notifications_active Weekly Meshkat-e Noor Session: Thursdays at 20:30 at Haj Reza Mosque
For people whose faith has not yet taken root, or whose faith is weak, should we avoid obliging them to observe the religious duties set out in the manual of practical rulings? Some people believe that religious obligations drive people away from religion.
Yet, in a sense, faith cannot take shape without fulfilling religious obligations.
َّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ
Religious obligations are a means of drawing closer to God, and God does not impose on His servants anything beyond their capacity. The apparent difficulty of fulfilling these obligations is a test, one that reveals who truly loves God; if outward acts of worship were pleasant and easy, there would be no test. Satan and the lower self make even the lighter religious duties seem difficult and distasteful.
Religious duties are a means of drawing near to God. The All-Knowing, All-Wise Creator does not impose on us what lies beyond our capacity. The practical rulings of religion are the easiest of tasks; anyone who turns away from them wrongs only themselves. Yet Satan and the lower self make even the lightest religious duties seem difficult and bitter, while urging us towards sin and reprehensible acts—which carry hardships of their own—and making them seem easy and sweet.
In general, acts of goodness may seem “difficult and bitter” outwardly, yet inwardly they are “easy, sweet and beautiful.” Reprehensible acts, by contrast, may seem “easy, beautiful and sweet” outwardly, yet inwardly they are “difficult, ugly and bitter.” This is inherent in the nature of the test.
Anyone who gives heartfelt attention to their actions will sense the beauty of acts of goodness and the ugliness of reprehensible acts. Heedlessness brings about the opposite perception.
The outward difficulty of religious duties is part of the test. If these duties looked appealing on the surface, everyone would be drawn to them, and there would be no real test. Despite their outward difficulty, we must willingly embrace them, so that God’s true lovers may be distinguished.
Āl ʿImrān 3:14 زُيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ حُبُّ الشَّهَواتِ مِنَ النِّساءِ وَ الْبَنينَ وَ الْقَناطيرِ الْمُقَنْطَرَةِ مِنَ الذَّهَبِ وَ الْفِضَّةِ وَ الْخَيْلِ الْمُسَوَّمَةِ وَ الْأَنْعامِ وَ الْحَرْثِ ذلِكَ مَتاعُ الْحَياةِ الدُّنْيا وَ اللَّهُ عِنْدَهُ حُسْنُ الْمَآبِ
محبّت Worldly desires—women, children, hoards of gold and silver, prized horses, livestock and cultivated land—have been made alluring to people. These are the fleeting enjoyments of this life, but the finest destination is with God.
Al-Ḥujurāt 49:7 وَ اعْلَمُوا أَنَّ فيكُمْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ لَوْ يُطيعُكُمْ في كَثيرٍ مِنَ الْأَمْرِ لَعَنِتُّمْ وَ لكِنَّ اللَّهَ حَبَّبَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْإيمانَ وَ زَيَّنَهُ في قُلُوبِكُمْ وَ كَرَّهَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْكُفْرَ وَ الْفُسُوقَ وَ الْعِصْيانَ أُولئِكَ هُمُ الرَّاشِدُونَ And know that the Messenger of God is among you. Were he to obey you in many matters, you would surely be in difficulty. But God has endeared faith to you and adorned it in your hearts, and has made disbelief, wickedness and disobedience hateful to you. Those are the rightly guided.
عنْ أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ ع قَالَ: الْجَنَّةُ مَحْفُوفَةٌ بِالْمَكَارِهِ وَ الصَّبْرِ فَمَنْ صَبَرَ عَلَى الْمَكَارِهِ فِي الدُّنْيَا دَخَلَ الْجَنَّةَ وَ جَهَنَّمُ مَحْفُوفَةٌ بِاللَّذَّاتِ وَ الشَّهَوَاتِ فَمَنْ أَعْطَى نَفْسَهُ لَذَّتَهَا وَ شَهْوَتَهَا دَخَلَ النَّارَ.
Al-Kāfī (Islamic edition), vol. 2, p. 89
Imam al-Bāqir (AS) said: “Paradise is surrounded by hardships and patience. Whoever patiently endures what they dislike in this world will enter Paradise. Hell is surrounded by pleasures and desires. Whoever gives their lower self over to its pleasures and desires will enter the Fire.”