“Religion is easy” and “Make things easy for the people”

Meaning of “Religion is easy” and “Make things easy for the people”
  
Fatwa Date : Rabee' Al-Aakhir 10, 1429 / 16-4-2008

Question

Salamualaikum what these hadiths means

Abu Hurairah (radhiallâhu anhu) narrated that the Prophet (sallallâhu ‘alayhi wasallam) said,

“Religion (Islam) 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 offering the prayers in the mornings, afternoons and during the last hours of the nights.” (Bukhâri 1/38)

Anas bin Malik (radhiallâhu anhu) narrated that the Prophet (sallallâhu ‘alayhi wasallam) said,

"Make things easy for the people, and do not make it difficult for them, and make them calm (with glad tidings) and do not repulse (them).” (Bukhâri,8/146)

what does these hadiths means please clarify in depth? Insha Allah Jazak Allah Khair & what my friend is getting in his mind that some commands of Almighty Allah like wearing niqab for girls which will be very hard now a days to wear while they with cousins etc or letting lower garments below the ankles for mens because we are not getting proper jobs or some kind of difficulties we will face on following on many commands of almighty Allah so can we Skip some commands of Almighty Allah if we get hardship while practicing that? please clarify this Jazak Allah Khair

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad , is His slave and Messenger.
 
The meaning of the saying of the Prophet : “Religion is easy...”, is that there is generally no additional hardship in its obligations on pubescent people to an extent that causes them hardship or overburdens them. Allaah Says (what means): {…and has not placed upon you in the religion any difficulty.}[Quran 22:78]

In case there is a difficulty in some circumstances, then the Sharee’ah renders this difficulty easy, like performing Tayammum when there is no water, shortening the prayer when travelling, performing the prayer while sitting when one is unable to stand, and so forth.

As regards the meaning of ‘whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that way’, Ibn Hajar  said: “This means that when a person exhausts himself in performing too many acts of worship, he will eventually become unable to continue and will stop (performing them).”

The rest of the narration means sticking to the truth without any extravagance or negligence, and if one is not able to perform duties in a perfect manner, he should try to perform them as close to perfection as possible. There is glad tidings for being rewarded for (what one does) even if he is unable to perform the complete act of worship due to his inability. In one’s way to Allaah, one should avail of acts of worship by performing them at times when he has energy and is best fit to perform them, just as a traveller chooses the best time for his travel so that he could travel the distance in due time.

As regards the Prophetic expression "Make things easy for the people and do not make it difficult for them", then this was said by the Prophet  to Mu’aath ibn Jabal and Abu Moosa Al-Ash’ari  when he  sent them to Yemen. Its meaning is that they should give glad tidings to the people that Allaah accepts acts of obedience and rewards people for doing them, and He enables people to repent from sins, and forgives them and has mercy on them. However, they should not frighten the people by exaggerating in warning them to an extent that makes them despair of the Mercy of Allaah because of their sins. Making things easy for them, is like taking Zakaat from them in a kind manner and to only take from them the amount which they are obliged to pay or take what is better (in grade) than they should, and to not spy on their affairs.

The meaning of ‘making things easy’ in the above two Prophetic narrations does not mean to neglect the obedience of Allaah and abandon religious obligations and commit prohibitions –as it may appear to people who do not have religious knowledge. Allaah Says (what means): {And whatever the Messenger [Muhammad ] has given you — take it; and what he has forbidden you — refrain from it. indeed, Allaah is severe in penalty.}[Quran 59:7]

In principle, a Muslim is religiously required to fulfil religious obligations and refrain from committing prohibitions, and whoever is really unable to do so, then Allaah does not overburden a soul more than it can bear. The probable difficulty that a Muslim might face is not a sound reason for abandoning obligations and committing prohibitions.

Allaah Knows best.