Faith Before Laws

Once again, the whole of it is given to emphasising the fundamentals of faith. For many of us, in truth, it is at times more profitable to read the Makkī sūrahs, with much reflection, so as to strengthen faith first, before proceeding to the laws. This applies especially to new Muslims, wa-llāhu aʿlam: when they begin to look at the laws while their faith is not yet established, their response is that it is all too difficult. Once faith is formed, matters follow; and ṣalāh and zakāh are in any case mentioned even in the Makkī sūrahs, so this is not to say that new Muslims are not responsible for all the acts of Islam. But it does not follow that when somebody becomes Muslim he must be taught everything on the same day, with someone then standing as an authority over him and declaring that unless he does this he is not a good Muslim, he is not a true Muslim. People need time.