Treatment for Lethargy in Prayer

Question

A person expresses feeling lethargic during prayer, as if they are forced to pray rather than doing so with enthusiasm. They mention that they have recently committed to praying regularly and have given up many things for the sake of Allah, yet they feel like they are falling short. They have tried to increase their focus by adding new words and reading new Surahs, but their situation has worsened. They feel robotic and are struggling with their commitment to prayer.

Answer 1

Peace be upon you:

Dear questioner, it is unfortunate that many times we experience spiritual dryness and emotional barrenness, leading to an internal numbness. We do not feel our connection to Allah, nor do we experience the essence of worship. We pray as if it were a mere physical exercise, and we recite the Quran as if it were just words we utter between ourselves. We call upon our Lord because we feel obligated to do so, but we live in a state of overwhelming dryness that leaves our hearts like dry desert sands, devoid of water or springs. We fear, God forbid, that we may become like those described in the blessed verse: "They have hearts with which they do not understand, and they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear. They are like cattle; rather, they are more astray. They are the heedless." We suffer from the disease of heedlessness, and the Imam awakens us to the degree of attachment to Allah when he says: "He revived his mind and killed his ego until the grandeur of Allah struck him, and the subtlety of His presence illuminated his path, guiding him to the way and pushing him through the doors to safety, and his feet were firmly planted in the tranquility of his body in a state of security and comfort." The shining light is divine guidance; whenever you feel that you love prayer, that is the shining light that has struck your heart. "And those who strive in Us, We will surely guide them to Our ways." "Indeed, it is in the remembrance of Allah that hearts find rest."

Now, your esteemed question arises: how do we attain this comfort and tranquility?

Therefore, we say that since love for something is a result of knowing it and understanding its importance, we must elaborate a bit on worship and our need for it. There is a difference between someone who knows their need for worship and someone who is ignorant of it. Thus, we must first understand the significance of worship in our lives. We have a fundamental need for worship because we live in a state of deficiency and poverty; we experience death and need for it. We need an expression that aligns with our size, personality, and reality, and that expression is worship. "Indeed, the believers have succeeded, those who are humble in their prayers."

Humility and submission express our true size, the extent of our deficiency, anxiety, and need for divine assistance; worship is a means of seeking help and invoking generosity. Worship is hope, and thus it relies on two pillars: hope and fear.

It has been reported from the Prophet Muhammad: "A servant is not a believer until he is both fearful and hopeful, and he is not fearful and hopeful until he is cautious of what he fears and works for what he hopes for."

The Holy Quran states: "And they call upon Us in hope and fear, and they are humbly submissive to Us." Worship is based on the wings of fear and hope; for this reason, worship is indeed a manifestation of human weakness. Every moment that passes, a person fears something and hopes for something else. If one lives worship with the wings of fear and hope, they express their reality and size, and they express their existential position, which is one of deficiency and need, one of hope and fear, one of fluctuating emotions between hope and fear. Hope relies on a pillar, and fear relies on a pillar. When we come to hope, its pillar is love; hope cannot exist without a motive and love behind that hope. Love has types and categories; when Allah manifests in the heart of His servant, the first degree of love for Allah begins. We know that Allah has manifested in the heart of His servant through the love of worship. If you find yourself inclined towards voluntary prayers, reading the Quran, and listening to supplications, feeling sweetness in reading the Quran and a beautiful taste in supplication, and feeling joy and comfort through voluntary prayers, you have attained the first degree of love for Allah, which is the degree of manifestation.

Imam Zain al-Abidin expresses this degree when he says: "You are the One who illuminated the hearts of Your beloveds until they tasted the sweetness of Your companionship." They feel that prayer, supplication, and voluntary acts are a comfort with the beloved who has manifested in their hearts and planted light in their hearts. This degree, which is the degree of manifestation, is what the Holy Quran refers to: "Is the one whose heart Allah has opened to Islam, so he is upon a light from his Lord?" He feels light and love in his heart because Allah has opened his heart to Islam. "And whoever Allah wills to guide, He opens his heart to Islam, and whoever He wills to misguide, He makes his heart tight and constricted as if he were climbing into the sky. Thus, Allah places defilement upon those who do not believe."

Therefore, we advise you, dear questioner, to try to sit with your Lord on the night of Friday in the darkness of the night, when all is quiet and everyone is asleep. Speak to your Lord, converse with Him, and recall the dark tape filled with sins and transgressions. Choose solitude and darkness, for perhaps in the light and noise, a person does not engage with worship. The lights distract the mind, and the noise scatters thoughts. However, if a person sits in the darkness of the night, alone with themselves, solitude and darkness provide a calmness to the soul. The night is a garment that the soul wears, bestowing upon it a state of tranquility and peace. When the soul is calm, there are no voices, no arguments, no different lights, and no distractions. The lights stimulate feelings and move them, while darkness bestows tranquility and stability upon the soul.

