On no soul does Allah place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns. (Pray:) ''Our Lord! Condemn us not if we forget or fall into error; our Lord! Lay not on us a burden like that which Thou didst lay on those before us; our Lord! lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Blot out our sins, and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. Thou art our Protector; help us against those who stand against Faith.'' [ Al-Baqarah, 2:286]

Allah (swt) is clearly informing us that we are mistaken if we think that we shall ever be burdened by Him with that which we cannot tolerate. Allah who created us knows best what our abilities and limitations are, and it is not for us to question whether this is within our abilities or not or to question the wisdom of Allah (swt) in burdening us with these duties. Nowadays we often hear of people using this verse (On no soul doth Allah place a burden greater than it can bear) as an excuse or a justification for not carrying out one's duty towards Allah (swt), thereby distorting and twisting the meaning of the ayah, implying that it's acceptable to cut corners and do only part of what Allah (swt) has obliged. Indeed, we should understand the ayah correctly, to mean that what Allah (swt) in his wisdom and mercy has already obliged us to do, is within our capabilities and not more than we can tolerate, so the ayah should be used as an answer to those who question the suitability of the ahkam(laws) of Allah (swt).

Example based on student's life

Example of coursework: clear guidelines and set deadline. It's not up to the student to unilaterally extend the deadline or alter the requirements under the pretext ''the lecturer will not burden a student with more than what he can bear''. On the contrary rather, the lecturer will answer anyone who complains about the task by saying, ''I would never burden you with more than that which you could tolerate''. The lecturer knows best what is within the students' capabilities, and surely Allah (swt) knows best what is within our capabilities. For every circumstance of hardship, He in his wisdom and mercy has given us exemptions(rukhsa) to ease the burden upon us; for example when water is not available one may perform tayammum instead of wulu and when one cannot stand in prayer one may sit or recline, as Allah (swt) would never burden us with more than what we can tolerate.

Another common misconception is the concept of ease and hardship in Islam. We often hear people describing Islam as a religion of ''ease'' and ''flexibility'', and then using this as an excuse to justify exempting themselves from some of the ahkam of Islam, as if this attribute of ease had somehow become a principle in Islam. This is the result of some people ignorantly allowing themselves to interpret the texts according to their own desires in such a way as to bring them maximum worldly benefit, influenced to a large extend by the secular western viewpoint in life.

Hadith : This deen is simple and easy (Bukhari)

''Easy'' here refers to the fact that this deen is inherently simple and uncomplicated, and Allah (swt) in his Mercy has made every allowance to facilitate the application of the rulings. Again consider the example of a lecturer who sets some coursework and then describes this coursework as being ''easy''. One cannot then pick and choose which questions to answer based on the argument that the coursework is ''easy''! Rather the lecturer's words should serve as a motivation to us to remind us that the work is within our abilities and the effort required to complete it is not overwhelming. If we see this to be otherwise, then our understanding of the problem or our approach to the work may need revision.

Examples of how Islam is easier than the previous religions 

Facilitate and make easy, do not complicate and confuse; bring glad tidings and invite rather than frighten people away (Bukhari)

An Arab Bedouin stood up and urinated in the mosque; the people were outraged and prepared to beat him for his disrespect, so the Prophet (saas) said leave him alone and pour a bucket of water, as you have been sent as facilitators and not to cause complications and difficulty. (Bukhari)

''Easy'' here refers to simplifying matters in their presentation so that they will be readily accepted and understood; ''Do not complicate'' means do not overwhelm people with all the optional acts of worship (such as nawafil) as this will give the impression of hardship to newcomer.
Consider how a good lecturer makes every effort to facilitate the material to the students by presenting it in the most attractive manner, using examples and illustrations to facilitate understanding. He should avoid complicating the material and overwhelming the students with terminology and facts that make the material appear incomprehensible. But he must also be careful not to over-simplify the material by diluting it to the extent that only part of the syllabus is covered or key facts are omitted under the pretext of facilitating the material. Rather he must present the material in its entirety, but in a simple manner. 
The same applies to the presentation of Islam. ''Hikma'' in the daawa (invitation to Islam) doesn't mean giving the people what they like to hear, but rather presenting the truth, complete and unadulterated, in a manner and style that is most likely to be effective, choosing the timing, the wording and the examples that will have the greatest impact in delivering the message. It doesn't mean diluting and disguising the message making it look so similar to the calls of the kuffar that it may not cause offence, under the pretext of ''facilitation'' and ''hikma''. This would be haraam and it is forbidden for us to twist the words of Allah (swt) and His Messenger (saas) in order to justify the haraam.


Or do you think that you shall enter the Jannah without such (trials) as came to those who passed away before you? They encountered suffering and adversity, and were so shaken that even the Messenger and those of faith who were with him cried: ''When (will come) the help of Allah verily, the help of Allah is (always) near! [ Al-Baqarah, 2:214]

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