Answered by Shaykh Muhammad Qaylish
When I began practicing, I used to find strong motivation to perform good deeds, voluntary worship, and a lot of dhikr of Allah. I used to find softness of heart. Now, however, I don’t have that motivation, and feel a hardness of hard and a weakness of resolve. I don’t generally fall into open sin. However, I fear that if I get weaker… So: How do I strengthen my drive towards the good and the illumination of my heart?
Allah Most High says,
“O you who believe! Be careful of your duty to Allah, and be with the truthful.” [Qur’an 9.119]
Thus, with our taqwa (God-consciousness), it is necessary to keep the company of the truthful and righteous.
With this, we should supplicate often with the words of the Best of Creation (peace and blessings be upon him),
“O over-turner of hearts, make my hear firm on your religion.”
If our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to make this supplication, it behooves us to follow his example (peace and blessings be upon him) and have fear of the overturning of hearts. And Allah Most Glorious is the Overwhelming over His creation, and He decrees whatever He wills for whoever He wishes. Thus, we ask Him to make us with the truthful and righteous, and to give us a good ending. And we seek refuge in Him from deception and being led astray, for He is the Hearing and Answering.
Worshipping Allah for His sake, not for illumination
When a believer obeys Allah Most High, they do so in obedience to the command of Allah. This good deed gives fruit to a light in the heart, and an increase in one’s spiritual resolve (himma). However, if our good deeds to not give apparent fruits, it is not allowed for us to leave them, because whenever we do the good, we will have obeyed the command of Allahthis is our duty.
Then, [having done our duty] if we find the apparent fruits of out deeds, then so be it. Otherwise, we at least obeyed the command of Allah, and we ask Him for acceptance. We are the servants of Allah, not the servants of illuminations that result from our deeds. The one who worships Allah for the fruits of their worship, such as the light and softness they find in their heart, are in need of sincerity to Allah alone in their worship.
What to do about hardness of heart and weakness of resolve
As for when one fears non-acceptance when they find hardness of heart and weakness in resolve, then one should make remembrance of Allah and istighfar (seeking forgiveness). It has been related in a hadith from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) that he said,
“Truly, hearts rust just as iron rusts, and their polishing is La ilaha illa Allah (There is no god but Allah’) and seeking forgiveness.”
Thus, if a Muslim seeks to polish their heart, they should adhere to the remembrance of Allah until their heart is purified and illumined. If one makes remembrance of Allah but finds no light therein, then they should make themselves in a position to benefit from the winds of Allah’s beneficence.
It has been related in hadith that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said,
“You Lord has in the days of your lives winds of beneficence, so benefit from them.”
Among these winds of beneficence are the blessed days mentioned in the Prophetic hadiths, in which worship is especially virtuous.
Among them is to search for truthful and righteous believers and to keep their company.
Among them is to establish night worship at the end of the night, and to supplicate at that time.
Among them is to remain constantly in the remembrance of Allah. Sayyidi Ibn `Ata’illah says,
“Do not leave the remembrance because of your lack of presence of heart with Allah therein, because your heedlessness of the remembrance of Allah is more harmful than your heedlessness during the remembrance of Allah. It may well be that He take you from remembrance in which there is heedlessness to remembrance in which there is consciousness; and from remembrance in which there is consciousness to remembrance in which there is presence of heart; and from remembrance in which there is presence of heart to remembrance in which there is obviousness to all but the One Remembered, “And that is not difficult for Allah.””
Loss of motivation and the importance of moderation
As for loss of motivation, this is natural to the human temperament, and is the reason why the acts of good and worship are variegatedso that the lower selves of creation not get weary. Thus, if one finds weakness in one’s resolve, then move to another type of good, while being warywhen given successnot to take on too many voluntary acts of worship, lest this lead to loss of motivation and a sense of being fed up. Allah Most High enjoined upon us certain obligations which we cannot leave. After this, He encouraged us to supererogatory works from which we should take that which our selves can handle, sustain, and remain avid for the good.
Imam Muslim related in his Sahih, in the chapter on Moderation in Exhortation,’ from Shaqiq that he said,
“We were sitting before the door of Abdullah [ibn Masud (Allah be pleased with him), the great companion of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)], waiting for him, when Yazid ibn Mu`awiya al-Nakha`i passed by us. We said to him, “Tell him about our presence.” He entered. Soon after, Abdullah [ibn Mas`ud] came out. He said, “I have been told about your presence. The only thing preventing me from coming out to you is my dislike of boring you. Verily, the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to carefully choose when to give us exhortation, our of fear of us becoming weary.”
We ask Allah to make our days rich with His obedience, and to increase love and desire of drawing closer to Him in our hearts, until we meet Him and He is pleased with us. Amin.
– Muhammad Qaylish
(Translated by Faraz Rabbani, a student of Shaykh Muhammad Qaylish)