Islam is a religion of ease
Islam does not lay on people tasks that they cannot do or they will have difficulty in doing.
Islam’s principles of ease are expressed as follows in the Quran:
“ On no soul doth Allah place a burden greater than it can bear...”
(al-Baqara, 285).
“ Our Lord! lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear...”
(al-Baqara, 285).
“ Allah intends every facility for you He does not want to put you to difficulties...” (al-Baqara, 185).
While it is explained in the Quran that Islam is a religion of ease as above, the Prophet laid down the following principles:
“From Abu Hurayra:
– I was not sent to damn and curse but to distribute mercy.” (Muslim/Birr 87)
“Allah did not send me to give trouble, to cause difficulty or to wish to give difficulty. Allah sent me to teach and to make things easy...”
From Ibn Abbas:
Teach and make things easy. (He uttered that sentence 3 times.).” (Bukhari/Adabul-mufrad bab 642)
“I was sent with easy and high Hanif.” (Musnad V, 266; Bukhari, Iman 29)
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Advice is not given haphazardly
From Abdullah Ibni Mas’ud:
“The Prophet used to take care of us in preaching by selecting a suitable time, so that we might not get bored.”
(Bukhari / Ilm 11)
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The most important thing in guidance and education is not to make people bored with the truths one tells them. On the contrary, it is important to make people enthusiastic about practicing those truths. Therefore, the task of guidance and education is not a simple task that ordinary people can do. It involves specialization and talent.
Avoiding extremism in religion
From Abdullah bin Abbas:
“Avoid extremism in religion. Doubtlessly, some communities before you were eliminated because they forced themselves to go to extremes.”
(Nasai/Manasik 217)
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The religion should find the place it deserves and its value in the natural course of life. It is not possible to practice religion and to worship through force, frustration and hatred. Allah does not want and accept such kind of forced religiousness. Religiousness will have a value if it is done willingly, enthusiastically and with a sincere heart.
Showing people ease while ruling
From Hazrat Aisha:
“O Allah! Make it difficult for him who undertakes a duty regarding the ruling of my community and makes it difficult for people.
Make it easy for him and treat him well who undertakes a duty regarding the ruling of my community and makes it easy for people and treat them nicely.”
(Muslim / Imara 19)
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The hadith indicates the importance of making things easy for people in administration. Muslim administrators should not try to rule people through force, oppression and imposition. They should have an administration approach that will make life easy for people, meet their needs, and ensure their peace and security.
From Huzaifa:
“The Messenger of Allah said:
– The angel came to take the soul of a man who lived before you. The angel asked:
– Did you do a good deed? The man answered:
– I do not know. The angel:
– Think for a while, you may remember. The man:
– I do not remember but when I made business with people, I prolonged the time for payment for the rich people (when they had difficulty) and I showed tolerance to poor people for their payments (I wrote off some debts).
Allah forgave him due to that good deed and put him into Paradise.”(Bukhari)
“Believers are easy-going and soft. They are like an obedient camel that bows down when its owner wants to tie it and kneels down when its owner wants it to kneel down on a rock...” (Ramuzu’l-Ahadith)
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“A believer is so soft that you may think that everybody will deceive him due to his softness.” (Ramuzu’l-Ahadith)
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“A believer is useful from head to foot. If you walk with him, he will be useful to you; if you ask his advice, he will be helpful. If you become partners with him, he will be useful to you. In short, every act of him is useful.” (Ramuzu’l-Ahadith)
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The qualities expressed in the hadiths are the qualities of Muslims among themselves. The believers should be very alert, discreet, wise, perseverant, strong, cunning and undeceivable against enemies of Islam.
From Hazrat Abu Bakr:
“When Hazrat Prophet wanted to do something, he would pray as follows:
– O Allah! Give me the best result out of this task that I want to do.
And choose the most appropriate one for me.” (Tirmidhi)
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It is impossible to say whether what one wants to do is good or beneficial for him. Then, when one wants something very much, he should ask Allah to enable him to do it if it is good and useful for him. He should seek refuge in Allah from starting to do something that will turn out to be harmful.
