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An article by Amatullah Um Malik appearing in al- Asaalah magazine (no. 15&16)
Many people circulate the saying, “Surely the Deen is easy”, and most of the time, they do not use it to praise Islaam or unite hearts upon it. Rather they intend by this saying to make some actions of theirs permissible which otherwise contradict the shari ‘ ah . So to them, it is a truthful saying which they use to support falsehood.
As soon as one tries to fix an evil which he discovers that contradicts the shari ‘ ah the proponent of such act argues saying, “Surely the Deen is easy”. By this they hope to legislate by instituting a rukhsah [concession] which conforms to their desires. They manage to confuse themselves into believing that they have argued effectively against one who attempted to advise them to stick to legislating by the Book and the Sunnah.
It is no surprise that when they argue with this kind of rukhsah , these people are quite aware that Islaam is an easy religion, when it comes to following what Allaah has commanded and what His Messenger (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) commanded, they know that Islaam is an easy religion, when it comes to taking advantage of what Allaah and His Messenger (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) facilitated us with, and the concessions that have been granted to us, or whenever they run across a difficulty in adhering to a basic element of the religion, they know that Islaam is an easy religion.
The saying, “Surely the Deen is easy”, is actually part of a hadeeth which is reported by Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) said,
Surely the Deen is easy, and none will be excessive in the Deen except that it will overcome him. So do the right thing, do the best you can, and rejoice. And allocate [some time for devotional acts] during the morning, the restful times, and part of the night. ( al- Bukharee )
Ibn Hajar commented on the saying, Surely the Deen is easy in his book Fath ul-Baaree (1/116) saying, “It means, ‘Islaam is the [true] religion of ease' or, it is called the religion of ease in emphasis of its ease over the religions before it, for Allaah raised a greater burden from this nation than He did for those before it....”
If we look carefully at the hadeeth and what comes after “Surely the Deen is easy” , we discover that Allaah's Messenger (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) was showing us that it is obligatory that the Muslim not be severe in matters of worship, not to overstep the boundaries of the religion by doing new things in the religion which will not increase ones rewards. Like the three who intended do figure out a new way to perform and embellish upon their worship; the first of them saying, “I will not marry women”, the second saying, “I will fast eternally and never break my fast”, the third one said, “I will stay awake all night long.” So the Messenger (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) forbade them from this, and he encouraged them to perfect their deeds as much as they were capable, and to draw nearer to Allaah by means of the acts of worship which He made obligatory upon them, not to invent new ways in the religion which are not part of it for they would not be capable of that, because none will be excessively strict in the religion but it would overcome him.
So the saying Surely the Deen is easy means that all of the legislation and rulings which Allaah revealed in His religion are easy to fulfill, and if it were not so, and men were left to innovate, then no one would be able to worship Allaah.
Now when they find that the previous hadeeth actually does not support what they wish, the opponents will usually rush to other hadeeth s which they argue with to support their religious negligence. Among those hadeeth s is the following where the Prophet (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) said,
Indeed Allaah loves that His rukhsah [concession] is used, just as He hates that sins be violated. ( Saheeh ; Ahmad and others)
And in one report it is
..just as He loves to be obeyed. ( Saheeh ; Ahmad and others)
As for the other hadeeth it is
Be easy not forceful, and give good news not frightening news, and be conciliatory not contradictory. (Al-Bukhari)
The third hadeeth (is the same as the last one, in part, but the commands are addressed to a group rather than an individual as is the case with the previous one.)
As for the first hadeeth it requires that we realize that the rukhas [pl. of rukhsah or concession] in Islaam are many. Among them are; breaking the fast for the traveler, making up the missed prayer, fasting for the one who does not have a sacrifice to offer during hajj , tayammum for the one who cannot find water of who cannot use it due to some reason, etc.
And there is no doubt for the attentive that these concessions are among the legislative decrees of Allaah and the sunnah of His Messenger (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) by the permission of His Lord and it is not becoming of a Muslim that he claim to utilize a rukhsah without an evidence for it, because he would be innovating in the religion what is not from it.
