Absolute Justice, Kindness and Kinship — Page 223
— Part II 218 Again he said, 'You shall never be able to tire Allah. Do not think that you can gain ascendancy over Him by being extreme in worship. So be patient and only offer that much prayer which you can easily perform. ' 29 Once, three of the Holy Prophet’s sa Companions were discussing the philosophy behind the injunction against excessive worship. They came to the conclusion that the Prophet Muhammad sa , being a Holy person, was guaranteed complete mercy by God. But sinners, as we are, they argued, could not be assured such mercy. The more they prayed the better chance of His forgiveness would they stand. After carrying out a discussion along these lines, one of them vowed to spend every night standing in worship for the remainder of his life. The second Companion vowed to fast every day for the rest of his life and the third made a vow of celibacy. Having heard of this, the Holy Prophet sa said, 'My fear of Allah is greater than yours. At night I pray but I also sleep; I fast but some days I do eat and I do not live a life of celibacy. Whomsoever does not follow my conduct does not belong to my people. ' 30 No other religion stipulates that virtue and justice go hand in hand. In other words, when doing good deeds, one should always strive for balance. There is no virtue in extremes. Likewise, alms-giving is a good deed, but it is an injustice to give all one’s wealth to charities ignoring one’s immediate family altogether.