The religion of the youthful and energetic involves expending great effort to do lots acts of worship and pious actions and to learn lots of rules and doctrines, since young and energetic people can do such things. The religion of the old and debilitated, who in worst case scenarios do not have a lot of energy and may even be physically disabled, is a simple straightforward or straight path: remember Allah, gratefully and lovingly surrendering to your Beloved, at this moment; for they know it may be their last opportunity to do so. Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, in his Qur’an commentary, Mafatih al-ghayb, wrote that “What is meant by it is nothing other than entrusting all of one’s affairs to God and relying upon God in all matters” فَلَيْسَ الْمُرَادُ، إِلَّا تَفْوِيضَ الْأُمُورِ كُلِّهَا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَعَالَى وَالِاعْتِمَادَ فِي كُلِّ الْأُمُورِ عَلَى اللَّهِ

I’ve gotten permission from Dr. Alan Godlas (Abdul Haqq), who is a professor at the University of Georgia for Islamic and Sufi studies, to repost his Facebook postings on Islam and Sufism. All translations are done by Abdul Haqq Godlas unless otherwise noted.