As Easy as Breathing

As Easy as Breathing

1989 3 March 17-18 As Easy as Breathing (483) Islam is absolutely free of confusing complications and undue formality. Simplicity is prized, because it is essential to the spirit of Islam. In all worship, it is the spirit of Islam which is emphasized, for the form which worship takes is considered of secondary Importance.

When the Prophet of Islam made his farewell pilgrimage - the only one which he made, in fact – just a few months before his death, in the year 10 A.H., he commenced the ritual of sa’i (running seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwah) from the hill of Safa, saying as he did so, “Safa and Marwah are God’s beacons. (Quran, 2:158) “1 am starting where God started.” In the verse of the Quran which mentions Safa and Marwah, Safa is the first-mentioned of the two. The Prophet, therefore, considered it quite natural to start his sa’i at Safa, then proceed to Marwah, because that was the sequence followed in the Quran.

The order in which the Prophet chose to perform this ritual may not seem of very great importance, in actual fact, it is of considerable significance, for it demonstrates Islam’s preference for simplicity. In every area of Islamic teaching, this preference is in evidence, for Islam is absolutely free of confusing complications and undue formality. Simplicity is prized, because it is essential to the spirit of Islam. In all worship, it is the spirit of Islam which is emphasized, for the form which worship takes is considered of secondary importance. There is no intellectual complexity in the tenets of Islam, therefore, there are no artificial compulsions about accepting them; Islam is quite simply based on the realities of life, so that entering and remaining within the Islamic fold is as easy as breathing in the air around us.

When after circumambulating the House of God in Mecca the Prophet began his sa’i, from Safa, he wanted to make things easy for those who came after him. If he had begun from Marwah, people might have felt confused about the proper sequence, and would not have felt certain whether to begin at Safa, as is mentioned in the Quran, or to begin at Marwah, so as to follow in the footsteps of the Prophet. The Prophet, therefore, adhered to the sequence in the Quran, so that there should be no doubt in people’s minds, and so that the carrying out of this ritual should never appear difficult.

Then, there will be no place whatsoever for deception, delusion or concealment. When God’s tape is re-played, not even the tiniest of details of the past will escape scrutiny in God’s court. At that stage, all God’s creature who are on the verge of entering the afterlife, will receive exactly what they are due. Nothing more. Nothing less. All will be answerable for everything that has been said and done, and upon that will depend our eternal fate.