The Meaning of Allah’s Saying: “Allah does not intend to place any hardship upon you,” and the Explanation of the Ease of the Islamic Shari'ah
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The Shaykh : Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Ma'idah 5:6] Praise be to Allah. “Allah does not intend to place any hardship upon you,” meaning any difficulty in the entire religion, the whole religion. There is no difficulty. If you reflect on the commands of the Shari'ah, you will find them easy. Let us look at the daily acts of worship. Prayer is a daily act of worship. How much time does it take you in its purification and its performance?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : If each of the five prayers takes a quarter of an hour, you have no time for prayer. If each of the five takes a quarter of an hour, then fine. The ablution takes five minutes at most. The four-rak'ah prayer takes ten minutes, and the three-rak'ah prayer takes the time for waiting. The voluntary prayer is what the Messenger of Allah mentioned:Sahih al-Bukhari 636 The three-rak'ah prayer takes eight minutes, and the two-rak'ah prayer takes five minutes, unless a person recites in it what is recommended. The Fajr prayer was two rak'ahs because the recitation in it is long. This is the reason: if the recitation is long, it can equal the three-rak'ah or the four-rak'ah prayer. We said now that a quarter of an hour is for the ablution.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Let it be five minutes for the wudu' and ten minutes for the prayer, for each prayer, to be more precise. Each prayer is a quarter of an hour: five minutes in a quarter, one and a quarter, meaning one hour and a quarter of your time for the five prayers with their purification. One hour and a quarter out of twenty-four hours, which is half of an eighth. This is nothing. Is this a hardship or is it easy? It is easy. We find that a person, if he holds the hand of his companion or friend, remains talking with him for perhaps an hour or two while they are standing, and perhaps the sun’s rays are on their heads, or they are standing in the market in the cold and he does not care. But prayer is easier than this, and praise be to Allah. And with that, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to 'Imran ibn Husayn:Sunan Abi Dawud 952Sahih (Al-Albani) There is no hardship in the wudu'. If you do not find water, then perform tayammum. There is no hardship in the religion, and praise be to Allah. It is all easy. Even if a person is sick and it is difficult for him to pray each prayer at its time, he may combine the Zuhr and 'Asr prayers by advancing them, and the Maghrib and 'Isha' prayers by delaying them. All of this is from the ease of Allah. And with this, the good deed is rewarded with ten times its like, up to seven hundred times, up to many times. O Allah, to You is the praise.
Allah does not intend to make difficulty for you, but He intends to purify you and complete His favor upon you that you may be grateful.
ما يريد الله ليجعل عليكم من حرج ولكن يريد ليطهركم وليتم نعمته عليكم لعلكم تشكرونThe student: ... .
The Shaykh : If each of the five prayers takes a quarter of an hour, you have no time for prayer. If each of the five takes a quarter of an hour, then fine. The ablution takes five minutes at most. The four-rak'ah prayer takes ten minutes, and the three-rak'ah prayer takes the time for waiting. The voluntary prayer is what the Messenger of Allah mentioned:
When you hear the Iqama, proceed to offer the prayer
إذا سمعتم الإقامة فامشوا إلى الصلاةThe student: ... .
The Shaykh : Let it be five minutes for the wudu' and ten minutes for the prayer, for each prayer, to be more precise. Each prayer is a quarter of an hour: five minutes in a quarter, one and a quarter, meaning one hour and a quarter of your time for the five prayers with their purification. One hour and a quarter out of twenty-four hours, which is half of an eighth. This is nothing. Is this a hardship or is it easy? It is easy. We find that a person, if he holds the hand of his companion or friend, remains talking with him for perhaps an hour or two while they are standing, and perhaps the sun’s rays are on their heads, or they are standing in the market in the cold and he does not care. But prayer is easier than this, and praise be to Allah. And with that, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to 'Imran ibn Husayn: