In Pursuit of the Middle Path - Corrected Khutba
By Yasir Qadhi | 2026-01-07T21:28:26.956197+00:00 | Topic: Iman
In Pursuit of the Middle Path
Dr. Yasir Qadhi | March 23, 2014 - London, UK
Opening
All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, seek His help and forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the wickedness of our deeds. Whomever Allah guides, no one can misguide; and whomever He misguides, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, without any partners; and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. To proceed:
The Ummatan Wasata
Allah tells us in the oft-recited verse in the Quran that we have just heard recited:
"And such it is, Allah has decreed that we have made you a ummatan wasata"
So Allah has described and legislated - He has both described us and then ordained and commanded us for being an ummatan wasata. Thus it is, it has been decreed this is the reality and it shall be so that you, oh Muslims, you, oh followers of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم are going to be the ummatan wasata.
So in today's short lecture I wanted to explain and clarify in 10 points what does it mean: how is our ummah an ummatan wasata?
Understanding the Meaning of Wasat
But before I begin those 10 points I need to clarify what does wasat mean, what does wasatiyya mean. If you go and look up the classical lexicons of the Arabic language you look up Ibn Mandur, you look up the classical lexicons, you find that the term wasat has two meanings to it:
First Meaning: The Middle Number one, to be smack in the middle, to be in the center, to be away from both extremes. And this is the primary meaning that comes to mind when you say wasat. If you say so and so is wasat of the masjid, you mean he's in the middle of the masjid. And Allah references this linguistic term when he says in the Quran:
"Guard all of the prayers and especially guard the wasat, the wusta prayer." Now the wusta prayer, as interpreted by the sahaba and tabi'un, is (صَلَاةُ الْعَصْرِ - salat al-asr), the asr prayer. The wusta prayer, why? Because it's smack in the middle of the five prayers. So the meaning of wasat or wusta is this middle.
Second Meaning: The Best The second meaning of wasat is typically not known to most non-Arabs. Even Arabs are forgetting this actual meaning. It is a classical meaning of wasat and it means the best or the pinnacle. Wasat al-qawm means not just in the middle, it could also mean the leader of the people or
the best of the people. So one of the meanings of wasat is to be the best. And Allah references this in the Quran in another verse that Allah says:
"You are the best of all nations that have been created for mankind."
So when Allah says we have made you ummatan wasata there are two meanings: number one, you are a moderate middle path nation (and that's the topic of today), and number two (which is not the topic of today, that's another topic), you are the best nation compared to all other nations. And this meaning is also implied in the term wasat.
Example from Surah Al-Qalam
This is also referenced in the Quran in the famous story in surah al-qalam. There's a story of a group of men who owned a garden and they were arrogant. They didn't want to give of the garden. They said let's hide the garden, let's not tell anybody about it. And Allah exposed their arrogance. And when they went to the garden they found the garden destroyed because they didn't want to give it to the poor, they didn't want to give charity. So Allah took the garden away. Then Allah says when they discovered the garden:
"The man who was the most wasat of them" - it's the man who was in the middle, it was the man who was the wisest, the man who was the best. So Allah called the best man أَوْسَطُهُمْ - the middle of them, not the middle here, the best of them. The one who was the wisest said, "Didn't I tell you you should thank Allah for this garden? Didn't I tell you you should praise Allah? And you didn't listen to me. Now this is what has happened." So Allah called the wisest man أوسط from wasat, and this is the second meaning of wasat.
But today's lecture is about wasatiyyah meaning the moderate or the middle, and I wanted to illustrate in 10 different ways how our religion is the wasat religion, how our understanding of Islam is the moderate understanding.
Ten Aspects of Islamic Moderation
1. Balance Between Superstition and Rationalism
The first of these points is that if you look at human society, if you look at all classical religions and modern understandings of any type of development, any type of religion, any type of philosophy, you find two extremes. The first extreme: superstition and myth. The second extreme: scienticism, rationalism - everything has to be proved, materialism.
So you have myth and you have materialism. You have those who believe in anything that their ancestors said, and then you have those who believe in nothing unless their eyes can see it. And we are an ummatan wasata. We are neither mysticism completely nor are we empiricists and rationalists completely.
