harm him through his attachment to it and its presence with him, causing him injury. As for his God, he needs Him in every circumstance and at every moment; wherever he may be, He is with him. This is why our imam, Abraham, the intimate friend of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:

“I do not love those that set.”

And the greatest verse in the Noble Quran is:

“Allah—there is no deity worthy of worship except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of all existence.”

I have discussed the meaning of “the Sustainer of all existence” at length elsewhere, and we have explained that He is the Everlasting, the Abiding One, who never passes away, never ceases to exist, and never perishes in any way whatsoever.

Know that this line of reasoning rests upon two foundations:

The first is that faith in Allah itself, together with worshipping, loving and revering Him, is a person’s nourishment and sustenance, the source of his well-being and that which sustains him. This is the understanding of the people of faith, and it is what the Quran indicates. It is not as some speculative theologians and others maintain: that worshipping Him is a burdensome obligation and a hardship, contrary to what the heart seeks, imposed merely as a trial and a test, or in order to provide compensation through reward, as the Muʿtazilah and others say.

Although righteous deeds may include things that run counter to the soul’s desires—and Allah, glorified is He, rewards the servant for commanded deeds that involve hardship, as He, Most High, says:

“That is because no thirst or fatigue afflicts them…”

—to the end of the verse—and as the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to ʿĀʾishah:

“Your reward is commensurate with your hardship”—

this is not the primary purpose of the religious command. Rather, it occurs incidentally and as a secondary consequence, for reasons that are not to be discussed here. This will be explained in its proper place.

For this reason, neither the Quran, nor the Sunnah, nor the statements of the early generations describe faith and righteous deeds without qualification as a burdensome obligation, as many speculative theologians and those engaged in jurisprudence do. Rather, the imposition of burdens is mentioned only in statements of negation, such as His saying:

“Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity.”