Feeling Unmotivated?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Being unmotivated or lazy refers to a lack of energy and enthusiasm of doing something that you should have energy and enthusiasm for.  

Allah reminds us in the Quran that we were not created except to worship Him.

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ

And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me. [Quran, Adh-Dhariyat 51:56] 

How eager are you really to pray? How many times can’t you get yourself to read the Qur’an? Or to even do Dhikr (remembrance of Allah) daily, which hardly takes a physical effort at all? If you lack that eagerness and motivation to do even these things, it's time to do something about it.

The word lazy has many different layers; it is an actual (spiritual) disease – even not often recognised as such- and one of the most common, seemingly effective tricks of shaytan. So, it's time to battle back.

Some of the ways to battle laziness

1. Re-ignite your desire to seek and convey knowledge

Both the community and individual can suffer from being ‘lazy’ in the importance we attach to seeking and conveying knowledge. 

Use these supplications from the Quran and of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam regularly and teach it to children and others.

رَّبِّ زِدۡنِي عِلۡمًا – Rabbi Zidni Ilma’ (O my Lord! increase me in knowledge) Allah, the Most High, did not order the Messenger sallallahu alayhi wasallam with request for increase in anything except for an increase in knowledge. [Fat’h-al-Bari: 1/141]

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam used to say in the morning:

اَللّٰهُمَّ إِنِّيْ أَسْأَلُكَ عِلْمًا نَّافِعًا، وَرِزْقًا طَيِّبًا، وَعَمَلًا مُّتَقَبَّلًا

[Allaahumma innee as’aluka ‘ilman naafia’, wa rizqan tayyibaa, wa ‘amalan mutaqabbalaa]

(O Allah! Indeed, I ask You for beneficial knowledge, and a good (Halal) provision, and actions which are accepted). [At-Tabarani]

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said:

اَللّٰهُمَّ انْفَعْنِيْ بِمَا عَلَّمْتَنِيْ وَعَلِّمْنِيْ مَا يَنْفَعُنِيْ وَارْزُقْنِيْ عِلْمًا تَنْفَعُنِيْ بِهِ

[Allahumm’an fa’nee bi-maa ‘allam-ta-nee wa ‘allim-nee maa yanfa’u-nee war zuq-nee ‘ilman tanfa’u-nee bihee]

(O Allah! Benefit me with what You have taught me, and teach me that which will benefit me, and grant me knowledge which will benefit me.) [Al-Hakim, Bayhaqi, At-Tabarani]

2. See the reality of Rizq (provisions)  

Financially, we can also be lazy, as a community or individual. From being active in trade and entrepreneurship, many don’t aspire to engage or excel in trade. 

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said: “By Him in Whose Hand my life is, it is better for anyone of you to take a rope and cut the wood (from the forest) and carry it over his back and sell it (as a means of earning his living) rather than to ask a person for something and that person may give him or not. [Bukhari]  

Another level of financial laziness is by refraining from giving charity, while you’re able to do so.

Use this supplication for triple benefit, both for knowledge, Rizq and accepted deeds!

اَللّٰهُمَّ إِنِّيْ أَسْأَلُكَ عِلْمًا نَّافِعًا، وَرِزْقًا طَيِّبًا، وَعَمَلًا مُّتَقَبَّلًا

[Allaahumma innee as’aluka ‘ilman naafia’, wa rizqan tayyibaa, wa ‘amalan mutaqabbalaa] (O Allah indeed I ask You for beneficial knowledge, and a good (Halal) provision, and actions which are accepted). [At-Tabarani]

3. Don’t underestimate your body.

Feeling low spiritually can affect your body’s energy levels, just how being physically lazy can affect how you feel spiritually. Leaving certain religious duties can in turn make your body more lazy and weak, while in turn, remembering Allah (Dhikr) can strengthen your body.

Allah, the Most High, says about the virtues of seeking forgiveness (Istighfar):

And O my people! Ask forgiveness of your Lord and then repent to Him, He will send you (from the sky) abundant rain, and add strength to your strength, so do not turn away as Mujrimoon (criminals, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah). [Quran, Hud 11:52]

Use the Dhikr the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam taught his daughter Fatimah and ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with them, to recite Tasbeeh (SubhanAllah) -glorification of Allah- thirty-three times every night when they went to bed, and to recite Tahmeed (Alhamdulillah) -praises of Allah- thirty-three times, and to recite Takbeer (Allahu akbar) -magnification of Allah- thirty-four times, when she asked him for a servant and complained to him about the hardship of grinding corn, working and serving (her family). He taught her this and said: “It is better for you than a servant.” It was said: The one who persists in doing this, will find strength in his body that will make him independent of the need for a servant.

4. Realize the source of laziness and its ripple effect on your life

Laziness in ‘ibaadah (acts of worship) has an effect on other aspects of your daily life. For example, you have people who don’t pray nor recite Quran, nor remember Allah, the Most High, at all, those who do so quickly or little and those who give due time and attention to acts of worship. This type of laziness is beloved by the shaytan, and he will try his very best to trick you into being lazy in your religious acts.

The Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam said: “Shaytan puts three knots at the back of the head of any of you if he is asleep. On every knot he reads and exhales the following words, ‘The night is long, so stay asleep.’ When one wakes up and remembers Allah, one knot is undone; and when one performs ablution, the second knot is undone, and when one prays the third knot is undone and one gets up energetic with a good heart in the morning; otherwise one gets up lazy and with a mischievous heart”. [Al-Bukhari]

Your prayer, is the source for many other good deeds, it’s a beautiful, soul-saving duty to commit to without fail, from the moment you become of age, until the moment you leave this world, five times a day (excluding the situations prayer isn’t obligatory).

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said: The first action for which a servant of Allah will be held accountable on the Day of Resurrection will be his prayers. If they are in order, he will have prospered and succeeded. [At-Tirmidhi]. 

This is a clear example how laziness in prayer affects our entire life and afterlife.  The fact the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam sought refuge in Allah, the Most High, from laziness, shows how serious we should take this disease of our community, our families and ourselves.

Use the Prophet’s supplication with conviction:

اَللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْهَمِّ وَالْحَزَنِ وَالْعَجْزِ وَالْكَسَلِ وَالْجُبْنِ وَالْبُخْلِ وَضَلَعِ الدَّيْنِ وَغَلَبَةِ الرِّجَالِ

[Allaahumma ‘innee ‘a’oothu bika minal-hammi walhazani, wal’ajzi wal’kasali, wal’bukhli wal’jubni, wa dhala’id-dayni wa ghalabatir-rijaal.

(O Allah, I seek refuge in You from anxiety, sorrow, disability, laziness, cowardice, miserliness, the burdens of debt, and the repression of men). [Al-Bukhari]

May Allah forgive us and accept our du'as. Aameen.