The moderation Muhammad (peace be upon him) called for is not only confined to acts of worship or man’s relationship with God, but we see Him stressing this meaning in directing man in his personal life and in the domain of food and drink.
Narrated Al-Meqdad bin Ma’di Karb (may Allah bless him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, “No man fills a container worse than his stomach. A few morsels that keep his back upright are sufficient for him. If he has to, then he should keep one-third for food, one-third for drink and one-third for his breathing.”
The Glorious Qur’an stresses moderation in food and drink as the Almighty said, “0 children of Adam, take your adornment at every masjid, and eat and drink, but be not excessive. Indeed, He likes not those who commit excess:’ (Al-Araf: 31)
In His supplication to Allah, Muhammad (peace be upon him) emphasized moderation in all fields of life; His companion – Ammar bin Yasser (may Allah bless them both) narrates one of Muhammad’s supplications as, “0 Allah, cause me to fear you in secret and in public. I ask you to make me true in speech in times of pleasure and of anger. I ask you to make me moderate times of wealth and poverty.”
In this supplication, He asks Allah to bestow upon Him Allah’s fear and commitment to His orders in public, and by himself. Also to stick to the right word in bliss and anger, and to be moderate in expenditures, while poor and rich.
Determination and Ambition in His character
Those who are prosperous in life depend on two pivotal qualities: knowledge and will; and on the basis of that two people’s status and positions differ. Some people are lacking in knowledge and weak-willed and these are the lowest in status; others have knowledge, but weak-willed, therefore remain confined to the ego without using their potentialities; and some others have poor knowledge but a lot of effort, therefore act haphazardly and aimlessly. The perfect status for people is fulfilled by. Knowledge and will when joined.
A person endowed with will and ambition, and too, being fully aware of his goals, is of the most powerful characteristics he can possess — as the will spurs and strengthens, and ambition is auspicious and draws to the known target.
Many of those who fail in life do so because of being weak-willed as life’s obstacles are many and are more for those who want change. If a man is feeble-minded, he will be an easy catch for the world’s bears and highwaymen.
Muhammad (peace be upon him) was aware of this conception, thus proceeding in life with untiring will and worked for strengthening the will of His companions and nation. He did His best to set for them a gradual ambition to achieve the greatest.
Many a time in His prayer, He made the supplication, “O Allah, I ask you for steadfastness in all my affairs and determination in following the right path.”
He asked Allah to make Him stick to His achievements and to give Him a well-guided, useful and knowledgeable resolution to complete His mission.
Resolution
Muhammad (peace be upon him) was keen on building the souls of His nation, so as to be strong, lofty-minded ones filled with resolution, never fatigued nor affected by the increasing number of the weak or the enemies.
Here is a situation that renders this clear: the Muslims were harmed in the Battle of Uhud, the second battle where Muhammad (peace be upon him) encountered His enemies. Muhammad was wounded and His uncle Hamzah killed with other beloved ones. His enemies mutilated the corpses of His companions and dear ones; He himself had several wounds. Grief and pain befell His companions: some were killed; others were wounded and were bleeding. Then the verses were revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him) who read them to His companions, “so do not weaken and do not grieve, and you will be superior if you are (true) believers.” (Ali Imran: 139)
You are not supposed to lack vigor or be grieved, thus discouraged from the goal you are after. Accordingly, the Muslims buried their grief within themselves, and did not yield to the calamity that befell them. One’s severest foe is self-defeat, internal weakness and one’s ability to stand pain thus must be withheld and discouraged.
Therefore, Muhammad (peace be upon him) cared for, despite His and His men’s pain, restoring their psychological and hearty balance, and ridding them of any traces of internal defeat. At that time, Muhammad saw that He had to reorganize His men quickly, and that the wounded bear themselves well with the sound ones to form the army again to track the enemy and stop them from repeating their aggression.
The leader of the Quraysh liked to install fear and terror into the hearts of Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) companions to deepen their feeling of defeat -and being either killed or wounded by sending a word that the Arab tribes had collaborated with the Quraysh to eliminate them and that they were on the way.
