Balance

The Imam of the Azhar Mosque, Shaykh Salih al-Ja’fari (d. 1979), may Allah be pleased with him and please him, wrote:

“Among the favours of Allah – most high- upon me is that I was once sitting in the Noble Rawda between the Maghrib and Isha prayers, my eyes closed, invoking blessings upon the Prophet,  may Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace. I heard his voice – may Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace – from the Noble Rawda:

((عظ الناس من غير تفريط ولا إفراط))

“Preach to the people, without excess or negligence.”

At that moment I understood the statement of the Abbasid Caliph Abu Ja’far al-Mansur to Imam Malik- may Allah be pleased with him- :

“Compose a book of hadith and make it muwatta’ (accessible) for the people.”

It means: Do not make matters too difficult nor too lax, for the best of matters is the middle path.