Why Has Allah Made Rulings So Difficult in Our Religion?
Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad
Question
I often find rulings of Islam difficult. Due to this, I start believing that Islam is a difficult religion. Allah could have made urine and other discharges pure so that we could have avoided many hardships.
Does this thinking make me a kafir? I don’t suffer from waswasa.
I often see many scholars who, sometimes, don’t research about scientific matters and logic and make the matter an issue of shirk directly. Now if I come across such things, and I see such scholars, I say to myself: ‘Now again they made this shirk fatwa. Now another shirk fatwa in Islam. Literally, all kinds of things are shirk in Islam.
Answer
Thank you for your question. May Allah reward you for being concerned about your religion and may he facilitate matters for you in practicing it.
Filth
Allah Most High has categorized different things in this world as pure and filth and attached the validity of our worship to them. Our responsibility is not to ask why. Our responsibility is to say, ‘we hear and we obey‘. It was narrated that ‘Ubadah bin As-Samit said, “We pledged to the Messenger of Allah to hear and obey, both in times of ease and hardship, when we felt energetic and when we felt tired, that we would not contend with the orders of whoever was entrusted with it, that we would stand firm in the way of truth wherever we may be, and that we would not fear the blame of the blamers.“ [Nasa’i]
Wisdom
However, if one were to surmise the reason that Allah has made these liquids filth, one might come up with an ocean of wisdom behind it. Don’t these filths cause bacterial infections? Don’t they smell? Is it not hygienic to purify ourselves from them? If you are having trouble purifying your body and clothes from these filths, I recommend that you take a course on the Absolute Essentials of fiqh in order to alleviate any concerns and see how easy they are to purify. The thoughts that you mentioned do not make you a disbeliever.
Course Suggestions:
How Islam Works: What is Religion, and How It Is Preserved, Transmitted, and Interpreted
Absolute Essentials of Islam (Shafi‘i): Habshi’s Encompassing Epistle Explained: Getting Started With Your Belief and Practice
Logic
It may be true that you see scholars unequipped to give legal rulings, and I encourage you to study the religion and contribute to solving the problem. If you can’t study yourself, support someone who can. In the meantime, only look to reliable and authentic sources of knowledge. You should never even glance at a website or social media post where the knowledge could be incorrect. Once again, the words that you mentioned don’t make you a disbeliever.
Please see these excellent tips as well:
Why Does Islam Seem So Difficult to Follow?
Is Difficulty a Sign That One Should Desist
May Allah give you the best of this world and the next.
[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria for two years where she studied aqidah, fiqh, tajweed, tafsir, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed her Masters in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan where she studied fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She later moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.
