Human beings are wired to look for complexity in everything. We often overthink and make things harder on ourselves for no apparent reason. It seems most of us have done exactly this to our deen. We made it complicated and hard to follow when Allah intended it to be simple.

Unfortunately, in many cases, both Muslims and reverts alike, make Islam hard to practice for themselves by adding a great deal of intricacies, superstitions and focus on minute details. There is a misconception that the more stringent and extreme we become in practicing Islam, the more pious we become.

Allah as our maker, knows that we are not perfect and neither he expects perfection from his slaves. As it can be deduced from the above hadith, our prophet has also instructed us not to make our religion complicated, overburden ourselves or take it to the extremes. Rather we should try to be as close to perfection as we can without affecting the other aspect of our lives negatively.

Of course, this does not mean we should neglect our obligations towards our deen. It simply means we should always strive to better ourselves, be it in religion, personal life or professionally.

Allah is merciful and wants us to enjoy life in the boundaries of Islam as well. Enjoying what He has provided for us in this worldly life is also a way of worship.

May Allah grant us all understanding and He knows best.