Answer to the "I want to live by the religion, but I cannot find the internal strength to do so." Deceit

This sentence is truly an expression of insincerity. People who utter such words actually know that they are seeking a way to avoid complying with Islam's regulations so that they can continue to follow their selfish desires and passions. Religion does not impose a burdensome way of living upon anybody. Moreover, since Allah created humanity to serve Him, doing so is each person's main duty and is inherent in his or her very nature. In the Qur'an, Allah relates that He created humanity to serve Him, as follows:

	I only created jinn and man to worship Me. (Surat adh-Dhariyat, 56)

Claiming that one does not have enough willpower, self-discipline, and self-control to live by Islam's regulations is nothing but an insincere way of evading one's obligations, for:

	We do not impose on any self any more than it can stand. With Us there is a Book that speaks the truth. They will not be wronged. However, their hearts are overwhelmed by ignorance about this matter, and they do other things as well. (surat al-Muminun, 62-63) As for those who believe and do right actions—We impose upon no self any more than it can bear—they are the Companions of the Garden, remaining in it timelessly, forever. (Surat al-A'raf, 42)

As the verse "Struggle for Allah with the struggle due to Him. He has selected you and not placed any constraint upon you in the religion—the religion of your forefather Ibrahim…" (Surat al-Hajj, 78) stresses, Islam does not place any unbearable burden upon anyone. Its acts of worship, which are very easy to perform, pose no physical difficulties. The morality and the way of life which Allah established in the Qur'an, grant the believers the inner peace, trust, joy and comfort, enable them to experience the true love and friendship, and make them free from concerns, fears and ambitions. Accordingly, Qur'an proclaims that Allah's Messenger (pbuh) "relieves them [his followers] of their heavy loads and the chains that were around them" (Surat al-A'raf, 157). This is also apparent in the Prophet Muhammad's (pbuh) words: "Make thing easy, and do not e make them difficult, and give good tidings and do not make people run away." (Bukhari)

Consequently, it is senseless to say: "I have no strength to live by the religion." Only one thing explains the state of those who, even after all of the truths explained above, still assert such weakness: Under the influence of their selfish desires, they are looking for a pretext that will allow them to evade the Qur'an's morality. The Qur'an points out that "those with a sickness in their hearts" make up such excuses to evade the ordeals that believers sometimes undergo.

The verse below explains the state of those who display a similar mentality:

	Those who associate others with Allah will say: "If Allah had willed, we would not have associated anything with Him, nor would our fathers; nor would we have made anything unlawful." In the same way, the people before them also lied until they felt Our violent force. Say: "Do you have some knowledge that you can produce for us? You are following nothing but conjecture. You are only guessing." (Surat a-An'am, 148)

The greatest mistake of such insincere people who offer such excuses is their assumption that they can deceive Allah and believers. However, they can never deceive Allah, Who knows "what the hearts contain" (Surah Fatir, 38) or believers, to whom Allah grants "a standard [by which to judge between truth and falsehood]." (Surat al-Anfal, 29)