Explanation of the athar of Muhammad ibn Sirin

The Shaykh : He said: "They used to say." We must understand this scientific terminology. If a Tabi'i says, "They used to say," to whom does the pronoun refer? Since he is a Tabi'i, we must understand that he means the Companions. So here, Muhammad ibn Sirin says, "They used to say," meaning the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). What did the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) say? "Do not honor your friend with what burdens him." This is proper conduct. This is proper conduct in terms of the assumption that going to extremes is proper conduct. This appears in many forms, the clearest of which is in our social settings when a guest is present and a table is set for him with every kind of delicious and pleasant food. This guest eats what he desires, whether he is a small eater or a large one; he eats his need. The host insists on him, "Eat from here, eat from here," of what he has already eaten, so the man feels shy and eats. Then from here, and he keeps moving him from food to food until the man is almost bursting. This is the prohibited matter that Muhammad ibn Sirin transmitted from the Companions that they used to say: "Do not honor your friend with what burdens him." So you, O noble guest, when he tells you to eat from here, and from here, and from the fruit, and from the grapes, and the watermelon, he undoubtedly wants to honor you, but this burdens you. Therefore, we must not be severe or go to extremes in all our dealings, including honoring the guest. The saying of our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has passed us by more than once: , and there is no doubt that the intended meaning of going to extremes here is going to extremes in religion. And there is no doubt—also—that honoring the guest, as passed to us in hadiths in the beginning of the book, I think, came in them: . So honoring the guest is part of the religion, because he says: , just as he says: . So you want to be characterized by this Islamic character, to honor your guest in response to his saying (peace be upon him): , so you present to him food and drink that he has no capacity for. This is never of the etiquette of hospitality; rather, this is against Islamic etiquette. It is only social hypocrisy that has spread in this time and become widespread and pervasive. Therefore, we take from this correct athar of Muhammad ibn Sirin that we do not honor our guest with what burdens him. And this example is not intended for its own sake, and the sensible person expands in his starting point in his life within the limits of this good athar: "Do not honor your guest with what burdens him."
And this is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.