Peace be upon you dear reader,

Can I ask you a question? If you want to lose weight and remain fit and healthy, then you go to a specialist, a nutritionist, and he asks you to do certain things (eat healthy and work out) and leave certain things (junk and sweets), do you then ask: how can this even affect him … why is he asking for that? … how would that benefit him?

Well, the thing is: it doesn’t really benefit him or affect his own health, it benefits YOU, and he wants to help YOU. We always go to those most knowledgeable to seek help with what WE want to achieve.  You ask your professor how you can get an A and graduate with the best scores and he gives you instructions to benefit you. Also, as we grow up, our parents keep requesting us to do things and give us instructions: eat your veggies, do your homework, get your head out of the oven, leave the knife! Well, out of their mercy, they want to see us in the best of state and they want us to benefit.

Now, no one has Mercy more than Allah towards those whom HE has created, and He asked us to pray and fast and do all of that because He knows that this is the Best way for us to benefit spiritually, morally, physically, intellectually, and get the best rewards in this life and the next. He is The Most Knowing and He wants us to obey what He says because He will teach us through everything He asked us to do, and He will benefit us. When we abandon what He says, we never really benefit … even if there are some outward benefits. But spiritually, when we abandon Allah and disconnect from Him and disobey Him … we die spiritually and our souls suffer.

Allah speaks directly about this in the Quran: {And whoever turns away from My remembrance – indeed, he will have a depressed life, and We will gather him on the Day of Resurrection blind.} (Qur’an 20: 124)

{Those who have believed and whose hearts are assured by the remembrance of Allah. Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah hearts are assured.} (Qur’an 13: 28)

So, know that Allah wants us to do these things because He wants to benefit us and it’s only best to follow instructions from The Best, The Most Knowing because He knows what would truly bring us satisfaction, purity, goodness, and ultimate success in this life and the next.

Please read my previous answers below for more context as well insha’Allah, and please let us know if you have any more questions, we would love to answer you always.   

Belief in Allah

Jannah and The Immense Rewards

Your Jannah To-Do List

I hope this helps answer your question. 

Salam.