Hazrat Moulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi (rahmatullahi ‘alaih) once mentioned the following:
In today’s times, the reason for people regarding the injunctions of sharee‘ah to be difficult is that society has become corrupt and most people lack commitment to Deen. In other words, if a certain person tries to remain committed to Deen, then in the environment he is living in, he will find that the people around him are not committed to Deen. In fact, the proportion of people who are not committed to Deen compared to those who are committed is ten to one. Thus, since this one person is outnumbered by the ten people who are not committed to Deen, he finds it difficult to practise and remain committed to Deen. Conversely, if every person in the environment was committed to Deen, then people would find it easy to fulfil the injunctions of sharee‘ah and remain committed to Deen.
(Malfoozaat Hakeemul Ummat 12/154-155)
Source: Ihyaauddeen.co.za