: We were with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,
during a journey when the people began to exalt Allah loudly. The Prophet said:‫ا‬

O people, be gentle with yourselves for you are not calling upon one who is deaf
or absent. Rather, you are calling upon the Hearing, the Seeing.
The Prophet set the example in his leadership of the prayer and Friday sermon. He
would lead the pray and deliver a sermon that were long enough for the people to
absorb a meaningful lesson or reminder, but not so long that it would case boredom or
distress.

Regarding voluntary acts of worship, the Prophet encouraged his companions on many
occasions to limit their extra worship so that they could take care of their duties to their
families as well as maintain their health.

Abdullah ibn Amr reported: The prophet said to me, “O Abdullah, I am told you fast all
day and pray all night.” I said, “Of course, O Messenger of Allah.” The Prophet said:

Do not do so. Fast and break your fast, pray in the night and sleep. Verily, your
body has a right over you, your eyes have a right over you, and your wife has a
right over you.

We should be moderate in our charity for much the same reason. We ought to spend
enough to help others in need, while still retaining enough to take care of our families
and ourselves.

We should be moderate in our mannerisms with others, carrying ourselves with

tranquility and dignity rather than flamboyance or melancholy.

Finally, we should be moderate in our relationships with others. This includes not only
all of the virtues we mentioned that lie between extremes, but also to keep our feelings
and emotions in check. We should love for people what we love for ourselves, but not
as infatuation that we endorse their sins. And we should hate the sins and evil deeds
people commit, but not as malice that we want to harm them.

Let not your love be infatuation and let not your hatred be destruction.

“How is this?”

When you love someone, you become infatuated like a child. When you hate someone,
you love destruction for your companion.
We need to be moderate particularly when dealing with non-Muslims. Some Muslims go
to extremes either in imitating the bad behaviors of non-Muslims, or rejecting their
culture and companionship completely. Rather, we ought to have a balanced
relationship with them in which we bear witness to our religion with good character.

Ibn Hibban said:

Do not exaggerate in seeking nearness to them, nor be excessive in seeking distance

from them.

Moderation and balance are also the characteristics of great leadership. Mu’awiyah ibn
Abi Sufyan was one of the early Caliphs and an accomplished leader who tried to
balance the rights and duties of himself with his people. He likened this to a delicate
strand of hair that him and his people each held and constantly adjusted, making sure it
is was not too loose to become limp and not too tight that it breaks.

Mu’awiyah, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

It is as if there is strand of hair between the people and myself for me to keep straight
without breaking it.

It was said, “How is that?” Mu’awiyah said:

When they loosen it, I will tighten it. When they tighten it, I will loosen it.

If the people go to an extreme, the leaders have a duty is to reign them in. And if the
leaders go to an extreme, the people have a duty to reign them in. A system of checks
and balances between various sections of society and government can help prevent
extremism and the oppression that arises from it.

To conclude, moderation is a comprehensive principle in Islam that guides a Muslim in

all activities of his or her daily life. It is the avoidance of any type of extremism pleasing
to Satan that leads us astray from the straight path. With a renewed understanding of
this Islamic teaching, Muslims can help counter the many rising tides of extremism that
threaten not only the Muslim community, but all humanity.

Success comes from Allah, and Allah knows best.