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Love for the people what you love for yourself and you will be a Muslim. Do not laugh much for laughing too much deadens the heart." Recorded by al-Tirmidhi and Ahmad. Al-Amaoot seems to accept his hadith. (See his footnotes to ibn Rajah, Jaami, vol. 1, p. 252.) Saleem al-Hilaali explicitly states that due to its supporting narrations, it is a confirmed hadith. See al-Hilaali, Eeqaadh, p. 147. Hadith #9: "What I have Forbidden You, Avoid ... " more important to avoid the forbidden acts then to go beyond those obligatory acts into the non-obligatory acts. Indeed, avoiding the forbidden is obligatory while the recommended acts are supererogatory. wrote, Commenting on this aspect, al-Bugha and Mistu, two modem authors, From this point, one can see the mistake that many Muslims commit, especially during these times. This spreads contradiction in their lives. One finds a person very keen on doing the acts of obedience and the obligatory acts. He might even be very strict in following the recommended and beloved acts. However, one also finds him, at the same time, lax when it comes to doing forbidden acts. He might practice many forbidden acts. [For example,] one can find a fasting person taking part in interest transactions. A woman who made the Hajj and pays zakah leaves her house exposing her beauty [not wearing the proper hijaab ] ... Such people think that their act of worship will save them in Allah's sight... However, this goes against what Allah, the All-Wise, the Lawgiver has stated. It is confirmed in the sunnah of the leader of the messengers and the understanding of the leading noble Companions and Imams that the foundation of worship is to avoid what Allah has prohibited. [And,] the path of success is to strive against one's self and desires and make them avoid the forbidden acts ... Abdullah ibn Umar, the Imam of the worshippers, stated, "To return one-sixth of a dirham [illegally gotten] is preferred to spending one hundred thousand [dirhams] in the way of Allah." Al-Hasan al-Basri, the leader of the Followers, said, "The worshippers of Allah do not worship in any way better than avoiding what Allah has forbidden." Umar ibn Abdul Aziz also once said, "Taqwa is not praying during the late night and fasting during the day and mixing [between permissible and impermissible] between those two. But Taqwa is to fulfill what Allah has obligated and avoid what Allah has forbidden. If, in addition to that, there are some [good voluntary] deeds, it is goodness upon goodness." This shows us that avoiding the forbidden takes precedence over doing the acts of obedience. This does not mean, as we said, that a Muslim should be lax in performing the obligatory deeds. This is how some of those people who have diseased hearts and weak souls behave. They are very lax and lazy when it comes to Allah's law and they do not do what Allah has obligated. Then they claim that they are better than those who pray and fast due to the fact that their behavior with the people is good and the religion means to have good dealings with the Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi people... These people, like those described above, have left the path of guidance ... 1 Hence, both approaches are wrong. A Muslim must perform the acts that are obligatory upon him while at the same time completely remaining away from the forbidden acts. Al-Baitaar, another modem author, echoed their views when he wrote, We see some people very keen on using the miswaak (the toothstick) while they do not avoid backbiting, spreading tales and having forbidden wealth. They will argue about covering the head if they are behind an Imam whose head is uncovered while they will not be careful about lying in their dealings or looking at what Allah has forbidden one to look at. [People must be aware of how incorrect this situation is.]2 "Verily, the people before you were destroyed only because of their excessive questioning" As was clearly demonstrated in the Hadith of Jibreel, not all questioning is bad. The Angel Jibreel came and asked the Prophet (peace be upon him) important and beneficial questions. Indeed, there are some questions that are considered fardh ain or an obligation upon the individual. Those are the questions that one needs to ask in order to understand and practice the religion correctly, such as how to pray, how to fast and so forth. Therefore, to understand this portion of the hadith, one has to understand what types of questions are being referred to. The same is true for the verse in the Quran in which Allah says, J ,,.. ,,.. 0 6J ,,. 0қ Û'; ½ ¿ 0 ;T: \i :; 1_,J•੭j-  1࢈1; J:UI ,- .!i ,,.. ,., J ,.. .,. ,., ࢇ j hlj ࢆ ࢉ1 ऍ Ҝ ࢅ S1;ࢊ1 0ࢋࢌࢍ1)•੍.'; "O believers! Ask not about things which, if made plain to you, may cause you trouble.