Here, darkness and solitude become factors that entice the soul towards worship, drawing the soul closer to Allah. If a person chooses this and sits with their Lord, even if they pray just two units of prayer, it is not necessary to pray twenty units or the night prayer. Even if they pray two units, those two units in darkness and solitude, with stability and calmness, acknowledging their sins before Allah, confessing their transgressions, shedding tears, and feeling pain, regret, and sorrow—all of this brings a person closer to Allah. The Prophet Muhammad said: "O Abu Dharr, two units of prayer with understanding are better than a thousand units while the heart is heedless." You should not pray a thousand units while your heart is heedless; pray two units with humility, with tears, and with acknowledgment of sin. This is a factor that renews your relationship with worship and draws you closer to Allah.

Try to intercede, to hope to experience some of what the saints experience, what the worshippers experience, what the pure Imams experienced, and reflect on their words in supplication: "I am, O my Lord, the one who did not feel shy of You in solitude, nor did I watch over You in public. I am the one who committed the greatest sins, the one who dared against his master, the one who disobeyed the Lord of the heavens... I am, I am, I am the one with sins, I am the one with transgressions, I am the one with crimes... O my God, I did not disobey You when I disobeyed You, and I am in doubt about You, and I am not ignorant of Your punishment, but my soul has made it easy for me, and my misery has aided me in it, and Your veil has deceived me... Now, who will save me from Your punishment, and by what rope will I hold on if You cut off Your rope from me? Woe to me tomorrow when I stand before You when it is said to the lightened: "Pass through," and to the burdened: "Lay down." Will I pass with the lightened or will I lay down with the burdened? Woe to me, every time my life is prolonged, my sins increase. Is it not time for me to feel shy before my Lord?"

Then reflect on your situation and your life, for it has been narrated in a noble hadith: "Reflecting for an hour is better than a year of worship." And it has been reported from Imam Zain al-Abidin: "Worship is not merely about the abundance of prayer or fasting, but rather about the abundance of reflection." Reflect on the inevitable end; this short journey we live will come to an end.

Imam Hasan al-Zaki, at the time of his death, cried. When asked why he was crying, he said: "I cry for two reasons: the separation from loved ones and the horror of what lies ahead." There are horrors that await a person, and we are required to prepare and reflect on that world just as we reflect on our worldly life.

Imam Zain al-Abidin says: "And why should I not cry? How can I not cry when my fate is inevitable? I cry for the departure of my soul, I cry for the darkness of my grave, I cry for the constriction of my grave, I cry for the questioning of Munkar and Nakir of me, I cry for my emergence from my grave naked and humiliated, carrying my burden on my back while the creatures are preoccupied with their own affairs. On that day, every person will have a matter that will occupy them."

Read the supplications of Imam Zain al-Abidin, read the supplications of the Sajjadiyya, the supplication of Abu Hamza al-Thumali, the supplication of repentance, and the supplication of the repentant and the humble. Read these supplications to alleviate the disease of a hardened heart, the disease of heedlessness, and the disease of turning away from the remembrance of Allah. Reflect on the Day of Resurrection as in this sorrowful narration. Abu Basir said to Imam al-Sadiq: "My master, our hearts have hardened, so remind us of the horrors of Hell." Imam al-Sadiq said: "O Abu Basir, you reminded me of something that saddened and troubled me." Then the Imam's face changed, and he frowned, saying: "O Abu Basir, Gabriel came to the Prophet while he was frowning and troubled. The Prophet asked him: 'O Gabriel, you come to me every day smiling and cheerful, but today you have come with a frown and a changed color. What happened?' He said: 'Today the preparation for the breaths of Hell has ended.' I asked: 'How?' He said: 'Allah commanded the angels to blow into Hell for a thousand years until it became white, then commanded them to blow into it for a thousand years until it became red, then commanded them to blow into it for a thousand years until it became dark and black. If a drop of its pus were to fall into the waters of the people of this world, they would all die from its stench. If a link from its chain, which is seventy cubits long, were to fall upon the people of this world, the entire world would die from its intense heat.' The Prophet wept greatly, and Imam al-Sadiq wept as he recounted this news."

When Darar entered upon Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan, he said: "O Darar, describe Ali to me." He said: "Excuse me." He said: "I will not let you go unless you describe Ali to me." He said: "If I must do that, then he was indeed far-reaching, strong, just in his speech and decisive in his judgment. He was indeed one who cried a lot, deep in thought, held himself accountable when alone, and reflected on what had passed. He found solace in the night and felt estranged from the world and its splendor. He honored the people of faith and endeared himself to the poor. He liked coarse clothing and rough food. The strong did not dare to oppress him, nor did the weak despair of his justice. He would respond to us when we asked him and draw us near when we approached him. Despite his closeness to us and his kindness towards us, we would not speak to him out of reverence for him. When he smiled, his teeth shone like pearls. I saw him one night, as the night had drawn its curtains, standing in his prayer niche, holding onto his beard, trembling like a sick person, saying: 'O world, deceive someone else; I have no return after you. Your lifespan is short, your life is insignificant, and your danger is great. Woe to me from the lack of provisions... Woe to me from the lack of provisions and