No, rather Allah has told us that our religion is a combination of both iman bil ghayb and also thinking and pondering over. You cannot rationalize everything. You cannot use your aql or your intellect to understand everything. But neither can you have blind faith. The two are extremes: to rationalize everything ("I must understand that I will believe") or to have complete blind faith - this is the other extreme.
Every religion says, "Oh, don't talk about the mysteries of the faith. You will never understand the trinity, you will never understand redemption. These are the mysteries, just believe blindly." But if we believe blindly then every religion would believe blindly and every religion will say we are on the correct path.
On the exact opposite you have empiricism, it is also called scientism. Everything must be proved with the intellect. But this is an extreme too because the intellect has a limited role. You can't understand everything. Your intellect cannot understand the creator of the intellect. This is arrogance to presume that your intellect can understand the one who created the intellect.
So we are the ummatan wasata. We combine the middle. Allah tells us in the Quran: think, ponder, reflect:
"Are you not supposed to think?"
But once you come to the conclusion that Islam is true, that the prophecy of Islam is true, what does Allah say?
"You have to believe in the unseen."
You cannot rationalize. If somebody were to ask me why do you pray five times a day? Wallahi, I don't have a logical answer. I don't have a rational answer. I will say because Allah told me to. There is no rationalization that my aql, my mind will tell me why is it five, not six, not seven, not three, not two.
So, we are the ummatan wasata. We're expected to think. Allah says to the non-Muslims: don't you think about this man, the prophet? Don't you see?
"Don't you think in yourselves about the creation? Don't you look at your sahib or your companion that he is a prophet?"
So, non-Muslims, those who don't believe: think about Islam, think about the Quran, think about the Rasul صلى الله عليه وسلم. Once you conclude that the Quran is the book of Allah, the Rasul is the Rasulullah, then:
"We hear and we obey."
We must believe what Allah says. This is the ummatan wasata.
2. Perfect Blend of Theology and Law
Another example is that our religion, another method that we are in the moderate: our religion is the perfect blend of theology and law. And if you look at the two other major Abrahamic religions, one of them, Judaism, is concentrated only in the law. You must obey the covenant and they have a whole series of laws - 613 laws. If you want to observe the kosher, observe the Jewish law, you must follow down to the letter. But there is very little theology, there is very little spirituality. It is obeying the law.
You look at the other Abrahamic religion, that is Christianity. There is no law. They say according to them that the death of Jesus and resurrection of Jesus abrogates law. This is their misunderstanding obviously - that's their understanding. There is no sharia. All you have to do is to believe to be saved. Isn't that the way they say it?
We are once again the middle path. We have creed and we have law. We have the perfect mix of you have to have iman and you have to have amal. And that's why in the whole Quran Allah always praises:
"You have to have iman, you have to have amal."
It is the perfect harmony and balance between the two.
3. Perfect Blend of Spirituality and Rituals
Yet another manifestation of the moderation of Islam, yet another middle path of the moderation of Islam: we have the perfect blend of spirituality and rituals. We have the perfect blend of spirituality and rituals.
Look at so many other traditions out there. There is a new term here in our time called "spirituality without religion." And most people here in England - they did a survey in the UK - most people said they were spiritual but not religious. What does this mean? It's a new understanding, new term: they're spiritual but not religious.
And you have other faiths and other traditions - they are ritualistic. You just obey the law without thinking about spirituality.
Once again we are the ummatan wasata. We're supposed to do the rituals. There is no spirituality without rituality. There is no spirituality without rituals. There is no spirituality without salat and zakah and hajj. You have to have that. But as you pray, what does Allah say? Should you just go through the motion? Should you just outwardly have the posture of salat? No. The primary reason for praying is what? Establish the salat to remember me. Allah says you have the spirituality in the rituals and the rituals are manifested through the spirituality. Once again we have the perfect blend. You have to have that harmony.
Most other faith traditions, even modern isms that don't have a name such as spirituality... You ask the person who checked "I'm spiritual but not religious" what do you do? Nothing. I just know I'm spiritual. How do you show that spirituality? I mean I just am spiritual. What type of spirituality that doesn't bring some ritual?
