Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
Shirk thoughts in prayer are a common form of whispers, and Islam advises treating them by strengthening the heart with remembrance of Allah, repentance, and shunning sins. Scholars recommend surrounding oneself with righteous company, attending beneficial gatherings, and reflecting on the hereafter to regain focus in prayer.
Responding to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
Recognizing the Signs of Spiritual Emptiness
I commend you for recognizing your spiritual emptiness. That is a sign of hope. However, you should take the next step to treat this condition. No one who thinks he is healthy while suffering from illness can hope to take steps to treat himself to achieve recovery.
Therefore, it is now incumbent on you to know the symptoms and the root causes. Even more than we try to ourselves when we get physically sick, we ought to treat ourselves when we suffer the sickness of the spiritual heart.
That is because the spiritual life is even more important than physical health, for the bodies die and disintegrate, but the spiritual hearts survive death, and we should ask why we don’t feel joy in prayer and find it torture.
Causes of Shirk Thoughts and Weakness in Prayer
Our scholars have analyzed this condition, and they have listed a few factors as contributing to the sickness of the heart:
- Neglecting the remembrance of Allah by being obsessed with mundane matters: Allah says, {Whoever turns away from the remembrance of Me, truly his shall be a miserable life, and We shall raise him blind on the Day of Resurrection.} (Taha 20:124)
The Prophet (peace be upon him), “The example of the one who remembers his Lord and the one who does not remember Him is like that of the living and the dead.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
- Persistence in sins. When a person continues to sin, it impacts the heart until it becomes sealed. Allah says, “Their hearts are rusted by what they’ve been earning.” (Al-Mutaffifin 83:14)
Practical Treatments for Spiritual Weakness
Now, coming to the treatment, here are a few tips:
- Persistence in remembrance of Allah by establishing Prayer, reading the Quran, and engaging in good works.
- Turning to Allah in repentance, seeking His forgiveness, and shunning the sins
- Keeping company with good people.
- Attending scholarly circles and listening to inspiring sermons.
- Remembering death and visualizing our standing before Allah for the final reckoning.
- Visiting the sick and attending funerals.
- Paying frequent visits to the graves to remember our final destiny.
👉 Read more about overcoming Waswas and intrusive thoughts in Islam:
- How to Overcome Evil Thoughts
- How to Reaffirm Islam after Doubts and Intrusive Thoughts
- How to Avoid Lack of Concentration in Prayers
Almighty Allah knows best.