Islam is widely perceived as a stern and unbending religion, but its roots and very raison d’être lie in a diametrically antithetical outlook: that of flexibility, indulgence and relaxation. Islam saw itself as a divinely bestowed relief from the undue rigors of older systems of faith – chief among them Judaism, portrayed as the most taxing doctrine known to man. This study delves into the complicated perceptions characterising the relationship between history’s strictest and history’s easiest religion.