Ease and Relaxation in Islam
Shaykh Akram Nadwi
Muhaddith & Islamic Scholar
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi
Ease is through hardship. Muslims should be suspicious of any ease which does not involve any effort. The obvious example of that is watching t.v. The only effort it requires is to push the button. It actually will be better to sleep rather than watching tvs.
There are certain things that the Prophet sanctioned which nowadays are put under the category of entertainment like sports such as archery, horse-riding and swimming.
The Prophet accepted the people have to relax, they have to live in this world and so they have to give time to it, like spending time with the family, spending time with the guests and generally being cheerful.
There are also specific occasions of celebrations, like two eids which are connected with two important ibadahs: fasting of Ramadan and hajj.
The key thing to remember is that the rules of halal and haram are applied all the times. There is no carnival in Islam when people can abandon the normal rules. In Islam there is never ever an excuse to abandon the rules.
