Hadith: Avoid what I have forbidden you from, and do as much as you can of what I have ordered you

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».
[صحيح] - [رواه البخاري ومسلم] - [الأربعون النووية: 9]

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."
[Authentic hadith] - [رواه البخاري ومسلم] - [الأربعون النووية - 9]

Explanation

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.

Benefits from the Hadith

1. This Hadīth represents a rule that demonstrates the duty of doing what is commanded and avoiding what is prohibited.
2. We are not permitted to do any of the prohibitions. With regard to the commands, however, we are required to comply according to our abilities. This is because the abandonment of something is within one's capacity, whereas doing something requires ability.
3. Forbidding the act of asking too many questions. Scholars divided questions into two categories: First: Questions that are meant for learning what one needs of the religion, and this kind of question is required, and an example of this is the Companions' questions. Second: Questions that are asked by way of obstinacy and affectation, and this is the kind of forbidden question.
4. Warning this Ummah of disobeying their Prophet as what occurred in the previous nations.
5. When something is prohibited, this applies to any part of it, great or small, for avoiding it requires avoidance of the action altogether. For example, we are prohibited from usury, and this applies to any amount of it, big or small.
6. We are required to shun the means conducive to something prohibited, for this falls under the meaning of avoidance.
7. When a person hears a command from the Prophet (ﷺ), he should not ask whether it is obligatory or recommended; rather, he must hasten to act upon it, for he said: "Do it as much as you can."
8. Asking too many questions leads to ruin, especially about matters that cannot be grasped, like issues related to the unseen and the detailed description of the conditions of the Day of Judgment. A person should not ask a lot about such matters lest he be ruined and become pretentious and pedantic.