However, Muhammad (peace be upon him) under such circumstances accepted the challenge and departed Uhud to pursue the Quraysh. He gathered His companions in a place called Hamrea Al-Asad and stayed there for three nights raising the banners and getting ready for the enemy, demonstrating their solidarity and resolution till the verses were revealed to Muhammad and He read to His companions, “Those (believers) who responded to Allah and the Messenger after injury had struck them. For those who did well among them and feared Allah is a great reward. Those to whom hypocrites said, ‘Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them.
But it (merely) increased their faith, and they said, “Sufficient for us is Allah, and (He is) the best Disposer of Affairs.” (Ali lmran: 172)
Of the best gains of that situation was in the Muslims’ restoration of their strength and resolution, and quickly ridding themselves of the traces of defeat and setting out again towards their goal.
Resolution in Heart
Resolution is mainly a hearty act; if the heart loses its determination, the body experiences a decline in vigor however strong it may be. The organs of the body may be moderate in strength but can be rendered powerful by the determination of the heart, solid and supported by its will and ambition.
Here, Muhammad (peace be upon him) concentrates in His directions of His companions towards installing resolution into their hearts, on that their hearts have the final say in this, and that the determination of the heart precedes that of the organs.
In many situations, He tells them that man can attain the highest positions by sheer determination, even before his organs allow it. In a hadith He says, “He who intends to do a good deed but he does not do it, then Allah records it for him as a full good deed.”
Regarding the one prepared for the enemy and dies before, “Allah has made his reward full, according to his intention.”
Concerning those who were held back from accompanying Him to protect the borders of the Muslim state, in the Battle of Tabuk, because of some excuses, He said, “Some people have remained behind us in Medina, and never cross a valley, but they are with us. They share the reward with us because they have been held back by a valid excuse.”
But the matter, according to the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) conception, goes beyond to acts of worship between man and God. He said in a hadith showing the merit of this supplication, “If a man prays in the night and sleep overcomes him during it, Allah writes for him the reward of his prayer, and his sleep is sadaqah for him.”
Furthermore, a poor Muslim with good intentions and high-mindedness could surpass a rich one as He (peace be upon him) said, ‘A dirham was better than a hundred thousand dirhams.’
They said,’O Messenger of Allah, how?’
He said, ‘A man had two dirhams and gave one in charity, and another man went to his wealth and took out a hundred thousand dirhams and gave them to charity.’
It looks here as if Muhammad (peace be upon him) shows that the path to Allah is covered by the power of determination, ambition and good intention. A minor deed with determination and Intention would attain to its doer a hundredfold more than attained by one lacking in will, weak In Intention.
He teaches them that one’s will eliminates hardships, that a weak will means a weak heart, that a lively heart is more determined, that sheer determination is indicative of its livelihood and will lead to a perfect and better life. Good life is attained by high-mindedness, sincere love and free will. Accordingly, life becomes better. The lowest in life are the lowest in determination, least in love and ambition.
Divine Resolution
Those who confine their efforts to realizing limited achievements suffer a decline, and every now and then need to begin a new resolution.
Sometimes their resolution dwindles and abates following their limited achievements. But Muhammad (peace be upon him) deliberately connects his nation’s will with Allah, thus they depend on the Almighty as a source of power for stabilizing their resolutions as the Prophet said, “Allah loves noble, sublime matters and hates foolish ones.”
Here He wants to associate between what He says and the meaning of the Qur’anic verse that says, “when you have decided, then rely upon Allah:‘ (Ali Imran)
And He calls for uniting resolution with relying on Allah, the Almighty, it further invites man to exert what he can, then leaves it all to Allah. In another verse, the Qur’an sets a model of truthfulness with the believers who sacrificed themselves seeking Allah’s satisfaction. Allah says in the Holy Qur’an, “Among the believers are men true to what they promised Allah. Among them is he who has fulfilled his vow (to the death), and among them is he who awaits (Isis chance). And they did not alter (the terms of their commitment) by any alteration:’ (Al-Ahzah: 23)
They associated their resolutions and actions with an allegiance they pledged to Allah, their Creator.
