Why It Is Difficult To Pray And Worship

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

If you find yourself having difficulties to wake up at night and pray tahajjud or to perform other forms of worship or do good deeds, like giving charity or paying zakat or helping people, scholars said first check if the food you eat is halal (lawful).

We should make sure our bodies are only fed with halal food--both the source and the kind must be halal. That will keep, not only our physical body healthy, but most importantly, it will keep our spiritual body healthy and strong.

If the body is used to being fed with unlawful food, then it is difficult for the limbs to do good. So, the body becomes weak and lazy to rise up for prayer, but finds it easy to rise up to go to the beach (and do all the preparation and find the means to get there) or play ping pong after a long hard day at work; the hands find difficulty to give charity and help people, but find it easy to take people's property without their consent--to cheat and to steal and to do other bad and evil things such as beating your wife or your children; the ears find it hard to listen to Qur'an, but find it easy to listen to music or backbiting and gossip; the tongue finds it difficult to do dhikr (remembrance of Allah) but find it easy to backbite, lie, argue, slander people, or joke; the eyes find it difficult to read and focus on the Qur'an but find it easy to read novels or look at the computer screen for hours; the legs find difficulty to walk to the masjid for prayer or for Islamic event but find it easy to walk in the mall for hours; etc; etc.

Allah says,

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ كُلُوا۟ مِن طَيِّبَـٰتِ مَا رَزَقْنَـٰكُمْ وَٱشْكُرُوا۟ لِلَّـهِ إِن كُنتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ ﴿١٧٢﴾ إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْمَيْتَةَ وَٱلدَّمَ وَلَحْمَ ٱلْخِنزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ بِهِۦ لِغَيْرِ ٱللَّـهِ ۖ فَمَنِ ٱضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍ وَلَا عَادٍ فَلَآ إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّـهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ ﴿١٧٣

O you who have believed, eat from the good things which We have provided for you and be grateful to Allah if it is [indeed] Him that you worship. (172) He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah. But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit], there is no sin upon him. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. (173)

[Qur'an Al-Baqarah 2:172-3]

In another verse, Allah says,

حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْمَيْتَةُ وَٱلدَّمُ وَلَحْمُ ٱلْخِنزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ ٱللَّـهِ بِهِۦ وَٱلْمُنْخَنِقَةُ وَٱلْمَوْقُوذَةُ وَٱلْمُتَرَدِّيَةُ وَٱلنَّطِيحَةُ وَمَآ أَكَلَ ٱلسَّبُعُ إِلَّا مَا ذَكَّيْتُمْ وَمَا ذُبِحَ عَلَى ٱلنُّصُبِ وَأَن تَسْتَقْسِمُوا۟ بِٱلْأَزْلَـٰمِ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ فِسْقٌ ۗ ٱلْيَوْمَ يَئِسَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ مِن دِينِكُمْ فَلَا تَخْشَوْهُمْ وَٱخْشَوْنِ ۚ ٱلْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِى وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ ٱلْإِسْلَـٰمَ دِينًا ۚ فَمَنِ ٱضْطُرَّ فِى مَخْمَصَةٍ غَيْرَ مُتَجَانِفٍ لِّإِثْمٍ ۙ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّـهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ ﴿٣﴾

Prohibited to you are dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah, and [those animals] killed by strangling or by a violent blow or by a head-long fall or by the goring of horns, and those from which a wild animal has eaten, except what you [are able to] slaughter [before its death], and those which are sacrificed on stone altars, and [prohibited is] that you seek decision through divining arrows. That is grave disobedience. This day those who disbelieve have despaired of [defeating] your religion; so fear them not, but fear Me. This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion. But whoever is forced by severe hunger with no inclination to sin - then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.

[Qur'an Ma'ida 5:3]

According to the law of Islam, all animals that are allowed as food must be slaughtered in such a manner that blood flows out. The Arabic word for slaughter is dhabaha, means he cut or divided lengthwise; in a general sense, he killed or slaughtered, and technically he slaughtered an animal in the manner prescribed by law, i.e. by cutting the two external jugular veins, or by butting the throat, from beneath, at the part next to the head.

There are many opinions out there about what is halal meat. If we follow opinions blindly, we might fall into the doubtful and ultimately haram. Remember, you have to answer to Allah yourself about what you did in this life, and no one will be there to help you.

You should also not assume that all meats in Islamic country are halal (or foods from Muslims are halal), because not all Muslims pay attention to this matter and some Muslim merchants would cut corners to make profit. I have heard that some establishments in some Islamic countries, in order to cater to the large demand, resorted to buy meats and poultry from large producers in non-Muslim countries which slaughtering practices may or may not comply to Islam.

So it behooves you to learn what is really halal to eat and what is not, and take the stricter path to be on the safe side, and make reasonable investigation if the food is halal or not, or don't eat it if it is doubtful.

It is critical that we keep away from sins, places of sins and things that can lead to sins, and adhere to the rulings of shari'ah in your dealings with others, especially with your parents and your womenfolk. Sin is one of the things that most distract a person from doing acts of worship and increase the Shaytan’s influence on you.

Also, it is vitally important to choose good friends and companions who are keen to pray and do good deeds, and keep away from those who are the opposite, because a person is influenced by his friends.

May Allah give us tawfiq to avoid haram and to do good. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam