Finding It Difficult to Practice Islam and Remain Steadfast
Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch
Question
I’m a born Muslim and wasn’t always practicing, but found recently, since starting to practice, my life has become more difficult, and I struggle to read the Quran and learn about Islam as I get bored easily with it. Giving up haram activities has left an emptiness in my life, and life, depression, and loneliness have made me question my faith altogether. I’m really just looking for some guidance, I suppose.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I can completely relate to your situation. May Allah grant you ease.
When I first embraced Islam, I found it to be very difficult, and I found that the lifestyle I left behind left me with a void.
I found that the difficulty I experienced in my practice of Islam and the loneliness I felt was because of two things:
- A Lack of Knowledge
- A Lack of Community
Lack of Knowledge
It wasn’t until I began to increase in knowledge of Islam that I realized that the difficulty I was experiencing was due to my own ignorance.
As I increased in knowledge, my religious practice became easier and easier, contrary to what one may think.
Lack of Community
After embracing Islam, I left the group of friends that I had and spent most of my time secluded. This made practicing Islam exponentially more difficult. It wasn’t until I found an alternative community in the Mosque.
It was only after I was able to pass these two hurdles that Islam began to expand my life, and I no longer experienced the constriction as I did before.
Advice
Please consider taking time out to attend the programs occurring at your local mosque and to keep the company of other practicing Muslims.
In addition to that, seek scholars and teachers and try to slowly learn your personally obligatory knowledge of Islam. This will greatly assist you in giving you clarity.
Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom Seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences.
He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he studied for three years in Dar al-Mustafa under some of the most outstanding scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib.
In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.
