The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was keen to make things easy for people, and he did not burden them with good deeds and acts of worship that were beyond them and that they would not be able to do. He warned them against taking on too much and going to extremes. In this hadith, the Mother of the Believers ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to enjoin his companions to do that which they were able to do and could persist in, because he was keen that they should be consistent in doing good deeds, not that they should do a great number of such deeds. But because they were so keen to do acts of obedience and worship, they wanted to strive hard, so they asked for permission to do more acts of worship, seeking to do good and earn increased reward. They said to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): Your previous and future sins have been forgiven; you do not need to strive, yet despite that you continue to do good deeds. So how about us, when our sins are many? The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) got angry at that, and told them that he was the one who feared Allah the most among them and had the most knowledge of Him. In other words, the matter is not as you think. If going to extremes in worship and overburdening oneself with more than one could bear constituted obedience to Allah, I would be the first among you to do that, because I have the most knowledge of what is pleasing to Allah, and the more knowledge a person has, the more he will strive in obedience and worship, and the more he will fear Allah. This indicates that it is part of the Sunnah to be moderate in doing supererogatory (nafil) acts of worship, and to commit only to that which one is able to do regularly, because exhausting oneself in worship leads to resenting it and giving it up. This hadith is also indicative of the Prophet’s kindness towards his ummah, and indicates that religion is easy..