The term “ Religious Immoderation” occurs in the Holy Quran in two places: “People of the Book, go not beyond the bounds in your religion, and say not as to Allah but the truth,” [III; 7], and, “Say: ‘People of the Book, go not beyond the bounds in your religion other than the truth, and follow not the caprices of a people who went astray before, and led astray many, and now again have gone astray from the right way’ ” [III; 77].

Ibn Abbas, the venerable Companion, also narrated that when he was one day collecting pebbles for the Messenger of Allah (during the Hadj), the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) bade him to collect small pebbles and addressed him saying, “Such pebbles should you throw! Such pebbles shoud you throw! And beware of going beyond the bounds in your religion, for going beyond the bounds in religion has destroyed those before you!”

Meaning of Religious Immoderation :

Religious immoderation means going beyond the limits restricted by the Holy Scripture (Allah’s word), and by the authentic Hadith of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH). The Holy Scripture and Prophetic Hadith must always be interpreted in compliance with the rules and principles of what is generally referred to as ‘Ilm Al-Usul [i.e., the fundamental rules of Islamic jurisprudence, namely the Koran, the Sunna, analogy and consensus]. To this effect, the Holy Koran confirms that when Allah and His Messenger have decreed a matter, it is not for a believer, man or woman, to have the choice in their affair; and that if we should quarrel on anything, we had better refer it to Allah and His Messenger.

Therefore, in the process of investigating any religious issue, a Muslim is expected to refer directly, and on equal terms, to all of the relevant Koranic and Prophetic texts, and draw upon all of such texts for building up his judgments and conclusions. No preference should be given to any, or even part of a, text over the others. Extremists who go beyond the proper bounds of religion tend to jumble religious texts together advocating, and even highlighting, those texts that fall in well with their exaggerated beliefs, and blinding their eyes to those that contradict such beliefs. They deliberately twist the meanings of Koranic verses so as to meet their extremist attitudes and unjustified desires. Not only do they overlook the verses that contradict or disprove their extremist attitudes, but also deny the original meaning as revealed by Allah. From all the Prophetic Hadith they advocate those that support their exaggerated ideas no matter how weak or unauthentic such Hadith might be, shunning away from the good Hadith that disproves or exposes their deviation, however true and authentic it might be. Moreover, they accept-apart form the Koran and Sunna-every opinion that supports their extremist attitudes, breaching the pedagogic rule, which says. “If you are quoting, be authentic; if you are claiming, bring forth evidence”. They even reject every opinion that foils or disproves their own, even if such an opinion is vindicated and supported by the most authentic evidence. They adopt the texts that appeal to them, hence exploiting but not at all referring to such texts.

Kinds of Religious Immoderation :

Religious immoderation falls into two major types: ideological and practical. The first type occurs when some enthusiastic Muslims go so far as to believe that one part of religion is the whole of it. Enthusiastic Sufi’s, for instance, take for granted that religion is nothing but serenity of the heart, neglecting the legislative and practical aspects of religion. Enthusiasts who advocate a certain branch of religion usually not only give prominence to such a branch over the whole religion, but also look upon those who advocate the other branches with disdain and pity. Imam Al-Shatibi referred to these two types of religious immoderation in his book called “Al-Mowafakat”.

It is well-known that religion comprises fundamental ideological, behavioral and psychological aspects. When any of such aspects is given prominence over the others, immoderation is inevitable. Similarly, when a branch of religion is considered as the whole religion, we fall into grievous immoderation. Is it reasonable, for example, that the whole Islamic religion should be minimized to the art of reciting the Holy Koran, but nothing else?

The second type of religious immoderation, the practical one, occurs when a Muslim falls prey to his own dominating suspicions concerning such things as cultic purity or ablution, and when he goes in religious observations far beyond the bounds decreed by Allah, neglecting his family and work responsibilities, and consequently losing his balance and failing to fulfill the proper objectives he is supposed to fulfill.

