Difficult Ascent

Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: "In front of you is a difficult ascent (climb), which those who are heavily laden cannot get over." [Mishkat al-Masabih]

Ever tried to bike up a steep mountain, or even hike to the top of one? Now add to your own weight three very heavy back-packs. The climb will become practically impossible. The more baggage you carry with you the more difficult it becomes to get to the top. Battling Shaytan to stay on the right path and please Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) who has prepared Jannat for us, is itself a very difficult job, like a tough climb. When you add to it the baggage of this world, it becomes harder. The older you get the more strings get attached to you; wealth that you are afraid to lose, position in society that you do not want compromised, relatives whose displeasure you do not wish to invoke... That is why the first people to convert to Islam, or the religions brought by other Prophets, were the youth and the poor. They have the fewest attachments to this world and carry the least baggage.