Which principle is essential to our understanding as Muslims to counter the challenge presented by extremism in religion?

We need to understand the principle with regard to Allah’s instructions and notion itself that the most basic principle that we hear repeatedly throughout the Qur'an and we hear it also in the Sunnah, is ease. Allah didn’t place any difficulty in this religion:

“inna ma’al usri yusra,”[1]

"With every difficulty comes ease."

The ease is the point, which is stressed throughout the Qur’an. We found Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) has said,

“ Certainly the religion is easy, whoever becomes overly strict with the religion will be overcome by it...”.[2]

The religion is easy, whoever goes to extremes in making it difficult then it will overcome the individual itself. So again we need to know the lines of what constitutes easy and the ease and where the difficulty of extremism produce by extremism comes into play and of course if it is left up to us then everybody has its own version, his ideas to what constitutes strictness over strictness so we will never be able to identify the golden mean the middle path if it is left up to us. And that’s why Allah (سبحانهُ وتعالى) and by His mercy, He sent Prophet (ﷺ) to show us that golden mean, the middle path so he (ﷺ) becomes the criterion, we judge the middle path by what he (ﷺ) did. He (ﷺ) is the best example that’s why Allah calls him (ﷺ) in the Qur'an,

“There is in the messenger of Allah (ﷺ) for you, the best of example.”[3]

The middle path is found in the life of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), so where we go beyond the bounds that were shown by Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) whether too much or too little, that’s where we go to extremes, which means going beyond the bounds that was set by the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). Because he (ﷺ) was the example, he (ﷺ) knew what Allah meant when He gave His commands. He (ﷺ) in his (ﷺ) life lived that middle path, he (ﷺ) gave us the example of how to live that middle path. So whenever we step beyond it we have gone to extremes. This is where we find the guloob. And he (ﷺ) was very precise, very particular about preventing, stopping any form of extremism in the religion. So for example when he (ﷺ) came among his (ﷺ) companions on one occasion and they stood up for him (ﷺ), those who had gone trading North into Syria etc., where when the king comes people all arise for the king, they came back with this idea that we should be doing so for Rasul Allah (ﷺ). If they are arising for the king we should be all the time arising for Rasul Allah (ﷺ). So they stood for him (ﷺ). And he (ﷺ) stopped them and said, “sit down, don’t stand for me, this standing is for Allah”. Qiyaam, first posture in prayer for Allah, we stand up for Allah. And that’s why any other standing, if we stand when the Malaysian flag flutters and that anthem is sung, we have to say where is that from the example of Rasul Allah (ﷺ). Or when a teacher comes in or when a big person comes in or in the courts all arise, all of the standing is questionable. It is a form of extremism. But the society considers it all normal, but to not stand, that is extreme. You are refusing to stand. How the determination of what is extreme can shift from time to time from country to country all of this. So we have to have some basic principles, which guide us in the end, and that basic principle comes from the Sunnah. The point is that if Prophet Mohammad (ﷺ) prohibited the standing, than bowing will obviously be far more prohibited and prostration even more so. So the issue is not merely that of intention if I say that my intention of drinking this glass of…is only to taste I’m not intended to get drunk. We don’t use our intention. We say our intention is for this or that. This is not the base of Deen

References:

[1] [Qur’an 94:6]

[2] [Narrated by al-Bukhaari (39) and Muslim (2816)]

[3] [Qur’an 33:21]