Al-Azhar Grand Imam, Prof. Ahmad At-Tayyeb, said the Holy Qur’an contains many verses that indicate the moderation of Islam and the ease of its Sharia. They tell us that the Almighty does not burden man with what he is unable to do or cause him to discontinue. He added that prophetic wisdom confirms that a little constant work is better than much interrupted work. Moreover, it makes a clear prohibition of exaggeration in religiosity and in worship acts, frankly criticizing extremism and strictness in religion. It also slams those who focus on external appearances and physical forms rather than on the essence of religion. 

During the fifteenth episode of his Ramadan program Grand Imam At-Tayyeb Talk, His Eminence added that the Prophet (pbuh) had invoked Allah against extremists, saying, “May the extremists perish!” He said it three times. History testifies that these extremists had no sooner appeared than they perished. The Prophet (pbuh) reprimanded a person leading prayer who lengthened the congregational prayer, and said to him: “O Muˁādh! Are you putting people to trial? The worshippers include the aged, the weak, those on travel, and those with needs to be fulfilled.” The Prophet (pbuh) would shorten his prayer if he heard a child crying. He said: “I initiate my prayer intending to lengthen it, but I shorten it when I hear a baby crying lest his mother should be worried about him.” 

The Grand Imam showed that Islam is so easy that it guarantees a Muslim happiness equally in this world and the Hereafter if he performs no more than the prescribed obligations. When a man promised the Prophet (pbuh) to abide by the performance of the prescribed obligations only without adding to or decreasing them, the Prophet (pbuh) said, “He will be successful if he keeps this promise.” Another hadith confirms this: “No Muslim offers the five daily prayers, fasts Ramadan, pays Zakat and avoids the seven major sins, except that the gates of Paradise will be open to him, and he is told: ‘Enter in peace.’”

His Eminence indicated that the philosophy of command in the Islamic legislation, in this context, completely contradicts the attempts of imposing certain patterns promoted by the sects that now appear on the scene. They besiege the life of a Muslim, and at the same time represent a deviation from the proper understanding of Islam, and a repulsive and repugnant display of its laws and rulings. 

The Grand Imam explained that the majority of scholars of the principles of religion believe that any type of prohibition in the Qur’an indicates something ḥarām (prohibited) based on His saying: “And whatever he forbids you from, give it over” (Qur’an, 59: 7). However, many scholars believe that the absolute prohibition does not always mean that something is ḥarām (prohibited); rather, it sometimes refers to something discouraged. They see that accompanying evidence is needed to indicate that definitive prohibition is actually intended. His Eminence mentioned a third group of scholars who see that the prohibition remains suspended and it neither indicates that something is prohibited nor discouraged except with the inclusion of another piece of evidence, specifying the intent of definitive prohibition or the intent of being only discouraged. 

Based on multiple interpretations of the concept of forbidding, His Eminence indicated that scholars of the principles of religion have decided that the wording of prohibition may denote something ḥarām (prohibited), as in the verses: “Do not approach illicit sexual intercourse” (Qur’an, 17: 32), “Do not take the life which Allah has made sacred, except with [lawful] right” (Qur’an, 6: 151), “Do not approach the property of the orphan, except in the best manner,” (Qur’an, 6: 152), and “Do not walk arrogantly on the land” (Qur’an, 17: 37).

The same wording may denote something makrūh (disliked) in other verses as in the Almighty’s saying: “but do not have recourse to the bad of it (charity) for your donation” (Qur’an, 2: 267). The wording of prohibition may even denote other distant meanings such as guidance as in the Almighty's saying: “You who have believed, do not ask about matters which, if disclosed to you, may distress you” (Qur’an, 5: 101). It also denotes consequences: “Do not assume that Allah is unaware of what the wrongdoers do” (Qur’an, 14: 42).

His Eminence pointed out that what draws attention in the field of prohibitions is that the things forbidden in Islam are few. Because the forbidding formulas contained in the Sharia - few as they are - do not necessarily denote definitive prohibition. Some of them denote prohibition, but some do not. This is established by the general rule in legislation, which states that “things are permissible by default unless conclusive evidence indicates definitive prohibition. Forbidden things in Islam are thus kept to a minimum, and statements of the Qur’an support this fact of legislation.

His Eminence emphasized that misunderstanding the wording of the command in Islamic legislation was the reason behind the outbursts of strict opinions and fatwas, and the fraudulent presentation of the provisions of Sharia. Ignorance of research on prohibitions also played a dangerous role in transforming Islam into a list of prohibitions, which forbids people from doing what Allah has permitted. The Grand Imam explained that if the preachers of these distorted sects were aware of scholars’ research on ‘commanding’ and ‘forbidding’ in the legacy of the principles of religion, they would realize how strange and distant - in form and content - Islam, as they preached it, is from Islam as presented in the Qur’an, the Sunnah and the consensus of Muslims.

Grand Imam At-Tayyeb Talk has been broadcast for the fifth year on Egyptian and Arab channels. The program was launched in Ramadan 2016. This year, 2021, the program explains the characteristics of the Islamic religion, the moderation of Islam and its manifestations, the rules of legal obligations, the ease of Sharia, the sources of legislation, and refutations of fallacies about the Prophet's Sunnah and heritage.