{"id":95745,"date":"2017-07-24T12:00:25","date_gmt":"2017-07-24T11:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=95745"},"modified":"2017-07-21T15:48:57","modified_gmt":"2017-07-21T14:48:57","slug":"islam-is-simple-muslims-make-it-hard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2017\/07\/islam-is-simple-muslims-make-it-hard\/","title":{"rendered":"Islam Is Simple: Muslims Make It Hard"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cYou live in such a time that if any of you abandon even a tenth of what you are enjoined, you will be ruined. But a time will come when, if a person fulfills only a tenth of what is enjoined, they will be saved.\u201d<\/em>
\n— Prophet Muhammad (Tirmidhi, Book 34: Fitan<\/em> (Sedition), Section 79, No. 2267)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

24 Jul 2017 – <\/em>In the above hadith or prophetic saying, the Prophet was referring to times like ours when we live in great strife and are facing tough challenges to balance religion with modern imperatives.\u00a0\u00a0 This Prophetic advice emanates from\u00a0\u00a0 the holy Quran: \u201cAnd God has not laid upon you any hardship in matters of religion\u201d (Q22:78).The Qur\u2019an further says: \u201cGod intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship.\u201d (Q2:185) The Qur\u2019an reinforces this message again: \u201cGod does not burden a soul beyond its capacity\u201d (Q 2:286).<\/p>\n

The theme of moderation in religious practice has been the leitmotif in Islamic literature from the time of Prophet Muhammad. In the Quran and the Prophetic traditions that amplify it, Muslim women and men are called upon to exercise moderation in all aspects of their religious life. \u00a0The Prophet confirms the essence of Qur\u2019an\u2019s message: “Make things easy, do not make them difficult.” One of the most commonly cited \u00a0\u00a0example is of easing the obligation to fast during the month of Ramadan for travellers, as a way of cautioning believers against excess. Such Islamic provisions have provided guidance to most Islamic scholars to understand the Qur’anic quotation describing the Muslims as the “community of moderation”.<\/p>\n

During the first Islamic century ,two interpretations of religious practice sprang up:\u00a0ahl al-‘az\u00eema<\/em>, which interpreted religious practices (as reflected in\u00a0shari’a\u00a0rules, precepts and injunctions) and applied them strictly (to the letter of the law) without benefiting from exemptions\u00a0 under specific circumstances; and ahl ar-rukhas<\/em>, which considered, apart from y these factors,\u00a0\u00a0 the need for flexibility vis-\u00e0-vis the social context of the day, not to mention instances of need (h\u00e2ja<\/em>) and necessity (dar\u00fbra<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Over the past 13 centuries, most Islamic scholars and Muslims around the world (whether Sunni or Shia, irrespective of legal school), have preached and followed the path of moderation \u00a0\u00a0in the practice of their religion. While strictly devoted to fundamental principles (such as the content of the creed, or\u00a0aq\u00eeda<\/em>, including five prayers a day and fasting in Ramadan, and prohibitions such as avoiding alcohol and pork), they have adapted to new environments and changing times (for example, integrating aspects of new cultures, producing legal opinions for the latest scientific or technological challenges, and so on).<\/p>\n

In a way Qura\u2019n reiterates the Greek ideal of \u201cthe golden mean\u201d and \u201cnothing in excess\u201d .Over-indulgence in worldly pleasures is discouraged because it leads\u00a0 to ennui and man is inclines\u00a0 to feel a spiritual vacuum if he has not tempered his worldly life with the demands of his soul. Similarly, asceticism to the point of harshness would deprive him of experiencing the subliminal beauty of life which is one God\u2019s great bounties.<\/p>\n