Take note dear Muslim, the following aayah which Allaah speaks about the rukhsah of breaking the fast for the ill or the traveler, then after that He (SWT) says, (which means)
«Allaah intends ease for you, He does not intend hardship on you .» [al-Baqarah 2:185]
This aayah explains the correct understand about the ease that Allaah gives. It is a matter from Allaah whom there is no partners for, or a matter which has been legislated by His Messenger (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) through revelation from Allaah, and the aayah also clarifies the ease of adhering to Allaah's legislation, and all of this is in accord with the understanding of the first hadeeth .
As for the second and third hadeeth s , the people of desires who argue to contradict the shari ‘ ah with them invalidate and change the saying of the Messenger (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) from its correct meaning, leaving the generality of the meaning of the texts.
However, these hadeeth s refer to inviting to Islaam, in them the Messenger (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) established one of the most important rules among the fundamentals of da ‘ wah to Allaah and that is inviting with gentleness and kindness. So the first da ‘ wah to be established to the non-Muslims is inviting them to establish prayer, then fasting, then zakah , then to explain to them the importance of the sunnah of Allaah's Messenger (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam), then to clarify for them which actions are obligatory, recommended, or disliked. Since, due to ignorance or forgetfulness, none is free from error, then you must be patient and invite the people with mercy, gentleness and kindness, as Allaah said (the meaning of which is)
«It is from Allaah's mercy that you deal gently with them, and if you were severe or hard-hearted, they would have entirely removed themselves from your situation .» [ Aal ‘ Imraan 3: 159]
So after understanding these hadeeth s , and clearing up the meaning of rukhsah and the facilitation in it, we say to these people who change these meanings from those which are correct due to their desires: Fear Allaah and follow what He has commanded and stay away from what He has forbidden. Give up your attempts to distort the sunnah of His Prophet (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) and fear a Day of return to Allaah when every soul will be given what it has earned. And fear a Day when all who distorted Allaah's religion and the sunnah of His Prophet (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) will be turned away from the Hawdh of the Prophet (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam).
We hope that Allaah will guide us and turn the Muslims towards following His Book and the sunnah of His Prophet (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) and that He teach us what will benefit us, and cause us to benefit from what we learn, that He save us from the evil of innovation and distorting the religion.
Many people circulate the saying, “Surely the Deen is easy”, and most of the time, they do not use it to praise Islaam or unite hearts upon it. Rather they intend by this saying to make some actions of theirs permissible which otherwise contradict the shari ‘ ah . So to them, it is a truthful saying which they use to support falsehood.
As soon as one tries to fix an evil which he discovers that contradicts the shari ‘ ah the proponent of such act argues saying, “Surely the Deen is easy”. By this they hope to legislate by instituting a rukhsah [concession] which conforms to their desires. They manage to confuse themselves into believing that they have argued effectively against one who attempted to advise them to stick to legislating by the Book and the Sunnah.
It is no surprise that when they argue with this kind of rukhsah , these people are quite aware that Islaam is an easy religion, when it comes to following what Allaah has commanded and what His Messenger (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) commanded, they know that Islaam is an easy religion, when it comes to taking advantage of what Allaah and His Messenger (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) facilitated us with, and the concessions that have been granted to us, or whenever they run across a difficulty in adhering to a basic element of the religion, they know that Islaam is an easy religion.
The saying, “Surely the Deen is easy”, is actually part of a hadeeth which is reported by Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) said,
Surely the Deen is easy, and none will be excessive in the Deen except that it will overcome him. So do the right thing, do the best you can, and rejoice. And allocate [some time for devotional acts] during the morning, the restful times, and part of the night. ( al- Bukharee )
Ibn Hajar commented on the saying, Surely the Deen is easy in his book Fath ul-Baaree (1/116) saying, “It means, ‘Islaam is the [true] religion of ease' or, it is called the religion of ease in emphasis of its ease over the religions before it, for Allaah raised a greater burden from this nation than He did for those before it....”