And you have the opposite. You have many faith traditions, they have nothing but ritual. You have the extreme, you know, the yogic practitioners of eastern Asia, you have many, you know, hermits and monks, nothing but rituals all day, but there is little in terms of spirituality. So once again we are the [middle] - we combine the spirits, the spirituality, we also combine the rituals.
4. Perfect Balance of This World and the Next
Another manifestation of our moderation in Islam, and this is of the beauties of our faith, and all of these are examples of how we are the [moderate]: another example of us being moderate, we have the perfect balance and harmony of this world and the next. We have the perfect balance and harmony of living in this world as we strive to attain the next.
Some faith traditions want you to neglect this world. The bulk of modern methodologies - consumerism, materialism, capitalism - they have no concept of the akhira, they have no concept of the hereafter. We are the perfect blend: aim for the hereafter but don't forget this world.
Look at what Allah tells Qarun, and Qarun was the richest man in history in the ancient times. Look at what Allah tells Qarun through the tongues of the righteous people. Allah tells Qarun that all of this money that you have, make sure you build your palace of the akhira, make sure you build your abode of the akhira, but don't forget about this world as well:
"You have a nasib in this world. You don't have to neglect all pleasures. You don't have to live in a hut when you're a millionaire. Build the palace of the hereafter but don't forget about the palace of this world."
This is what Qarun is told. What a beautiful religion that Allah tells you: go ahead, live in this world as if you're living, but don't forget, the ultimate life is the hereafter:
"The life of the hereafter, that is the ultimate life if they only knew."
And therefore Allah has told us in the Quran that living according to our means is a part of being a Muslim. Allah says in the Quran, those when they give zakat, they don't give everything, nor are they stingy. But Allah says it is between the two - they're not giving fully. In one verse Allah says, they don't extend their hand all the way out, nor do they put it up to their necks, but (وَسَطًا) between the two they give in moderation. So the more Allah has given, the more charitable, but each according to his means.
Allah says in the Quran that when a divorce takes place, Allah says that the husband has to give something to the ex-wife when the divorce takes place. Allah says, let each one give according to what Allah has given him - moderation. You give according to your means.
And in our religion living the good life if you can afford it is not haram. The key is if you can afford it. Allah says in the Quran:
"Allah is challenging: who has forbidden the good clothes and the pure food for my servants? Who has forbidden the beauty that Allah has created?"
Beauty here means good clothes, and (الطَّيِّبَاتِ) good food from the rizq, from the sustenance. Allah says, all of this is meant for the believers in this world, and in the next it will only be for my believers.
So, our Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) ate the best food when it was given to him. His favorite dish was the shank of a lamb, and this is the most exotic part of the lamb. The shank of the lamb, he loved that bit. And he loved to eat halwa, sweets. This is a sunnah we all follow, alhamdulillah. He loved to eat sweets, right? And he was gifted the most exotic of garments, and he wore them.
There's a hadith in Tirmidhi that the governor of Bahrain gifted him a cloak that was so beautiful the sahaba began walking around him during the khutbah, like they were just... they had never seen anything. Now they're walking around him, and they're completely mesmerized. It was made out of this and that imported from the Persian empire. And the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) said to this:
"Are you impressed by this garment?"
And this was right after the battle of Khaybar, and Sa'd ibn Mu'adh had just died, their famous leader of the Ansar. He said: "Wallahi, the handkerchief of Sa'd in Jannah is better than this garment I am wearing."
Notice the perfection: he wears the garment. Where is his heart attached? Up there. This is the perfection, the wasatiya of Islam. He wears the best garment, the sahaba had never seen anything as exotic as this, it distracted them from the khutbah. But is the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) distracted? Is his heart attached to the garment? No. And he reminds them: you want this? Wallahi, the handkerchief up there is better than this entire robe that I have been gifted.
Also notice he did not buy it, by the way. I have to point this out. Our Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) even though it's halal if you can afford to, but this is our Rasul (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ). He would never ever spend his money on something like this. Not that it's haram for us, but he is our role model, and he would not go out of his way for exotic food and exotic clothes. But if they came to him, what did he do? He partook, and he ate and he wore. And this is the perfection, the wasatiya of our religion.
5. Balance Between Body and Soul Needs
Another manifestation of the wasatiya, following up from the previous point, is that our religion takes into account the needs of the body and the needs of the soul, the needs of both the body and the needs of the soul. And once again we find extremisms, we find different philosophies of living.
