The term laziness or “Kasal” in Arabic only appeared twice in the Qur’an, describing the hypocrites and their state of prayer: ”Verily, the hypocrites seek to deceive Allah, but it is He Who deceives them. And when they stand up for As-Salat (the prayer), they stand with laziness and to be seen of men, and they do not remember Allah but little. [Al-Nisa, verse 142]
”And nothing prevents their contributions from being accepted from them except that they disbelieved in Allah and in His Messenger (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم), and that they came not to As-Salat (the prayer) except in a lazy state, and that they offer not contributions but unwillingly.” [Al-Tawbah, verse 54]
And in the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) (Peace be upon him) it was mentioned in the following hadeeth:
Narrated Abu Huraira Allah’s Apostle said, “Satan 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.” (Bukhari, Book #21, Hadith #243)
And if you contemplate the above sources, you’d notice that laziness is associated with salah because salah is the most difficult of the daily obligations that a Muslim must complete since it has to be done every day, 5 times a day, without fail. An interesting point to make here is that whoever is lazy in their salah will be lazy in other acts of worship and whoever is NOT lazy in their salah, he/she won’t be lazy in other aspects of his/her life.
It’s obvious from the above sources that laziness is not something to be taken lightly and needs to be addressed.
We’ll attempt to list a prescriptive cure to laziness that would help us attack this disease once and for all.
1. Turning to Allah (swt) often and asking Him for protection from laziness and lethargy.
Repeat this dua often:
‘O Allaah, I take refuge in You from anxiety and sorrow, weakness and laziness, miserliness and cowardice, the burden of debts and from being over powered by men.’
Sometimes when I feel lazy and bored/tired, I simply make this dua sincerely and I immediately feel a dose of energy enter into me. Seek refuge in Allah subḥānahu wa ta'āla (glorified and exalted be He) from laziness just like you seek refuge from Shaytaan and bad things happening to you because if Allah subḥānahu wa ta'āla (glorified and exalted be He) blesses you with an active lifestyle, you’ll achieve so much insha Allah.
2. Seek help with patience and salah
Allah subḥānahu wa ta'āla (glorified and exalted be He) says in the Qur’an: [And seek help in patience and as-salat (the prayer) and truly it is extremely heavy and hard except for al-khashi’un [i.e. the true believers in Allah – those who obey Allah with full submission, fear much from His Punishment, and believe in His Promise (Paradise) and in His Warnings (Hell)]. [2:45]
Start your day with Fajr salah in the masjid and adhere to all the five daily prayers. Manage your time around your salah times and not the other way around. Make salah your energy boosting pit stops of the day.
3. Keep remembering Allah subḥānahu wa ta'āla (glorified and exalted be He) often
As this is the best of deeds and it dispels anxiety, worry, boredom and laziness. Know that might, power and help is from Allah subḥānahu wa ta'āla (glorified and exalted be He) alone. So continuously say “La hawla wa la quota illa billa”. Ibn Al-Qayim says about this specific remembrance: ”It has a powerful effect on difficult tasks and being able to bear difficult assignments…”
4. Have high aspirations and noble intentions and think BIG
If you have high goals, you’ll be charged towards achieving them and you won’t feel lazy.
5. Read the biographies of great men and women of history (Muslim and Non-Muslim)
As this will increase your determination and set your aspirations high and charge you.
6. Spend time with those who have high aspirations
Not with time wasters who want you to be like them. Be careful of who you befriend and choose your friends wisely.
7. Feel responsible
For your self, your body, your mind, your family, your work, your community and your Ummah. When you feel responsible and feel that you’ll be taken to account for what you do, this will increase your purposefulness and decrease your laziness.
8. Fill your idle time as much as possible
With activities such as reading, watching beneficial documentaries, exercise, spending time in the countryside. etc. Don’t sit bored with nothing to do; that’s a trap of Shaytaan.
9. Find out what excites you and what you enjoy doing and work hard at it
If you love starting a business or running a blog or any hobby that you enjoy doing, spend your time on this activity and excel in it until you become an expert in your field.
He is Allah, other than whom there is no deity, the Sovereign, the Pure, the Perfection, the Bestower of Faith, the Overseer, the Exalted in Might, the Compeller, the Superior. Exalted is Allah above whatever they associate with Him [59:23]
Don't procrastinate when it comes to Salaah and you'll be fine .
"Prayer indeed has been enjoined on the believers at fixed times." - [4:103]
Might mean consistently delaying it to the end (even if within) it's specified time. But I'm not certain, so best to ask somebody more knowledgeable .
Last edited by strivingobserver98; 07-11-2016 at 10:36 AM.
May Allah reward you.
very beneficial and on time !
".... excel in it until you become an expert in your field" perfect advice.
subhan Allah, it reminds me of this ayah: And for this let those aspire, who have aspirations.
it is also a call for us to be expert in our religion, and to seek Islamic knowledge as much as we can. not just to be good Muslims. but to be the best Muslims.
May Allah reward you.
very beneficial and on time !
Ameen.
The Prophet said: 'The religion (of Islam) is easy. No one ever made it difficult without it becoming too much for him. So avoid extremes and strike a balance, do the best you can and be cheerful, and seek Allah's help (through prayer) in the morning, and evening, and part of the night.' (Sahîh Bukhârî)
Such a great article, jazakAllah khayr for sharing.
Laziness is such a disease of the heart and it's something which carries on to effect everything in your life- ibadat or work or education or relationships etc.
Particularly for the youth I think it's very easy for us to actually be wasting our time doing nothing at all, or at least not anything productive. I think everyone should have some sort of hands-on hobby which intellectually stimulates you and encourages you to socialise with others.
As I often read at the end of each day you should seriously think whether you've done anything to come closer to Allah swt and improve yourself as a person - time is life and whoever wastes time has wasted a part of their life - which deeply puts it into perspective.
May Allah swt allow us to make full use of every second He has blessed us with.
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this can also benefit the youngsters/students too.
Umm Malik liked this post
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said: 'The religion (of Islam) is easy. No one ever made it difficult without it becoming too much for him. So avoid extremes and strike a balance, do the best you can and be cheerful, and seek Allah's help (through prayer) in the morning, and evening, and part of the night.' (Sahîh Bukhârî)
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