If we look carefully at the hadeeth and what comes after “Surely the Deen is easy” , we discover that Allaah's Messenger (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) was showing us that it is obligatory that the Muslim not be severe in matters of worship, not to overstep the boundaries of the religion by doing new things in the religion which will not increase ones rewards. Like the three who intended do figure out a new way to perform and embellish upon their worship; the first of them saying, “I will not marry women”, the second saying, “I will fast eternally and never break my fast”, the third one said, “I will stay awake all night long.” So the Messenger (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) forbade them from this, and he encouraged them to perfect their deeds as much as they were capable, and to draw nearer to Allaah by means of the acts of worship which He made obligatory upon them, not to invent new ways in the religion which are not part of it for they would not be capable of that, because none will be excessively strict in the religion but it would overcome him.
So the saying Surely the Deen is easy means that all of the legislation and rulings which Allaah revealed in His religion are easy to fulfill, and if it were not so, and men were left to innovate, then no one would be able to worship Allaah.
Now when they find that the previous hadeeth actually does not support what they wish, the opponents will usually rush to other hadeeth s which they argue with to support their religious negligence. Among those hadeeth s is the following where the Prophet (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) said,
Indeed Allaah loves that His rukhsah [concession] is used, just as He hates that sins be violated. ( Saheeh ; Ahmad and others)
And in one report it is
..just as He loves to be obeyed. ( Saheeh ; Ahmad and others)
As for the other hadeeth it is
Be easy not forceful, and give good news not frightening news, and be conciliatory not contradictory. (Al-Bukhari)
The third hadeeth (is the same as the last one, in part, but the commands are addressed to a group rather than an individual as is the case with the previous one.)
As for the first hadeeth it requires that we realize that the rukhas [pl. of rukhsah or concession] in Islaam are many. Among them are; breaking the fast for the traveler, making up the missed prayer, fasting for the one who does not have a sacrifice to offer during hajj , tayammum for the one who cannot find water of who cannot use it due to some reason, etc.
And there is no doubt for the attentive that these concessions are among the legislative decrees of Allaah and the sunnah of His Messenger (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) by the permission of His Lord and it is not becoming of a Muslim that he claim to utilize a rukhsah without an evidence for it, because he would be innovating in the religion what is not from it.
Take note dear Muslim, the following aayah which Allaah speaks about the rukhsah of breaking the fast for the ill or the traveler, then after that He (SWT) says, (which means)
«Allaah intends ease for you, He does not intend hardship on you .» [al-Baqarah 2:185]
This aayah explains the correct understand about the ease that Allaah gives. It is a matter from Allaah whom there is no partners for, or a matter which has been legislated by His Messenger (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) through revelation from Allaah, and the aayah also clarifies the ease of adhering to Allaah's legislation, and all of this is in accord with the understanding of the first hadeeth .
As for the second and third hadeeth s , the people of desires who argue to contradict the shari ‘ ah with them invalidate and change the saying of the Messenger (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) from its correct meaning, leaving the generality of the meaning of the texts.
However, these hadeeth s refer to inviting to Islaam, in them the Messenger (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) established one of the most important rules among the fundamentals of da ‘ wah to Allaah and that is inviting with gentleness and kindness. So the first da ‘ wah to be established to the non-Muslims is inviting them to establish prayer, then fasting, then zakah , then to explain to them the importance of the sunnah of Allaah's Messenger (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam), then to clarify for them which actions are obligatory, recommended, or disliked. Since, due to ignorance or forgetfulness, none is free from error, then you must be patient and invite the people with mercy, gentleness and kindness, as Allaah said (the meaning of which is)
«It is from Allaah's mercy that you deal gently with them, and if you were severe or hard-hearted, they would have entirely removed themselves from your situation .» [ Aal ‘ Imraan 3: 159]
So after understanding these hadeeth s , and clearing up the meaning of rukhsah and the facilitation in it, we say to these people who change these meanings from those which are correct due to their desires: Fear Allaah and follow what He has commanded and stay away from what He has forbidden. Give up your attempts to distort the sunnah of His Prophet (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) and fear a Day of return to Allaah when every soul will be given what it has earned. And fear a Day when all who distorted Allaah's religion and the sunnah of His Prophet (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) will be turned away from the Hawdh of the Prophet (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam).
We hope that Allaah will guide us and turn the Muslims towards following His Book and the sunnah of His Prophet (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) and that He teach us what will benefit us, and cause us to benefit from what we learn, that He save us from the evil of innovation and distorting the religion.