We have those philosophies, and this is the more predominant in our times: they are purely sensual, purely materialistic, hedonistic. Everything that the body wants becomes halal. This is what the purpose of life is. And there is a famous statement - I don't know if you have it here in England - it's called YOLO. The youngsters know what I'm talking about, right? You only live once, go ahead and do it.
That's not the philosophy of Islam. In Islam you live twice and you die twice. You live twice and you die twice. And the real life and death will come, and not in this world, right? The real life is the life of the hereafter.
The point being, that in our religion, we have needs of the body, and we have needs of the soul. Now there are some philosophies - these are very rare these days but they still exist - there are some philosophies, they have forbidden any needs of the body. You should concentrate on the soul and deprive the body. The quintessential example of this is Buddhism. In Buddhism you're expected to eliminate all desires. You're not supposed to have any desires.
Also examples of this are certain understandings of Christianity, especially the monks, the hermits, the orders that were in certain types of Christianity to this day. The priests of the Catholic tradition are not allowed to get married to this day. And we see what happens when they're not allowed to get married, right? This is also the reality. You cannot eliminate your humanity while you're alive. You're human. You cannot do that.
So what does our religion tell us? The famous hadith that all of you know: when Salman Al-Farsi visited Abu Darda, you all know the hadith, that Abu Darda was fasting everyday, he had neglected his family,
he's praying tahajjud all night. And Salman forces him: you have to break your fast, you're going to not pray tahajjud till the very end of the night with me. And the next morning Abu Darda complains to the Prophet: "Ya Rasulullah, my guest last night, he irritated me. He forced me to break my fast. He did not let me pray tahajjud until the very end. He did this, he did that."
So the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) calls Salman. Salman explained the whole situation, that he's living the life of such a super ascetic, that he's neglecting his body, his wife, his family, his livelihood. So the Prophet said:
(Bukhari hadith 1968)
"Salman is on the right. Verily Abu Darda, your body has a right over you, your wife has a right over you, your guest has a right over you, so give everyone the right that is due to them."
You all know the famous hadith that three men when they found out the amount of worship of the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) they found it to be trivial. They said we can do more than that. So what did they do? One of them said I will fast every day of my life. The other said I will pray every night and never go to sleep, the whole night, go to sleep after fajr. And the third said I shall give up marriage, I shall live a celibate life.
And what did our Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) say? He gathered the sahaba in the masjid, and he said:
(Bukhari hadith 5063)
"I heard some of you say this? How could anybody say this? I know Allah the best, I fear Allah the most, and yet I fast and I don't fast, I sleep and I pray tahajjud, and I marry women. So whoever turns away from my sunnah is not of me."
Once again we have what? The moderation, the moderation. Take care of your bodily needs. And if you think about it, there is no bodily urge of ours except that Allah has made a halal manifestation and a haram avenue. There is no bodily urge, nothing, except that it can be taken care of in a halal manner. Allah did not give us any inclination or urge that is beyond something that is accessible in this world, whether it is the shahawat or the desires of any part of the body, all sensual pleasures. There is the halal avenue, there is the haram avenue. What does our religion say? Go ahead, engage in the halal, just don't go to the haram. And this is the perfect combination of bodily needs and of spirituality.
6. Perfect Balance in Gender Roles
Yet another example of the moderation in Islam, and again all of these, wallahi I swear by Allah, we can think of not one, not ten, but one hundred examples. But again, just so that our minds begin to think:
another example of the moderation of Islam, between all of these other faiths and traditions, is the perfect balance in the gender roles as well. And this is another major issue of controversy in our times: gender roles, the role of men, the role of women.
In modern societies by and large men and women are viewed to be totally equal, and they are given the exact same role. And to dare say that they might be different, it is as if you're becoming some type of chauvinist sexist or something. On the other hand you have those societies that treat women second class, third class citizens. They treat women like cattle, like chattel. They treat women in a very subhuman fashion and manner. And to this day there are such societies.
Our religion once again is the middle nation and path. Allah has clearly said in the Quran:
"The man is not like the woman."
This is a biological fact. The man is not like the woman, biologically, physically, physiologically, emotionally, psychologically. The men and women are not the same. And to claim they are the same, is a travesty against every single one of us, our knowledge that we know from living in this world.
So Allah says:
"To men they have a share, to women they have a share."
Allah says with regards to wives, responsibility and role that they have to do just like the men have a role and responsibility over them, both of them:
"They [women] have rights similar to those [of men] over them, according to what is reasonable. But men have a degree above them."
Not twenty degrees, not a thousand degrees. No, in the end of the day the man is the one that is the bread winner, the man is the one that is in charge of the affairs of the household. One degree above that of women. Not subjugation, no, not hostility, not being the boss, but rather two people cannot drive the car, two captains cannot steer the ship. There must be one person. And Allah has said وَلِلرِّجَالِ عَلَيْهِنَّ دَرَجَةٌ in the most gentle way managed possible. Allah says men have a degree over them.
But spiritually speaking, men and women are viewed the same. And by this I mean just because a man is a man it doesn't mean he has a better opportunity to get into Jannah. Both men and women have the same opportunities to get to Jannah. And this is the ultimate equality. This is the ultimate equality. And
Allah has given it to men and women. As for the roles in this world, Allah has given the men a role, Allah has given the women a role. This is the moderation. We don't go to the extremes of either groups.
7. Balance Between Forgiveness and Justice
Another example of the moderation between the moderation of Islam is that Islam is the moderate path between forgiveness and strictness and vengeance, between revenge and forgiveness. And I say this because once again we have extreme philosophies and ideologies.
We have certain religions that do not teach forgiveness, or I should not say religions but philosophies and ideologies of modern times. We have other faith traditions that teach to turn the other cheek every single time and to forgive the enemy every single time. And the fact of the matter is no human being can turn the cheek every single time because if a person does so society will take advantage of him to the extent that the person can no longer live. Everybody will cheat and harm you, everybody will take your possessions and belongings. And that is why in human history we have never seen a civilization that has preached this doctrine of turning the other cheek anytime. It's not possible even at the individual level.
It's not possible to forgive all the time, much less at the societal level. No faith tradition that preaches turning the other cheek and forgiveness can ever live up to it in real life because the world is not like that.
What does Islam tell us? Islam tells us:
And:
And:
If harm has been done you have the right to do the same amount of harm or pain through the Islamic courts obviously. No Sharia tells you to take justice in your own hand. If somebody has wronged you in an Islamic state you will go to the court, you will sue him for that wrong and you have right to be given back your wrong to the penny. But Allah says, whoever forgives, whoever turns away, whoever brings about reconciliation, Allah will give you more. So, we are taught the middle way.
This is reality. This is pragmatism. This is living the life that is realistic to live. If you must extract vengeance, you have the right to do so. But try to be forgiving, try to be gentle. And this is what we see in the seerah of the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ).
Some of you are following the seerah lectures that I give online. And if you follow these lectures, you will see this example over and over again. That the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) is indeed rahmatan
HEADING
lil'alameen. He forgives, he's merciful, he's tolerant. But times that come, there are times in the seerah that he shows he is strict. And there is no forgiveness for some people. And that is the perfection of the seerah.
That people need to be shown that it is possible that Allah and His Messenger can be angry at you. You will be treated severely for some crimes. There must be fear in your heart. Otherwise if that fear is gone and there's nothing but forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness, then nobody can live up to such a society.
8. Ahlus Sunnah as the Middle Group
Another example, this is a little bit advanced, but nonetheless I'll put it out there. We talked about Islam being the middle nation. We talked about Islam being the middle nation in all of these things. We now move on to a little bit advanced and we say, Ahlul Sunnah wal Jama'ah is the middle group between all of the other groups in Islam. Just like Islam is the middle nation between other nations, we believe our theology is the middle theology between other Islamic theologies.
And once again we can go down a whole list which we don't have time to go into. But there were those who said, actions are necessary part of iman. There were those who said, actions were outside of iman. Ahlul Sunnah are in the middle. There were those who said, that qadr doesn't exist. There were those who said, free will does not exist. Ahlul Sunnah are in the middle. We are neither deniers of free will nor are we deniers of qadr. We have a moderate theology.
There are those who curse the sahaba. There are those who say, the sahaba can commit no mistakes. We are the middle nation. The sahaba are the best of all generations, but they make mistakes like human beings and Allah has forgiven them: (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا عَنْهُ - radiya Allahu 'anhum wa radu 'anh) (appears in multiple verses).
There are those that go to extremes in the Ahlul Bayt, in the family of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam). They put them on a higher pedestal or a lower pedestal, and we put them on the pedestal, Allah puts them on. And that is, we love them with a special love, the righteous amongst them, and we think they will have a better reward because of who they are. But we also don't give them powers of divinity, powers of uluhiyah. So we are the middle nation.
In every single aspect of creed, of theology, we once again find a middle path.
9. Moderation in Politics
And I want to mention one final point, and wallahi it is controversial, brothers and sisters. My job or my goal is not to cause controversy, it's to want you to think. And because I don't want to cause controversy, I'm not going to give any examples, but I will simply talk generically. So please don't ask examples, and if there are questions about this, I will refuse to answer because I don't want to cause controversy. But we're living in times of fitna.
We're living in times of great trial and tribulation. And our nation is the wasat or the middle nation. When it comes to politics and rulers. When it comes to politics and Muslim rulers, and non-Muslim rulers. We find extremist ideologies the world over. We find some people, they act in a foolish confrontational manner. And they think it is a part of their religion to act in a manner that is a false bravado, a false foolishness, to go against the ruler for everything that he says, and to show a type of, if you like anger or militancy, that I think is not a part of the moderation. We have the opposite side as well. And that is those who consider any criticism of the rulers to be completely haram and unavoidable.
We're not allowed to comment on the rulers. Whatever the rulers do, they are almost superhuman or super religious. And anybody who studies the biographies of the great scholars of the salaf, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal is the perfect example of moderation. You speak the truth even at the face of the ruler. You correct the public mistakes in public, and the private mistakes in private. You do not fear the criticism of the critic, but you don't act foolishly and harshly. You don't call for civil war against a genuine khalifa. Now I'm not extrapolating to modern countries by the way. So please, I'm talking about classical Islam.
When there was a khalifa in modern countries, I'm not commenting on. You don't call for civil war when there is a khalifa. But if the khalifa himself makes a public mistake, Imam Ahmad's time, they had a theological controversy. Imam Ahmad corrected him publicly. And if it's private mistake, you correct privately. But the point being, I'm speaking generically.
We find extremist ideologies on both sides in modern Islam. We find those who act foolishly and foolhardily. And they act as if they don't understand what their reactions are going to accomplish. And then we have those who are so quietistic and apolitical that Islam has nothing to do with modern times. Let us just go to the mosque and pray. No, mosque and prayer is the most important. But Islam also teaches us how to live in this world. There is a sharia, an economic system, a justice system that is applicable outside the mosque as it is applicable inside the mosque. There is no demarcation in Islam between the end of the mosque, khalas, that's it, no Islam outside. No, in Islamic societies, yes we have. Now in minority situations, it's also different. And we also have extremists in minority situations.
And we ask Allah for continual guidance. It's not easy in our times to find the middle path. And perhaps some of us will make mistakes. But inshallah, together collectively, the ummah, generically speaking, will never go astray. This is a promise from Allah that our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said:
(related in various collections)
"My ummah is an ummah that Allah has blessed and sent His mercy upon."
That our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said that the sawad al-a'zam or the bulk of the ummah will be upon the truth until the day of judgment. Our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said, there's always going to be righteous people whose truth is clearly manifest until the dajjal comes.
Conclusion
So alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, we are the ummah al-wasata. And we take pride in being the ummah al-wasata. And we thank Allah for making us amongst the ummah al-wasata. May Allah genuinely make us wasat in both of these means, moderation and excellence. May Allah guide us between the two extremes.
And this is the continual dua that we always make to Allah. And with this I conclude, what is the dua of surah al-Fatiha?
"Guide us to the straight path."
"The path of those whom You have favored."
"And not of those who have gone astray. Nor of those who have been accursed and angered."
These are the two extremes. غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ. These are the two extremes. And we are الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ . And mustaqim means, the straight and the middle path. This is our surah. This is our religion. This is the continual dua we make to Allah.
May Allah make us from the followers of the Quran and resurrect us amongst the ummah of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam)
Jazakum Allahu khairan was-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh