14- The Ruling on Extremism in Islam
The meaning of extremism in Islam is to adopt extreme strictness in religious matters, trying to get to the bottom of every matter. Its ruling is that it is a cause of a person’s destruction and ruin. The evidence for this is the saying of the Prophet ﷺ, in which he ﷺ said three times:
« هَلَكَ الْمُتَنَطِّعُوْنَ، هَلَكَ الْمُتَنَطِّعُوْنَ، هَلَكَ الْمُتَنَطِّعُوْنَ »
“Those who go to extremes in the religion are destroyed, those who go to extremes in the religion are destroyed, those who go to extremes in the religion are destroyed.”
The truth of Allah the Exalted and the pure religion consist in following the middle path. Therefore, extremism, going into excessive depth, and making unnecessary things obligatory upon oneself are destruction and ruin, while the best way is the example of the Prophet ﷺ.
