Explaining the correct path to distinguishing righteous deeds from others.

The Shaykh : Therefore, the path to knowing what constitutes a righteous deed is not the desires of people, their traditions, or their customs, but rather the path to knowing it is to return to what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was upon. Evidence for this is what al-Bukhari and Muslim also narrated in their Sahihs: They described to these men the worship of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The meaning of this is that he (peace and blessings be upon him) was not a monk; he was not one who stood in prayer all night, nor one who fasted the entire year, nor one who was a hermit who did not visit his wives. Rather, he combined all these rights. He would stand in prayer at night but also sleep, and he would fast during the day but not fast the entire year. He would give his soul its lawful share, just as he would give his wives their share from him. However, when the men mentioned heard the description, they considered, in their opinion, the worship of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to be little. So the narrator of the hadith, who is Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), said: meaning: they found the worship of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to be little. Here lies the desire (hawa), and danger is associated with desire. How can the worship of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) be little, when he stood in prayer, as also came in the two Sahihs from the hadith of al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah and others, who said: It was as if they feared for him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he would weary himself in his worship of his Lord by standing in prayer at night. So his answer (peace and blessings be upon him) was: How can the worship of this noble Prophet be little, and this is his state, such that his Companions, who knew the reality of his worship, feared for him? As for the men, due to their ignorance of justice in everything, including the worship of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), Anas said: they found his worship (peace and blessings be upon him) to be little. They were indicating that they imagined and conceived that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) should stand in prayer all night and not sleep, that he should fast the entire year and not break his fast, and that he should not approach women. Thus, they had imagined the perfect Prophet, and they were surprised by the description of his wives of him, which was contrary to what they had imagined. Therefore, they said that it was little worship. And accordingly, they answered regarding the littleness of his worship (peace be upon him) which they claimed, with an explanation that, had they not been mistaken, what they described the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with would have been open sinfulness, if not disbelief itself. For they said: As for us, we should strive and toil and labor until we attain the forgiveness of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). Then they plotted a plan for themselves, claiming that it was the path to reaching the forgiveness of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). He (peace and blessings be upon him) recounted the statement of each of them: the one who said, "I will fast the entire year," the one who said, "I will stand in prayer all night," and the one who said, "I will not marry women." So he referred to them vaguely and concealed their names and did not expose them. That is the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in admonishing his Companions, who might err in some of their words or actions; he disciplines and educates them without exposing them, rather he conceals their faults, as is his Sunnah (peace and blessings be upon him) in word and deed: So in this hadith, righteousness and drawing near to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) in the path of attaining or obtaining the forgiveness of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is not by the abundance of worship. You have heard what these men resolved to do, which was to increase and add to the worship of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so he rejected it from them and said, explaining the moderation of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in all worships and his lack of extremism in them:
"Whoever turns away from my Sunnah is not of me." The meaning of this last phrase of this authentic hadith is that the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is the way he followed throughout his life in all his actions and worships, with no excess and no negligence. So whoever adds to what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was upon, then at that time he says: So this hadith obligates us to know what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was upon from the religion, whether it was creed, worship, or behavior and morals, so that we follow that, so that our work fulfills the first of the two conditions that our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) indicated in the previous verse by saying: .