O people, beware of immoderation in religion, for those before you were doomed because of immoderation in religion

Arabic text

عَنْ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ رضي الله عنهما قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ غَدَاةَ الْعَقَبَةِ وَهُوَ عَلَى نَاقَتِهِ: «الْقُطْ لِي حَصًى» فَلَقَطْتُ لَهُ سَبْعَ حَصَيَاتٍ، هُنَّ حَصَى الْخَذْفِ، فَجَعَلَ يَنْفُضُهُنَّ فِي كَفِّهِ وَيَقُولُ: «أَمْثَالَ هَؤُلَاءِ فَارْمُوا» ثُمَّ قَالَ: «أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ، إِيَّاكُمْ وَالْغُلُوَّ فِي الدِّينِ، فَإِنَّما أَهْلَكَ مَنْ كَانَ قَبْلَكُمْ الْغُلُوُّ فِي الدِّينِ».

Translation

Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported: On the morning of ‘Aqabah, when the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was atop his she-camel, he said: "Pick up some pebbles for me." So I picked up seven pebbles for him, which were the size of pebbles used for flinging with fingers. He started shaking them in his hand and saying: "Throw the like of these." Then, he said: "O people, beware of immoderation in religion, for those before you were doomed because of immoderation in religion."

Explanation

Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reports that he was with the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) on the Day of Nahr, the morning of stoning Jamrat al-‘Aqabah during the Farewell Hajj. He (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) ordered him to pick up pebbles for stoning the Jamrahs (stoning pillars), so he picked up seven pebbles for him, each was the size of a chickpea or a hazelnut. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) put them in his hand and then moved them and said: Throw pebbles that are equal in size to these ones. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), then, warned against immoderation, strictness, and exceeding the limits in religious matters because what destroyed the previous nations were immoderation, exaggeration, and strictness in religious matters.

Benefits

• Prohibiting immoderation in religion and pointing out its bad consequences and the fact that it leads to destruction.
• Learning a lesson from the previous nations to avoid the mistakes they had made.
• Encouragement of adherence to the Sunnah.

Topics

• The Creed
• Names and Rulings
• Issues of Pre-Islamic Era