Is Islam tough to follow?

Men twisted, distorted, and sought to make the revelation fit his liking in the same way that man has confronted nature throughout history and struggled to subjugate it. Except for the Final Revelation.

Mountains, seas, forests, and deserts all exist, whether or not we like them. You can choose not to go see them or live in their vicinity, but you can’t deny that they exist. The truth is no exception. It keeps quiet as a reality outside of you, and it retains its rule even if you despise it or close your eyes anytime it captures your attention. In the winter, you’re cold; in the summer, you’re hot. It’s not because you’re cold or sweaty that these seasons are doing something wrong. They continue to execute their tasks in spite of your complaints. They continue to perform you favours that you are unaware of. We can have a calm, healthy, and fulfilling existence if we live in harmony with nature and cease whining and attempting to change it. Otherwise, if we address it and go out of our way to solve it, the moment we think we’ve solved one problem, we discover that we’ve created a slew of new ones.

The same may be said for religion. Similar to how nature continues to run free of our self-centered grumbling and complaints (happily), the revelation —which explains the spiritual, moral, and social order of life – continues to proclaim the truth, regardless of how our egos will judge it. He twisted, distorted, and sought to make the discovery fit his liking in the same way that man has confronted nature throughout history and struggled to subjugate it. Except for the final revelation. Allah shielded the final revelation since the universe is nearing the end of its journey. He thus assisted the man once more, at a time when He is so close, and He made guidance possible for those who desire to be directed by untainted truth.

It’s difficult to tell the truth. Because it isn’t always to our liking. It’s excruciating. It suspends us in mid-air. On the one hand, there is the desire to live in unrestricted freedom and do anything we want, and on the other hand, there are the necessities and duties that come with the truth. A hiker can’t sleep till midday; a farmer can’t take a vacation on the hottest summer days, and so on. You can, of course, sleep till noon and spend your winter skiing and summer swimming. If that’s the case, it’s safe to assume you won’t be aiming for the harvest.

Religion is also difficult from this perspective: it requires you to manage your time, finances, and desires. It requires you to overcome your weaknesses, fill your heart with faith, and let go of your problems by believing in Allah. There is no other method to build your piety than this.

It was difficult for the Prophet (PBUH) to proclaim the truth of the faith in all of its purity and simplicity at first. He suffered a lot but then through the help of Allah (SWT), and when it came to telling the truth, he was successful.