“There are people among us who believe in the caliphate of Ameer al-Momineen (a.s), and consider him to be superior to all people, but do not believe in your nobility as we do. Should we be friends with them?” Imam Sadiq (a.s) replied: “Yes, absolutely. Is it not true that God has things that the Prophet of God does not have? Is it not true that the Prophet of God has things that that we do not have? Is it not true that we have things that you do not have? Is it not true that you have things that others do not have? God the Almighty has partitioned Islam into seven parts, and has distributed these among the people. These are perseverance, honesty, certitude, contentment, loyalty, knowledge and patience. Whoever possesses all seven has perfect faith and is strong. He gave some people just one, some just two, some just three, some just four, some just five, some just six, and some all seven of these. Therefore you should not expect one who has only been given one part of the faith to be responsible for two parts. You cannot burden one who has been granted only two parts of the faith with what you would ask from those who have three parts of faith. And so on. If you expect too much of them, they will be over-burdened and might turn away from religion. Instead you should be patient and treat them with kindness, and make things easy for them. Now I will cite an example for you. There was a Muslim man with an infidel neighbor who was his friend. The man wished to help his friend become a Muslim. He kept trying to show him how nice Islam was, and insisted on his becoming a Muslim. Finally he managed, and the man accepted Islam. The next morning the man went his neighbor's house, and asked him to accompany him to the morning congregation prayer. They went there and when the prayer ended he told the new Muslim man to sit down and recite the Quran until sunrise. They stayed there, and continued until sunrise. Then he told him it was nice to fast that day and study the Quran until noon. He agreed. After the noon and afternoon prayers, he suggested to the new Muslim man to stay there until dawn, do their prayers in the mosque and then go home at night. He agreed. They did their night prayer, got up and went home. The next morning the man went to his neighbor's house again and asked him to go to the mosque. The man said: “Leave me alone. This religion is too difficult. I cannot stand it.” Therefore you should learn and not pressure the people. Do you know that the rule of the Ummayad clan was based upon force, the sword and oppression? But we rule the people's hearts with patience, kindness, concealing of faith, good association, piety, and struggling. Try to attract the people to your religion.”