What is the ruling on the enthusiasm of young people at the beginning of their religious commitment?

The questioner : Shaykh, there is a question: Some people, when they become religious, get carried away. Their garment starts from around the knee or a little below the knee, and in his prayer he is always short, as if he is riding, and he appears as if he is very, very humble, and he is almost never sitting, smiling, or laughing. Is this from the Sunnah?

The Shaykh : By Allah, this question reminds me of something that seems natural for enthusiastic young people. This is as it came in the story of Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As, who was a young man from the righteous youth of the Companions. His story indicates this to you after his father married him to a girl from Quraysh. After the marriage, his father asked his son-in-law about her relationship, or his relationship with her. Her answer contained a subtle allusion in eloquent Arabic; she said: "He has not yet lain with us on a bed!" Meaning, it is as if we were not married. And it was natural that Abdullah's father, Amr ibn al-As, was not pleased with this news. So he complained to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Abdullah said: "Either he sent for me or he met me and said to me: 'O Abdullah, it has reached me that you stand in prayer at night, fast during the day, and do not approach women?' He said: 'That was the case, O Messenger of Allah.' He said: , then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) began to set a methodology for him in worship so that he would not exaggerate in it nor be lazy about it. He used to recite the Qur'an once every night, and he used to fast constantly. So whoever is like that in his exaggeration in worship is not fit for marriage, because his energy is directed entirely to worship. Regarding his standing in the house and his recitation of the Qur'an, he said to him: , instead of once every day, . He said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I am young, I have strength, I am able to do more than that.' And this is truly a point of wonder, because people today are exactly the opposite, especially fathers with their righteous sons. The boy grows up in a good home, so he worships and strives to establish prayer in the mosques and attend the lessons of the noble scholars. So his family, his father and mother, discourage him and say to him: 'You have settled down, you are still young, you have a long way ahead, be patient, be patient, you are thirty or forty years old.' But this religious young man says: 'O Messenger of Allah, I am young, I have strength, I am able to do more than that.' How can you tell me to read the Qur'an only once a month? So he said to him (peace be upon him): . He said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I am young,' and he repeated the same phrase, until he (peace and blessings be upon him) concluded with him by saying: . This is regarding standing in night prayer and reciting the Qur'an.
The Shaykh: As for fasting, he used to fast constantly, so he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: ; meaning: so it is as if you fasted constantly. He said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I am young, I am able to do more than that, I have strength.' So he (peace and blessings be upon him) kept being lenient with him until he said to him: . This hadith combines balance in worship and strength in the body, ; because he remains preserving his strength. But if he fasted constantly, his strength would collapse over time, and he would not be able to stand firm against the enemies at that time. He said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I want something better than that.' He said: . He wanted something better than the fast of Dawud. He said: . Then Abdullah ibn Amr parted from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on this methodology. Days passed and days came, and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away to the highest companion, and Abdullah ibn Amr grew old, and the strength he used to boast about was gone. But it was hard for him to leave what he had parted with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) upon. So he used to say: 'I wish I had accepted the dispensation of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).' What is the dispensation? He said to him: . He was not satisfied with it. He said to him: . He was not satisfied with it. But when did he realize his mistake? After he had grown old and aged and become elderly. So he used to say: 'I wish I had accepted the dispensation of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)!'
The Shaykh: At the beginning of this story in "Musnad Imam Ahmad" (may Allah be pleased with him), the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: . What is the meaning of ? Shirrah is energy, intense energy, and it is the nature of youth to rush into worship without thinking about what? The outcome, . An example is a person who holds a grip of iron, but how long can he keep holding it? No matter how strong his muscles are, he will keep doing this and that and then... age. And so the Messenger (peace be upon him) commanded moderation. So Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say: .
The Shaykh: So we, while we are pleased with the young people's turn to religion, worship, and drawing near to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with what He has prescribed, we also advise moderation in worship, fearing that the matter will reverse with them and turn into laxity in the issue, and lack of interest even in the obligatory acts of worship. For the best of deeds are those that are most consistent, even if they are few. This is how we advise our young brothers to be moderate and not to exaggerate; because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says: , and he (peace be upon him) said, starting from this verse: . So we advise these people as we advise the opposite group, who do not care except for performing the obligatory acts only, and then they do not care about committing violations of the Shari'ah, claiming that they pray the prayers and fast Ramadan, and that these prayers and fasting of Ramadan are expiations. And they do not realize that much of these prayers and fasting need what completes these acts of worship because of what is lacking in them, as came in the story of prayer, for example, his saying (peace be upon him): ; so the prayer that most people pray is only recorded for them, in the best case, half, or some of them a tenth, better than a tenth is nine-tenths, and so on. So if this deficiency exists in the prayer, then we must have a reserve of prayer; which is increasing the voluntary prayers.
The Shaykh: Likewise, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said regarding many of the fasters, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . So fasting is two types: fasting from the material things that break the fast, and fasting from the spiritual things that break the fast. But out of the mercy of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), He did not make them invalidating; the spiritual things that break the fast, He did not make them invalidating of the fast because of the difficulty for people. So his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) in the previous hadith: , this is as if it means that he has no fasting, the one who bears false witness, lies in his words, and commits open sinfulness and lewdness; so Allah has no need for him to leave his food and drink. But Allah (Mighty and Majestic) only made the invalidator of fasting the known material things that break the fast; such as eating, drinking, intercourse, and vomiting.
The Shaykh: With this, we command both groups; those who exaggerate in their worship to be moderate, and not to take it as a single burst; because it is feared that they will regress backward. As we command the other young people who are content with performing the obligatory acts and then do not care about completing this deficiency that occurs in the prayer of each one of us, like his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . The obligatory prayer for which only a tenth is recorded for him, and in the best case half, and where is the other half? It is completed from the voluntary prayers. And so the Muslim must strive to perform the obligatory acts of prayer and fasting, and the voluntary ones as well; until the Day of Resurrection, when his prayer and worship are weighed, they are completed for him from the voluntary prayers that he had performed along with the obligatory ones.
This amount is sufficient; for you have been generous and came from there in your car, and now you are returning with us and going back to here, and it will be the middle of the night; so may Allah reward you with good.

The questioner : May Allah bless you.

The Shaykh : Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise be to You. I bear witness that there is no deity but You. I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance.