Authentic hadith articleAvoid what I have forbidden you from, and do as much as you can of what I have ordered you
AuthenticNarrated by Al-Bukhāri and MuslimHadeethEnc #66517
Arabic hadith textعَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ صَخْرٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: سَمِعْت رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم يَقُولُ:
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ صَخْرٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: سَمِعْت رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم يَقُولُ: «مَا نَهَيْتُكُمْ عَنْهُ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ، وَمَا أَمَرْتُكُمْ بِهِ فَافْعَلُوا مِنْهُ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ، فَإِنَّمَا أَهْلَكَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ كَثْرَةُ مَسَائِلِهِمْ، وَاخْتِلَافُهُمْ عَلَى أَنْبِيَائِهِمْ».
English translationAbu Hurayrah ‘Abdur-Rahmān ibn Sakhr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say:
Abu Hurayrah ‘Abdur-Rahmān ibn Sakhr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: "Avoid what I have forbidden you from, and do as much as you can of what I have ordered you. Indeed, those before you were ruined because of their excessive questioning and disagreeing with their prophets."
ExplanationExplanation of the hadith
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) clarified to us that when he forbade us from something, we should avoid it without exception, and when he enjoined us to do something, we should do as much of it as we can. Then, he warned us not to become like some of the past nations, who burdened their prophets with excessive questioning and disagreed with them, and so Allah punished them with various kinds of destruction and ruin. Therefore, we should not be like them lest we be ruined as they were ruined.