WASATIYYAH

Wasatiyyah

-the balanced median:-
a term extracted from the Arabic word "wasat" which means "middle of the road", and " center of the circle".Wasat is said to be the midst of extremes such as hot and cold, rich and poor, tall and short, big and small, empty and full, generosity and stinginess, courage and cowardice.
In English, it means moderation, mid-ground, and centrism.
In Holy Quran it means justice, righteousness,and goodness.

Moderation is an Islamic principle for social life; this wasatiyyah is an antidote to ... ghuluww (excessiveness), tanattu' (harshness), tashaddud (severity), tatarruf (extremism) ... in all its forms. Wasatiyyah should not, however, be misconstrued as compromise on principles or undermining of universal ethics; for what practical, social and ethical value can person of faith have in the absence of principles .

Moderation In Islam
-Moderation in Islam means that one does not exaggerate and go beyond the limit set by Allah, and that one does not neglect it and fall short of the limit set by Allah.
- Moderation in religion means following the example of the Prophet(pbuh)

Aspect of Moderation in Islam.
1)Worship
-antidote to extremism
Extremism here indicates to those people that doing ibadah exaggeratedly and going beyond the limit set by Allah and does not follow the sunnah of Prophet(pbuh)

e.g:- Extremism is condemned as the Prophet said; I warn you regarding ghuluww/extremism, because communities before you were destroyed due to extremism [Nisa'i] Greater still is the warning against extremism in religion, as Allah warns "la taghlu fi dinikum" / do not be extreme in your religion. [Qur'an 4:171]
e.g:- -balance between religious duty and overzealous religiosity (eg. The three companions who vowed to engage in obsessive ritual and abstention and the Prophet responded ... By Allah, I fear Allah more then you do, and I am most obedient and dutiful among you to Him, but still I fast (some days) and I don't fast (other days), I pray at night and I also sleep (meaning he does not pray all night), and I married. So, whoever does not follow my sunnah (way of life) does not belong to me." [Bukhari]
-
2)Constancy and Flexibility
Islam is moderate to the believers, as there is a constancy and flexibility to the worshippers.For instance example; 5 times prayers is an obligation to each and every muslim in this world but there is some flexibility for those who facing problem such as sick or handicapped.Those people still need to perform the prayer but in their special ways,if possible sit then sit,if not then laying because Allah never burden you more than you can bear.

- between our abilities and responsibilities [Qur'an 2:286]
-(eg. Prayer is an obligation, but its performance needs to be done only to the best of the individual's ability, standing, if not possible, then sitting, if not then laying down because Allah does not place a burden upon you more than you can bear [Qur'an 2:286]. Furthermore, religion is not intended to cause difficulty or unnecessary inconvenience [Qur'an 22:78]

3)Here and Hereafter
-the teachings of Islam are balanced in all of their aspects. Islam does not preach complete rejection of all worldly pleasures in view of the life hereafter; and on the other hand it does not teach that earthly life is only for pleasure and enjoyment. In Islam, wealth and worldly pleasures can be partaken of in this life as long as they are enjoyed in a way that is in obedience to God. However, Muslims are taught to keep in mind that the life hereafter is their ultimate goal, and therefore one should be charitable and not become too attached to worldly things.

e.g:- to fulfil the 5th pillar of Islam that is going to visit Kaabah(pilgrimage) that would cost a large amount of money.So, in other to do it man need stick to worldly matter, that is finding job to earns money.In that case, it is the prove that Islam does not reject completely the worldly matters.

\4)Individuality and Collectivity
A focus on the characteristics and values that Islam emphasizes, whether individualistic or societal; a rejection of those who assume ritualistic worship to be the ultimate end and of those who assume character to be everything.Islam is the religion that cares about the individuality priority and the collectivity matters.In some action or things the individuality is given priority but in sometimes the collectivity takes place.

Individual responsibility;Allah never burden us,unless with the things that we can.
-protects country,collectivity(ummah) and country.

e.g:-the prayer as obligation,we can choose to pray alone or in jumaah(congregationally) but during Friday it is an obligation to every places to have a congregational jumaat prayer.
Verses 49:4 state that we should not get into other people matter without their will to give them their individual priority.

5)Revealation and minds
Islam is the religion does not force it believers to accept what that the Quran said without knowing the real function of it.The believers is given a chance to think before accepting whatever being given by the Quran.

Verses 49:12 state that you people were be given freedom of tought and critism; if you like Islam do it,if you do not like go.

6)Past and future
Islam asked us to concentrated to whatever we have now, not what had happened in past and not what will happen in the future.But not forgetting those past and neglecting the future, as for now we were asked to concentrated what we have now to improve the past and try to make a better future out of what we get now.

‘those who regretting about the past and dreaming about the future are foolish,the best is concentrating what you have now’