Undoubtedly, ideological immoderation is far more dangerous than the practical one, because it is not at all easy to rid oneself of. People suffering from ideological immoderation unrealistically believe that they are always right. Such an attitude has always been the seed of dissension, the essence of evil intentions and the root of caprice and deviation. Because of it hearts have alienated, swords have been unsheathed, and blood has been shed. To this purport, Allah All-mighty says, “And do not quarrel together, and so lose heart, and your power departs.” [IIIIII ; 46].

Reasons For Religious Immoderation :

Reasons for immoderation are quite numerous, the most prominent being ignorance of Divine Legislation and Prophetic Sunna. An extremist enthusiast, who might glorify sanctity and earnestly advocate Allah’s religion, sometimes finds it too hard to bear seeing a sinner Muslim. He even goes so far as to accuse such a sinner of disbelief and irreligion and to consider his sins unforgivable. On the other hand, due to ignorance and immoderation, he might be driven by his great love and admiration of a certain religious person to over dignify him, and even to accuse those who adopt different ideologies of disbelief and immorality.

Ignorance, which is usually manifested by not knowing or misunderstanding a certain religious rule, is easy to cure, especially when it is not motivated by caprice or evil intentions. Acquiring knowledge easily eliminates such ignorance. It has been narrated, for instance, that Omar Ibn Abdul Aziz, the fifth rightly guided Caliph, once debated the Kharijites and was able to convince more than two thousand of them, in just one meeting, to turn repentantly to Islam.

Another reason for immoderation is prejudice and whim that usually lead to deliberate misinterpretation, or even rejection, of authentic texts for the sake of such mundane goals and ambitions as fame or leadership. In this case, immoderation paves the way for heresy and deviation to dwell in man’s mind and heart, and become deeply rooted there. It has been said:

Her love had befallen me before

I Knew what love was;

And it had encountered an empty

Heart and thus conquered.

Once deeply rooted in man’s mind and heart, such whims make it too difficult for him to give up his attitudes or even to admit being on the wrong side. He cleaves to his vanity and desperately seeks evidence and justification for his whims and caprices. Therefore, it has been rightly said, “Get enough knowledge before you become leaders; for once you have become leaders, you will never be able to acquire knowledge.”

Whims may result from a certain abnormal psychological complex that leads to violence and fury, to arbitrariness and injustice, and to the search for bad qualities of others. People possessed of whims are usually characterized with an air of false superiority, haughtiness and arrogance. Their only purpose is to criticize people, bring their errors and mistakes to light, and eclipse their merits and good qualities. They even shun and lose confidence in pious scholars, sticking to their own prejudiced opinions and attitudes, no matter how partial and abnormal they might be.

A third reason for immoderation is that which comes as a reaction against the wide spread corruption and dissolution in our modern Islamic societies. Features of depravity and ethical dissolution in schools and universities, in the streets, on the beaches, in shops and parks will inevitably induce a lot of extremism on the part of those who adopt religious attitudes.

However, before talking about solutions for religious immoderation, it is highly important to distinguish between real immoderation, which is the actual exceeding of religious limitations, i.e. “the real deviation from the right path”, on the one hand, and that feigned by enemies of Islam under such innovated names as “Al-Usuliah” [i.e., fundamentalism] and “Radicalism” in reference to sincere and truthful calls to Allah and His religion, to the implementation of Islamic law, and to abidance by the Holy Book and Prophetic Sunna.

Treatment of Religious Immoderation :

There is no way to eliminate religious immoderation unless the godly faithful devoted scholars are given the chance to carry out the call to Allah in accordance with balanced authentic rules and through a clear view of the essence of true Islamic religion and channels of the Holy Book and Sunna.

The purpose of the whole process of reform is the establishment of a proper Muslim personality that comprises health of body, purity of spirit, and soundness of reason. A Muslim personality should balance between matter and spirit, human needs and moral values, and strive for prosperity and welfare of mankind in the present world and the hereafter. A Muslim personality should be farsighted and delicate. It should profoundly reflect such great qualities as deep consciousness, delicate cognition, good- heartedness, firm determination and strong will. A Muslim’s aims in life should go far beyond purely mundane needs; his message should be more exalted than worldly desires. A Muslim should have full control of his desires and caprices and be rightly guided by good principles and moral values. A Muslim should be so exalted in manners, pure in nature and worthy of admiration and love.