Hey brothers and sisters! I was listening to surah balad recitations by Mishary and came across this verse.
And what will explain to you what the steep path is? It is the freeing of a (slave) from bondage; or the giving of food in a day of famine to an orphan relative, or to a needy in distress. Then will he be of those who believe, enjoin fortitude and encourage kindness and compassion." Chapter 90, Verses 12-17
Steep denotes hard to climb right? But a hadith immediately popped up in my mind.
The Prophet said, “Religion is very easy and whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that way. So you should not be extremists, but try to be near to perfection and receive the good tidings that you will be rewarded; and gain strength by worshipping in the mornings, the nights.” (See Fath-ul-Bari, Page 102, Vol 1).
What do you guys think is the proper attitude? Is religion easy or hard? WHat are these two things trying to say?
(11. But he has not attempted to pass on the path that is steep.)
(12. And what will make you know the path that is steep)
(13. Freeing a neck)
(14. Or giving food in a day full of Masghabah,)
(15. To an orphan near of kin.)
(16. Or to a Miskin cleaving to dust.)
(17. Then he became one of those who believed and recommended one another to patience, and recommended one another to compassion.)
(18. They are those on the Right,)
(19. But those who disbelieved in Our Ayat, they are those on the Left.)
(20. Upon them Fire will Mu'sadah.)
The Encouragement to traverse upon the Path of Goodness
Ibn Zayd said, (11. But he has not attempted to pass on the path that is steep.) "This means, will he not traverse upon the path which contains salvation and good Then He explains this path by his saying,
(12. And what will make you know the path that is steep Freeing a neck, or giving food.)'' Imam Ahmad recorded from Sa`id bin Marjanah that he heard Abu Hurayrah saying that the Messenger of Allah said, (Whoever frees a believing slave, Allah will free for every limb (of the slave) one of his limbs from the Fire. This is to such an extent that He (Allah) will free a hand for a hand, a leg for a leg, and a private part for a private part.) `Ali bin Al-Husayn then said (to Sa`id), "Did you hear this from Abu Hurayrah'' Sa`id replied, "Yes.'' Then `Ali bin Al-Husayn said to a slave boy that he owned who was the swiftest of his servants, "Call Mutarrif!'' So when the slave was brought before him he said, "Go, for you are free for the Face of Allah.'' Al-Bukhari, Muslim, At-Tirmidhi, An-Nasa'i, all recorded this Hadith from Sa`id bin Marjanah.
Imam Ahmad recorded from `Amr bin `Abasah that the Prophet said, (Whoever builds a Masjid so that Allah may be remembered in it, Allah will build a house for him in Paradise; and whoever frees a Muslim person, then it will be his ransom from Hell; and whoever grows grey in Islam, then it will be a light for him on the Day of Judgement.) According to another route of transmission, Ahmad recorded from Abu Umamah, who reported from `Amr bin `Abasah that As-Sulami said to him, "Narrate a Hadith to us that you heard from the Messenger of Allah , without any deficiency or mistakes.'' He (`Amr) said, "I heard him saying, (Whoever has three children born to him in Islam, and they die before reaching the age of puberty, Allah will enter him into Paradise by virtue of His mercy to them. And whoever grows gray in the way of Allah (fighting Jihad), then it will be a light for him on the Day of Judgement. And whoever shoots an arrow in the way of Allah (fighting Jihad) that reaches the enemy, whether it hits or misses, he will get the reward of freeing a slave. And whoever frees a believing slave, then Allah will free each of his limbs from the Fire for every limb that the slave has. And whoever equipped two riding animals in the way of Allah (for fighting Jihad), then indeed Paradise has eight gates, and Allah will allow him to enter any of them he choses.)'' Ahmad recorded this Hadith from different routes of transmission that are good and strong, and all praise is due to Allah. Allah said,
(14. Or giving food in a day full of Masghabah,) Ibn `Abbas said, "Of hunger.'' `Ikrimah, Mujahid, Ad-Dahhak, Qatadah and others all said the same. The word `Saghb' means hunger. Then Allah says,
(15. To an orphan) meaning, he gives food on a day like this to an orphan.
(near of kin.) meaning, who is related to him. Ibn `Abbas, `Ikrimah, Al-Hasan, Ad-Dahhak and As-Suddi all said this. This is similar to what was related in a Hadith that was collected by Imam Ahmad on the authority of Salman bin `Amir who said that he heard the Messenger of Allah say,
(Charity given to the poor person is counted as one charity, while if it is given to a relative it is counted as two: charity and connecting the ties (of kinship).) At-Tirmidhi and An-Nasa'i both recorded this Hadith and its chain of narration is authentic. Then Allah says,
(16. Or to a Miskin cleaving to dust (Dha Matrabah).) meaning, poor, miserable, and clinging to the dirt. It means those who are in a state of destitution. Ibn `Abbas said, "Dha Matrabah is that who is dejected in the street and who has no house or anything else to protect him against the dirt.'' Allah said;
(17. Then he became one of those who believed) meaning, then, along with these beautiful and pure characteristics, he was a believer in his heart, seeking the reward of that from Allah. This is as Allah says, (And whoever desires the Hereafter and strives for it, with the necessary effort due for it while he is believer, then such are the ones whose striving shall be appreciated.) (17:19)
Last edited by 'Abd-al Latif; 12-07-2008 at 01:45 AM.
And verily for everything that a slave loses there is a substitute, but the one who loses Allah will never find anything to replace Him.” [Related by Ibn al-Qayyim in ad-Dâ' wad-Dawâ Fasl 49]
Is learning to drive a car and passing your road exam easy?
Is learning to be a professional footplayer easy?
Is learning to swim easy?
Is running a race easy?
Now thinking of those, how does the word easy relate to religion?
Aalaah(swt) does not expect you to do anything you are not capable of doing. Their are no exhausting requirements. A child just reaching the age of reasoning and an ancient frail old man along with everybody in between can be religious.
As mentioned early in this thread and the quotes from Hadeeth and the Holy Qur'an gives us assurance that we need not make religion a nearly impossible task.
Think in terms of what your end desire is and you will discover, religion is very easy and has a very low level of effort/work to gain the prize it offers.
That hadeeth also reminds me of another hadeeth," Bring good tidings and do not turn people away, make things easy and not hard.." the hadeeth. (btw i don't remember the hadeeth by the actual wordings. InshaAllah someone else can help me on that)
Anything is going to be hard in the beginning. Islam is a lifestyle you have to learn, and that takes time and alot of patience. People are definately going to look at you funny in the beginning for practicing Islam. But over time, with Iman things will become easier. As your Iman grows, More acts of worship become easy to preform. You will find that preforming Ibadah that are sunnah later on becomes easier and so on.
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