“You cannot reach your target in the religion through extremism and exaggeration. The best way of practicing religion is easiness.” (Ahmad bin Hanbal)
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Extremism that will cause boredom or exaggeration in extra (nafilah) worship that will hinder the performance of fard worship in time is forbidden by the hadith. For instance, a person performs extra prayers all night; he feels sleepy towards the end of the night and lies down to take a nap but he cannot wake up in time and misses fard prayer in congregation, or cannot wake up before the sun rises and cannot perform fard prayer in time. What is forbidden by the hadith is the extremism and exaggeration like that.
Obeying orders fully
“When I order you to do something, do your best to perform it without trying to seek ways of escaping. When I forbid you to do something, avoid doing it.”
(Bukhari/I’tisam; Muslim/Hajj; Nasai/Hajj)
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There should be no hesitation or questioning about the definite orders of the Messenger of Allah. It is necessary to obey with submission and to do one’s best.
Making things easy
From Uthman bin Affan:
“May Allah put the person who makes things easy when he buys, sells, pays his debt and collects money into His Paradise.”
(Abu Dawud/Salat 114; Tirmidhi/Hudud 2)
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People are asked to be soft, considerate and tolerant in their civil and commercial relations with each other.
Cleaning teeth
From Abu Hurayra:
“If I had not found it hard for my followers or the people, I would have ordered them to clean their teeth with Siwak before every prayer.”
(Bukhari/Jumua 8; Abu Dawud/Taharah 25)
Sticking to the moderate way in religion
From Abu Hurayra:
“Religion is very easy and whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue that way. So you should not be extremists, but try to be near to perfection.”
(Bukhari/Iman 29)
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Allah ordered people to practice Islam naturally and easily. A person who makes fine calculations in religion is bound to be questioned through fine criteria. Then, a Muslim should try to stick to the medium (moderate) way and should not go to extremes.
Not to question the judgments of the Prophet
From Abu Hurayra:
“Leave me as I leave you” for the people who were before you were ruined because of their questions and their differences over their prophets. So, if I forbid you to do something, then keep away from it. And if I order you to do something, then do of it as much as you can.”
(Bukhari/I’tisam 2)
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Slavery necessitates submission and obedience. Asking questions about the orders of the prophets out of curiosity and hesitation do not comply with the consciousness of slavery. It leads to the revelation of new orders and harder responsibilities. It will make the communities object rather than obey. It may cause their destruction.
Stability and Regularity in good deeds
From Hazrat Aisha:
“Do (good) deeds which is within your capacity (without being overtaxed) as Allah does not get tired (of giving rewards) but (surely) you will get tired and the best deed (act of Worship) in the sight of Allah is that which is done regularly.”
(Bukhari/Iman 31; Nasai/Qiyamullayl 17).
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The slave should worship Allah willingly and enthusiastically; he should do good deeds. Allah wants to see his slave worship and do good deeds enthusiastically and willingly. Allah will not get bored with accepting and rewarding His slave’s good deeds and worshipping unless the slave gets bored with doing them. Allah gives importance to the regular and stable good deeds and worshipping of His slave even if they are little; he does not give importance to the great amount of the good deeds and worshipping.
“Make things easy, do not make things difficult; give good news (glad tidings) do not repulse people.” (Bukhari; Muslim)
Hazrat Aisha, our mother, stated the practices of the Prophet regarding the issue as follows:
“When the Messenger of Allah was left free to choose between two things, he would always choose the easier one if there was no sin in doing it. If there was a sin about doing it, then, he would be the farthest person from it of all people. ”
The above statements of the Prophet show how practically easy judgments Islam contains. The approach of making things easy has a great place in the fact that Islam is universal and will continue until Doomsday.
Some examples that our religion is a religion of ease:
• It is necessary to make wudu (ablution) with water in our religion in order to perform prayers. However, when there is no water or when the water is so cold that one may become ill, one can make tayammum (wudu with soil). Soil replaces water.
From Ibn Abbas:
“A man was injured during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him); he then had a wet dream, and he was advised to wash and he washed himself. Consequently he died. When this was reported to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) he said: They killed him; may Allah kill them! Why did they not ask since they did not know? The cure of ignorance is to ask someone who knows. Tayammum was enough for that man?”
(Abu Dawud / Taharah 127; Ibn Majah / Taharah 93)
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If a person has a drawback to using water due to an illness or another excuse, he becomes exempt from using water although water is present. Tayammum is enough for him. On the other hand, it is pointed out that one should not act on his own accord in issues that he does not know and should ask one who knows about them.
