THE MIDDLE WAY

Sâdık Dânâ

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    Allah the Almighty says:
   Whoever obeys the Messenger, he indeed obeys Allah, and whoever turns back, so We have not sent you as a keeper over them. (Nisa, 80)
   Say: If you love Allah, then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your faults, and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful, (Al-i Imran,31)
   The believer who wants to attain God's pleasure should follow and imitate the characteristics of the Prophet in his life including his ordinary and religious practices. A little amount of worship and prayer in accordance with the sunnah of the Prophet is better than a large amount of worship without following his example. His careful followers attained very high degrees and stations because of their obedience to the Sunnah, whereas those who did the opposite lost these high stations because of their laziness in the observance of the Sunnah.
   The Prophet always chose the middle way in his daily life. "Khayrul umûri awsatuha" 'the best conduct is in the middle ways'. There is a famous hadith concerning three companions of the Prophet who wanted to follow an exaggerated form of life as a sign of piety. They decided to lead a life of singleness without marrying, dedicating all their time to devotion and other prayers as well as fasting. The Prophet did not approve of this excessive form of practise and said:
   A little amount of action in accordance with my Sunnah, my path is better than a big amount of action that is not in accordance with my way. Every act, which is against my way, is misguidance and every misguidance will be in the Hell.
   Most people think that the attaining of higher degrees in the spiritual path is related to the performance of a large amount of worship. Real progress in this path depends on leading a life in which the disciple feels that he is in front of his Lord at all times, observing the sunnah of the Prophet, and doing what is necessary at each specific time. There are many people who perform a large amount of voluntary worship, fasting continuously, performing night prayers and doing other sorts of devotions, but who cannot progress because they backbite their friends, do not observe the commandments of God and do not attain the Islamic manner in their dealings with others. They eat everything whether haram or halal food. I wish they did not have such voluntary acts of worship but gave more observance to the halal and haram matters and gave more importance to attaining an Islamic manner.
   The Prophet Peace be upon himsaid:
   Whoever earns from Halal, and eats halal and follows my sunnah, so that the people feel safe from the work of his hands (with no harm there from) such a person definitely will go to Paradise.
   The great Saints of this path have spent their lives in devotions such as prayer and fasting without having food and sleep. These Saints first purified their inner worlds, then their exterior worlds with the grace of God. In that way they annihilated their mundane bodies and freed themselves from the shackles of the body.
   The following hadiths stress the significance of following the Sunnah of the Prophet. In order to follow him one needs to remember him with his tongue first by making prayer on him:
   He informs us that those who are closest to me are those who mention my name by praying for me. (saying sallalahu aleyhi wa sallam)
   For Those who sends me prayers, Allah will give them a light on the bridge of s›rât. It is clear that the people of light will not be from the people of fire i.e. they will not fall into the fire of the hell.
   When one prays for me once Allah shows him compassion ten times.
   Praying over me is better than freeing a slave.
   Let those who are in difficulty pray over me since praying for me erases the difficulties and it causes the sustenance to be abundant.
   For those who take on my morality and follow my way when my community corrupts morally, there will be a reward of a hundred martyrs. (Kanz al-irfân)

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