Miracles Of The Messenger (H/B) – Darussalam

This is a summary of Shaykh Al Islam Ibn Taymiyyah’s Muqaddamah Fi Usool Tafseer (Introduction to the Principles of Tafsir). It discusses the principles of Tafseer that one should know before studying the Tafseer of the Quran.

Moderation is that one maintains a middle course between extremism and negligence, because it is required from the person in all his circumstances to take a middle course between extremism and neglect. Allaah, the Most High, says, “And those, who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor niggardly, but hold a medium (way) between those (extremes).” In this manner, the person should or rather must act moderately in acts of obedience. So you should not burden yourself with what you cannot bear because when the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) heard about the three individuals, one of whom said, “Indeed, I will not wed women,” and the second said, “I will observe fasting and never break it,” and the third said, “I will stand up in prayer at night and will not sleep”; he (alayhi salātu wa salaam) delivered a speech in which he said, “What is the matter with those who say such and such, indeed I pray at night and sleep, I observe fasting and break it, and I wed women? For whoever turns away from my Sunnah is not from me.”