[Rambo]

guys how do you deal with religious burnout? i am currently facing one, i am sure every one faces it at some point. its just that when you practice some thing like pray 5 times a day, you are bound to get a burnout at some point.

[Ilikemyscarf]

A deed like salah can quickly become robotic and meaningless, perhaps you should go over the meaning of Surah Fatiha and other surahs you commonly recite in Quran? It really helps when you know the meaning of those verses and you feel a real closeness to Allah (swt).

[zakk]

read hadith on the benefits of prayer, the rewards of prayer, etc.

[LEGALEAGLE]

Do you pray five times a day ? Because you phrased that comment in a general rather than specific way

[Zam]

You shouldn't take on more ibadah than your heart feels comfortable doing - except when it comes to the fardh and wajibat, such as the five salah which you should always perform regardless.

I feel burn out occurs when you try to force yourself to perform certain actions which you don't have the strength of ruh to perform, and so you cannot handle the weight of all the ibadah. The best thing to do in this case is to strengthen your ruh, and the best thing I've seen for that is to spend your time in the right environments around righteous people and to spend your time alone reflecting on Allah and His Ayats. Reflection is incredibly powerful in creating realization within yourself of the Haqq, otherwise it is merely a belief at the surface of your mind and not a deeply rooted effector of your will.

You have to create a natural inclination within yourself towards ibadah and towards the remembrance of Allah - and this is hard to do when the dunya is trying to pull you into its promises and attractions. Your nerves have to feel the need to worship Allah, and you have to feel hungry for the remembrance of Allah like you feel hungry for food. So keep yourself pure from all that which is heedlessness, and for whatever you do try to connect yourself to Allah through it in some way even if it doesn't seem directly 'religious'.

Another thing, you have to realize that your ibadah is for no other purpose other than for the sake of Allah - and before you perform any action, you should attune yourself to Allah. For example, when you perform salah, you have to realize that you are literally speaking with Allah and when you read the Qur'an realize He is literally speaking to you - you're not just doing these actions for the sake of 'spiritual benefit', you are doing them to interact with your Rabb.

And very importantly, keep a balance between halal things you enjoy, your ibadah and your work. Don't let one aspect of your life go into imbalance by doing too much or too little of it. Also it's really beneficial if you have a spiritual advisor, like an imam or a scholar or even any pious person, to help you out with the particular problems you have.

[Wolfn]

Whenever I feel overwhelmed with Islam, I just go back to the basics.

For example, whenever I feel overwhelmed and think about leaving Islam (Astaghfirullah), I just tell myself that the most important thing is to believe in one God and that Muhammad is His Messanger. When I feel confident with that, then tell yourself that praying 5 times a day isn't hard. Once you feel confident with that, you start reading more Qu'ran, learn more about Islam, etc. and you gradually work yourself up again.

[thejellymill]

Originally Posted by Wolfn

Whenever I feel overwhelmed with Islam, I just go back to the basics.

For example, whenever I feel overwhelmed and think about leaving Islam (Astaghfirullah), I just tell myself that the most important thing is to believe in one God and that Muhammad is His Messanger. When I feel confident with that, then tell yourself that praying 5 times a day isn't hard. Once you feel confident with that, you start reading more Qu'ran, learn more about Islam, etc. and you gradually work yourself up again.

I will try that inshallah. It's so difficult though. I've noticed when my husband is here my iman is so much higher and performing religious obligations is much easier...and it's not a question of whether he's a better or worse Muslim, it's just his presence or whatever I guess. Once he leaves however it goes downhill pretty fast. Stress is a huge factor for me too. Iman goes way down during finals/midterms. I wish there was a quick fix


EDIT: I just realized my iman shouldnt depend entirely on another person and it doesn't. I am just making excuses and I need to kick my lazy butt into gear.

[UmarOMC]

bismillahirrahmaanirraheem

assalaamu'aalaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh,

Originally Posted by Rambo

guys how do you deal with religious burnout? i am currently facing one, i am sure every one faces it at some point. its just that when you practice some thing like pray 5 times a day, you are bound to get a burnout at some point.

Rasoolullah(saws) is believed to have stated that one's faith is bound to vary. Remembrance (dhikr) of Allah is helpful. Reading Qur'an is always helpful to me as it ties in to dhikrallah. I will not tell you you're going to the Fire or anything or direct you to such things that will prove such a thing because the munafiq today may well be the most forthright on asSirat alMustaqeem (the path of balanced justice) tomorrow and may meet Allah in this state.

Of all things remember that none of us knows how far along the angel of death is from our necks–death will come from the angle inconceivable... and we must ALL experience it. Because I feel I am a good person will not save me from ending up murdered in a ditch someplace so fear not men–not their thoughts, their withholding of praise or material wealth, judgment, do not even fear the death itself–fear meeting Allah with a heart stained with pride. Do not be fooled by the reflected gaze of vainglorious youth... someone my age is put into the earth, heart be stilled, every day...

'aalaykum assalaamu wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh

[Haramoobobi]

Assalamalaykumwarathmatulllahbaratkuhu

bismillah

Qur'an helps me out. Reading it in Arabic and English to help with my Arabic. I also leave the Qur'an on in my room 24/7 [lately I haven't] but somehow it comforts and helps, Alhumdullah.
Also try reading Qur'an at least once a day, a little section.
Randomly opening it--may Allah forgive me if this is bida--but sometimes I feel overwhelmed with something and my answer *POW* is right there.
inshAllah that helped
Also Ibn M wrote this article which inshAllah will help thee.

http://maverick.muslimpad.com/2007/1...weetness-back/

[iliketofish]

Spice things up- volunteer, plant a tree, spend time with your family. If you convince yourself that these too are acts of worship you'll feel better about yourself and more accomplished at the end of the day.