Explanation of the author's statement: He said, "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Beware of exaggeration, for indeed those before you were destroyed by exaggeration.'"

The Shaykh : He said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

Beware of exaggeration, for indeed, what destroyed those before you was exaggeration.

إياكم والغلو ، فإنما أهلك من كان قبلكم الغلو

Sunan al-Bayhaqi 4:875

".
This is a warning, meaning "beware of it."
It is conjoined to "beware of it," conjoined to "beware of it." It was said that it is conjoined to an implied general statement: "I warn you, and avoid excess, and avoid excess." Yes, because the meaning does not hold if one says "I warn you, and I warn against excess," because excess is not something one warns against; rather, one fears it. So the meaning is "We warn you, what comes after? And avoid excess."
And his saying "excess": Excess is transgressing the limit in praise, whether in commendation or blame. And it may also include more than that. It is said: transgressing the limit in praise, in worship, and in action, because this hadith was revealed regarding the stoning of the pillars, and it was revealed in the context of stoning the pillars, where the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took seven small pebbles and shook them in his hands and said: .
The student: From Ibn Abbas.

The Shaykh : From Umar.
The student: From Ibn Abbas.

The Shaykh : ... .
The student: From Ibn Abbas.

The Shaykh : Okay, what do you have? He said, "He said, and the Messenger of Allah said."
The student: In the two Sahihs, from Ibn Abbas.

The Shaykh : Huh?
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : "Innamā" is a particle of restriction, and restriction is affirming the ruling for the restricted item and negating it for everything else.
And his saying: "Destroyed." Destruction may mean the destruction of religion, or it may mean the destruction of bodies. If it is the former, then the destruction occurred directly through excess, because mere excess is destruction.
And if it is the latter: then excess is a cause for it, meaning that when they committed excess and then departed from the obedience of Allah, Allah destroyed them.
And his saying: "Excess." What is its grammatical case? It is the subject of "destroyed," and "those who were before you" is the object placed before the verb. Is this restriction real or figurative? It is real.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : If we say it is real, we are left with a problem, because there are hadiths in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) attributed causes of destruction to things other than excess, such as his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . Here there are two opposing restrictions. If we say it is real, meaning that there is no destruction except by this in reality, then there is a contradiction between the two hadiths; there is a contradiction between them.
And if we say that the restriction is additional, meaning it is not based on reality and truth, but based on a specific action, yes, then there is no contradiction, such that each is understood in a way that does not contradict the other. Do you understand now? I say a second time, it appears to me... This is a restriction, and the implied meaning of the statement is: "Nothing destroyed those who were before you except excess." Do you understand? Okay.
Does this hadith contradict his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): or not?
We say: If we say the restriction is real, it contradicts and opposes it. And if we say it is additional, there is no contradiction. And in that case, it must be additional so that there is no contradiction between the words of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). So, "Excess destroyed those who were before you." This restriction is based on what? Based on worship. It destroys people through excess in worship.
And the hadith we referred to, destruction in the limits and rights between people, yes, in the judgment between people, is a cause of destruction based on the judgment between people. It is a destroyer; they destroy people with it if they establish the limit for the lowly and not the noble. But here, it is based on worship and devotion to Allah. If a person commits excess in it, he is destroyed. And this is the reality, or the actual situation, that if a person commits excess in the worship of Allah, he is destroyed, because the excess itself is contrary to the Shari'ah, so it is destruction. And it is also a cause of destruction, which may be a cause of physical destruction, which is the death of the person and the loss of physical life.
In this hadith, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) warns his ummah (the Muslim community) of what? Of excess. And he proves that excess is a cause of destruction by the fact that it destroyed the previous nations. From this, it is derived that excess is forbidden from two aspects:
The first aspect: The warning of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) against it, and warning is a prohibition and more.
The second aspect: That it is a cause for the destruction of nations, just as those before us were destroyed.
And people in worship are at two extremes and a middle. Some are negligent, some are excessive, and some are moderate.
And the religion of Allah the Exalted is between the one who commits excess in it and the one who turns away from it. And for a person to be moderate, not leaning toward this or that, this is obligatory. So it is not permissible to be strict in the religion and to exaggerate, nor is it permissible to be negligent and indifferent. Rather, be moderate between this and that.
And excess has many categories, including excess in creed, excess in worship, and excess in dealings. As for excess in creed, it is like what the people of kalam (theology) spoke about regarding the affirmation of attributes. The people of kalam spoke and delved deep until they reached destruction. Certainly, this depth led them to one of two things: either likening Allah to creation or denial of the divine attributes. Either likening Allah to creation or denial of the divine attributes, meaning they likened Allah to His creation and said this is the meaning of the attributes, or they denied the attributes of Allah and said we must purify Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) from any resemblance to creation. And if we affirm this attribute in this way, it means that we have likened. So they denied, but the ummah was moderate and took a middle path in that, not delving deep in affirmation, nor delving deep in denial and purification. For this reason, all the objections that were raised by the later scholars of this ummah against the texts were not raised by the Companions. They did not raise them. Yes, why? Because they took the apparent meaning of the wording and said it is not for us to add to that. So they were not destroyed, but they were on the straight path. And when these Persians, Romans, and others entered the religion, they began to delve deep into these matters and argue in debates and discussions that never end, until they were lost and astray. We ask Allah for safety.
It is derived from this hadith that excess is forbidden and that one should be warned against it.
The student: Excess in acts of worship.

