What is the standard for a deed that does not lead to boredom in the future?
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The questioner : Shaykh, may Allah bless you, what is the standard for not being excessive in what...? Because a person who starts out in the early stages of life feels energy and eagerness to obey.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Who knows what the standard is, and then if he sees... more than stages.
The Shaykh : Yes, the righteous predecessors, without doubt, and especially the followers, had a great deal of worship. But as al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "By Allah, Abu Bakr did not surpass you in the quantity of prayer or fasting, but by what settled in his heart". So the person who wants to follow the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) exactly is the one who treats himself the way a mother treats her child, meaning that he is gentle with himself and takes a share of every good: sometimes he prays, sometimes he remembers Allah, sometimes he reads, sometimes he studies, sometimes he visits a friend, and sometimes he visits a sick person, just as was the case with the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). He would fast until it was said, "He does not break his fast," and he would break his fast until it was said, "He does not fast." And so (peace and blessings be upon him) would vary in his worship according to what the interest required. As for a person forcing himself to do a specific thing, and perhaps in the near or distant future he gets bored, tired, and leaves it, that is not permissible. Yes.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : This was before.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Who knows what the standard is, and then if he sees... more than stages.
The Shaykh : Yes, the righteous predecessors, without doubt, and especially the followers, had a great deal of worship. But as al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "By Allah, Abu Bakr did not surpass you in the quantity of prayer or fasting, but by what settled in his heart". So the person who wants to follow the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) exactly is the one who treats himself the way a mother treats her child, meaning that he is gentle with himself and takes a share of every good: sometimes he prays, sometimes he remembers Allah, sometimes he reads, sometimes he studies, sometimes he visits a friend, and sometimes he visits a sick person, just as was the case with the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). He would fast until it was said, "He does not break his fast," and he would break his fast until it was said, "He does not fast." And so (peace and blessings be upon him) would vary in his worship according to what the interest required. As for a person forcing himself to do a specific thing, and perhaps in the near or distant future he gets bored, tired, and leaves it, that is not permissible. Yes.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : This was before.