Abu Hurayrah quotes the Prophet as saying: “By Him who holds my soul in His hand, if you were to have the knowledge I have, you would have wept much and laughed but little.” (Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Malik, Ahmad, Al-Nassaie and Al-Darimi). In this Hadith, the Prophet refers to what happens on the Day of Judgement and its difficulties. On that day, when all creation are resurrected and stand before God awaiting His judgement, theirs is a very hard position.

A very important aspect of Islam is that the practice of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is always a guide for us. If we follow the Prophet (Pbuh), we will not go wrong. Indeed, we will always be on the right track that earns reward from God. This applies to matters pertaining to religion. When the Prophet passed by some farmers who were engaged in inoculating their date trees, he questioned them about what they did. He then suggested that it might be better if they do not resort to such a practice. They stopped immediately. Their yield of dates that year was less than usual and they mentioned this to the Prophet saying that it could have been caused by the lack of inoculation. The Prophet said: “You know your worldly matters best.” When something has a religious aspect, or relates to religious practices, then we follow the Prophet’s guidance. This will bring us rich rewards from God Almighty.

What is important to remember about Islam is that it is easy to implement. It does not require people to steer away from all life’s comforts, or to devote long hours to worship rituals. It deals with human life as it is, endorsing its requireme-nts, forbidding only what is harmful or unbecoming of human dignity. It does not forget that man is the creature God has honoured by granting him his free will and the ability to determine his actions as he pleases. Therefore, it steers a middle way between pleasure and responsibi-lity, comfort and duty. Whenever hardship looms, it provides a concession. Moreover, it makes the exercise of a concession a worthy action deserving of reward.

It is very important to realise this. The Prophet tells us that “God loves that the concessions He gives should be exercised just as He loves the fulfillment of the major duties He assigns.” When we benefit by the concession and thank God for granting it, we actually demonstrate our gratitude to God, and this, in effect, expresses our submission to Him in the same way as it is expressed when we fulfill the major duties God has made binding on us. Some people, however, tend to look at concessions as having a lower status than the original duties to which they apply. Thus, when they travel, they prefer to offer their prayers in full length instead of the shortened version that applies during travel. If their travel happens to be in Ramadan, they prefer to continue to fast despite the added difficulty that travel involves. Yet God has given us the concession of not fasting during travel, provided that we compensate for that by fasting a similar number of days after our travel is over. This is due to the fact that by nature, people tend to make things more difficult. Yet Islam prefers that things are kept easy, simple and manageable.

Hazrath Aishah, (RA), the Prophet’s wife, reports: “God’s Messenger did something by way of concession. Some people, however, felt that it would be better that they should not exercise the same concession. This was communicated to the Prophet and he addressed the people in general, praising God before saying: ‘How is it that some people prefer not to follow my example. By God, I know God better than all people and I am the most God-fearing among them.” (Related by Al-Bukhari and Ahmad).

That the Prophet knew God better than anyone else is indisputable. Who could have known God better than the one who received direct revelations from Him? It is also indisputable that the one who knows God best fears Him most. It is not the sort of fear that we feel when we face an enemy or serious danger; rather, it is a feeling that puts us on our guard lest we should do something that displeases the One who has given us everything that we have. It is He who ensures our happiness and gives us all that we need to live and be comfortable in life. Hence, we are keen to please Him and we are on the alert lest we should commit something that incurs His displeasure.

Those people who felt that they should not take up the concession the Prophet exercised undoubtedly thought that they would earn more reward by doing so. The Prophet, however, makes it clear that theirs is a mistaken notion. What pleases God most is to obey Him and to follow His Messenger. When He allows a concession, we should uphold it, expressing our gratitude to Him for making things easier for us. Thus, our relationship with God is based on love compassion and kindness.

Nevertheless we should always be mindful of God, aware that His punishment is severe, and work hard not to incur His displeasure or commit what makes us liable to His punishment. We should always remember that God’s punishment is grievous indeed. Abu Hurayrah quotes the Prophet as saying: “By Him who holds my soul in His hand, if you were to have the knowledge I have, you would have wept much and laughed but little.” (Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Malik, Ahmad, Al-Nassaie and Al-Darimi.)

In this Hadith, the Prophet refers to what happens on the Day of Judgement and its difficulties. On that day, when all creation are resurrected and stand before God awaiting His judgement, theirs is a very hard position. Even the most pious and the most diligent in worship would not have given enough thanks for the endless aspects of grace God had bestowed on him throughout his life. Yet such a person inevitably committed enough sins to deserve punishment. If God were to judge him in absolute fairness, his lot will be difficult indeed. But God treats us with kindness and compassion. Hence, the pious and the God-fearing are admitted into heaven. Yet the knowledge of all this should make everyone tremble with fear, lest God’s kindness should be withdrawn from him in punishment for something grievous he might have committed. It is such knowledge that should banish laughter and bring tears to people’s faces. Yet it is the trust in God’s compassion and kindness that makes us hopeful. It is an unfailing hope that He will bestow His grace on us, just like He bestows it in this our present life.