The Shaykh : Yes, yes. As for excess in acts of worship, excess in acts of worship is being strict in them, being strict in them to the point that one sees that neglecting any of them is disbelief or leaving Islam. Like the excess of whom? Like the excess of the Khawarij and the Mu'tazilah. They said: If a person commits a major sin, he is outside Islam. But the Mu'tazilah said he is in a position between two positions, and the Khawarij say he is a disbeliever and they permit his blood, wealth, and honor, and I seek refuge in Allah, for committing a sin from the sins. This is excess and strictness. Yes, and they permitted leaving the ummah and permitted shedding blood. This strictness, what does it lead to? It leads to destruction. Who killed the Rightly Guided Caliphs? Except this, except strictness. There is also strictness in dealings. Strictness in dealings is that a person is strict in matters and forbids everything, even if it is a means, and says it is not permissible for a person to exceed the necessary of his life. This is a path taken by the Sufis, and they were strict and said any person who works in the world does not want the Hereafter. So they were strict in dealings and said it is not permissible to buy what exceeds your necessary need, and it is not permissible to deal, and they renounced the world three times and the like. This strictness, as there are people on the opposite side, the strictness of the Khawarij and the Mu'tazilah was opposed by the laxity of the Murji'ah. The Murji'ah said there is a believer who commits zina, steals, drinks intoxicants, and his faith is like the faith of Jibril and the Messenger of Allah. I seek refuge in Allah. People do not differ in faith; a believer is a believer. Yes. Until they say that Iblis is a believer because he acknowledges, and when it is said Allah declared him a disbeliever, they say then his acknowledgment is not sincere, he lies, he acknowledges the Lord of Majesty and he is a liar. Otherwise, if he had been arrogant about the command of Allah, he would be a believer.
These people, in reality, are suitable for what time? Yes, they are suitable for many people in this time. And without doubt, this is an extreme in laxity, and the first is an extreme in strictness. The people of the Sunnah and the Jama'ah, as you know, say that faith increases and decreases, and that sins decrease it, but they do not take its doer out of it. It may be that faith decreases to the extent of the sins committed.
In buying and selling, there is another extreme: that everything is lawful, that everything is good for the people, meaning it grows, it grows the wealth and strengthens the economy, so it is lawful, whether it is riba (usury or interest) or not, whether it involves deception or not. For this reason, some of the common people say: "The nails of goods are lies" I seek refuge in Allah - "The nails of goods are lies" meaning lie about the goods completely.
These people, and may Allah protect us from them, are extremists in leniency. You find that he earns in the price, in the middle, and in everything; you find he earns a penny or two. And there is no doubt that this is extremism.
As for the middle path, it says: No, you sell and buy. Allah has made selling lawful and has forbidden riba (usury or interest). Not everything is forbidden. The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) used to sell and buy, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) approved of them. He also used to buy and sell (peace and blessings be upon him). So there is nothing forbidden in it, yes.
The student: Exaggeration in customs.

The Shaykh : Exaggeration in customs? For example?
The student: The custom ... .

The Shaykh : Do you mean extravagance?
The student: He holds onto it and exaggerates in it, he holds onto ... .

The Shaykh : Yes, the exaggeration in customs. If this custom is such that it is feared that if a person turns away from it, he will move from changing the custom to changing the worship, then there is no harm ... he says this is a custom, why should he turn to a new custom. But if the custom is changed to a new custom that is more beneficial than the first, then this is from the exaggeration, from the exaggeration that is forbidden. If, for example, someone holds onto his custom in a matter that has occurred which is better than his current custom, we say that this is in fact exaggeration, and he has gone to excess in this custom.
And as for when the customs are equal in benefits, but it is feared that people will move from this custom to expanding in acts of worship, then there is no harm in this.