From Imran bin Husain:
“The Messenger of Allah saw a man sitting aloof who had not prayed with the people.
He asked, "O so and so! What has prevented you from praying with us?"
He replied, "I am Junub and there is no water.” The Prophet said,
"Perform Tayammum with (clean) earth and that is sufficient for you."
(Bukhari/Tayammum 6; Muslim/Masajid 317; Nasai/Taharah 203)
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One of the practices showing that Islam is a religion of ease is that soil replaces water when there is no water and wudu and ghusl with tayammum become permissible. In the houses where there is no soil, a piece of brick, tiles, the walls of the houses that were whitewashed can be used for tayammum.
“The Prophet (peace be upon him) urinated and Umar was standing behind him with a jug of water. He said: What is this, Umar? He replied: Water for you to perform ablution with. He said: I have not been commanded to perform ablution every time I urinate. If I were to do so, it would become a sunnah”
(Abu Dawud/Taharah 22)
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In the hadith, we see that the Messenger of Allah avoids performing ablution just after he urinates because he is afraid of the possibility of causing difficulty for his community in the future. Always having wudu is a nice habit. However, to exaggerate it and to have the habit of not even walking one step without having wudu means to cause difficulty for oneself. This difficulty may cause frustration in the future.
• Our religion brought the ease of performing 4 rakat fard prayers as 2 rakat for travelers taking into consideration the excuses of tiredness and lack of time. It also brought the ease of combining the prayers of noon and afternoon, and the prayers of evening and night sometimes.
• It is fard to stand (qiyam) while performing prayers. However, those who cannot stand can perform prayers sitting.
From Imran bin Husain:
“I had the disease of piles (hemorrhoid). I asked the Messenger of Allah how I should pray.
He said to me:
– If you can pray standing, stand. If you cannot, pray while sitting. If you cannot sit, pray while lying.
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“Imran asked Allah's Messenger about the praying of a man while sitting.
He said, "If he prays while standing it is better, and he who prays while sitting gets half the reward of that who prays standing; and whoever prays while lying gets half the reward of that who prays while sitting.
(Bukhari/Taqsirussalat 18; Abu Dawud/Salat 179; Tirmidhi/Salat 274)
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Allah ordered His slaves to worship to the extent that their strength and health are convenient.A person who cannot perform prayers while standing can pray while sitting; if he cannot pray while sitting, he can pray while lying down. Our religion makes things easy for believers.
• It may be difficult for the diseased people and travelers to fast in Ramadan. Therefore, our religion does not force them to fast in Ramadan. There is no sin if they do not fast. They need to fast after they recover or return from the travel.
• If there is an insecure environment on the way to hajj because of an epidemic, war, etc, the Muslims who must go to Hajj can postpone the hajj until the danger on the way is over.
From Abdullah bin Shaqiq:
“I asked Hazrat Aisha whether Hazrat Prophet ever performed prayers by sitting. She replied as follows:
- Yes, after people made him old, he prayed by sitting.
(Bukhari/Tahajjud 16)
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Hazrat Aisha stated the following in Muslim:
- When Hazrat Prophet got old and his body got heavier, he often prayed while sitting.”
(Muslim/Salatul-Musafirin, 117)
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Islam does not make it difficult for Muslims in worshipping. It does not force them to suffer while praying. Therefore, the old, the diseased, and the weak can pray while sitting instead of standing. As a matter of fact, our Prophet prayed while sitting when he got old and sick.
From Hazrat Jabir:
“The earth was made a mosque and a clean place for me. Whoever from my community reaches the time of a prayer should pray no matter where he is.”
(Nasai/Masajid 42)
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From Ibrahim Ibn Yazid al-Taymi:
“The earth is a mosque for you from one end to the other. When it is time for prayer, pray wherever you are. The merit of the prayer is to pray it as soon as its time starts.
(Bukhari/Anbiya 8; Muslim/Masajid 2)
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Allah did not give any prophet or community the permission that He gave to our Prophet and his community.The whole surface of the earth was not made a place for worshipping in any other religion. Therefore, a believer can perform his prayer anywhere, at home, in the office, in the meadow or field when its time comes without delaying it.
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