A unique feature about the Qur\u2019an is that while it spells out an ethical code, a moral path, a political system, a social norm, an economic order and a legal philosophy, it also presents in the life of Prophet Mohammad the practical exposition of the \u00a0an ideal \u00a0model\u00a0 \u00a0it postulates\u00a0 . There is hardly any aspect of life which has not been touched upon by the Qur\u2019an; and in a similar vein the prophet\u2019s life penetrates with remarkable versatility every domain of human life, both public and private. This striking parallelism between the message of the Qur\u2019an and the life of Prophet Muhammad clearly indicates that it was to illustrate beyond doubt for every follower of Qur\u2019an that the pattern of life enunciated in the Qur\u2019an is capable of being practiced by every individual. The Prophet was, in fact, a human incarnation of the Qur\u2019an. For what we find a wonderful philosophy in the static words of the Qur\u2019an, we have a dynamic living counterpart in the life of Prophet Muhammad.<\/p>\n

For the Qur\u2019an, Muhammad was an individual through whom its every word shone like a gleaming star. The Qur\u2019an was the focal object of Islamic virtues and the life of the Prophet a mirror which reflected in the purest form the impressions of the Book. As the Qur\u2019an it says:<\/p>\n

\u201cO Prophet! Lo: We have sent thee as a witness and a bringer of good tidings and a warner. And as a summoner unto Allah by his permission, and, as a lamp that giveth light.\u201d (Q33:45-46)<\/p>\n

While enjoining his followers to prepare themselves for the life hereafter, the Prophet also admonished them to perform all necessary worldly functions\u00a0\u00a0 that are essential to his sustenance.The Prophet believed that an ideal life was one which had the right combination of both the essential elements of life: one which could provide dignified life on earth; the other which could provide salvation to him in the hereafter. The essence of his message is contained in his well-known saying: \u201cDo for this world as if thou were to live a thousand years and for the next as if thou were to die tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Prophet stated:<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a prudent person it is necessary that he should have some moments;
\nMoments when he should commune with God,
\nMoments when he should be reflecting over the mysteries of creation,
\nAnd also moments spared for the acquisition of the wherewithal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Found in numerous hadith collections, but perhaps made most famous for its mention in al-Nawaw\u012b\u2019s renowned collection of forty hadith, the Prophet Muhammad said:<\/p>\n

\u201cBe in the world as though you were a stranger or a wayfarer.\u201d (122-3,\u00a0Hadith 40<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The Qur\u2019an spells out a life which is a harmonious blend of the otherworldly and mundane. It emphasizes that a perfect model of religious life is not one based on mere performance of rituals. One\u00a0 \u00a0must also integrate oneself with the family and the community. The synthesis is attempted in\u00a0\u00a0 a manner that\u00a0\u00a0 that the one gives meaning and content to the other. The Qur\u2019an recognizes two basic obligations of an individual: one to God and the other to society thereby ruling out any possibilities for a life of asceticism and\u00a0\u00a0 self-denial.<\/p>\n

The Qur\u2019an also disapproves the other extreme of lifestyle – luxurious and pleasure-seeking. It calls for moderation in all spheres so that a complete and wholesome life can be achieved.<\/p>\n

The Prophet himself was very practical and realistic in his approach. Once the Prophet saw a wretched, ugly man with torn clothes. He asked the man the reason for his pitiable state. The man replied: \u201cO Messenger of God, I prefer giving all in charity, contenting myself with this shabby dress.\u201d The Prophet exclaimed in disapproval: \u201cNot like that; God likes to see the traces of his benefit on his slave!\u201d<\/p>\n

Moderation is a fundamental and distinguishing feature of Islam. God says:\u00a0‘We have made you a nation justly balanced’\u00a0(Q 2:143). Additionally, when the Qur’anic verse\u00a0‘As to monasticism which they themselves invented, We did not prescribe any of it for them’\u00a0(Q57: 27)\u00a0was revealed, the Prophet Muhammad commented:\u00a0‘Do not overburden yourselves, lest you perish. People [before you] overburdened themselves and perished. Their remains are found in hermitages and monasteries’\u00a0(Musnad of Abu Ya’la).\u00a0In other words, excesses may eventually develop into large problems and even become a threat to the well being and security of the Muslim community<\/p>\n

During the early Meccan period the word used to describe Islam was\u201d Al-Yusraa,\u201d or ‘The Easy Way’. There is a plethora of verses that testify to Quran\u2019s underlying philosophy of moderation.<\/p>\n