Understanding The Prophet's Life
From Issue: 755 [Read full issue]
Facilitation
The Noble Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "Make matters easy, not difficult" [Muslim] and "You are sent to facilitate matters and not make them difficult." [Tirmidhi]
In this age of ours, people are in dire need as could ever be for facilitation, out of mercy for them. Their determination has weakened and they have become reluctant to pursue good activities while the obstacles in the path of goodness and their desire for committing evil has increased.
It is therefore more advisable to give people the license of facility instead of ordering them to follow the strictest rules. This is what the Prophet did with the people who had just entered Islam, or with the bedouins of the desert. The Prophet used to accept those who vowed not to perform more than the basic faraidh and not perform the voluntary acts of ibadah; the Prophet used to say of them: "He will be successful if he is truthful (in what he said)" or "He will enter Paradise if he keeps his promise" or "If anyone of you want to see one of the people of Paradise, let him look at this man."
The Prophet adopted such an attitude towards such people because of his kindness and consideration of their difficult circumstances.
Compiled From:
"Priorities of The Islamic Movement in The Coming Phase" - Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, pp.140, 141