Dealing with constant pressure in religion
I learned religion by myself when i was 13 . I learned how to pray by myself my information on islam everything. I only got my information through the internet. Since then i always feel the pressure that i need to do everything my religion expects from , but i can‘t . I can‘t sleep at nights because of this pressure it really gets on my nerves i don‘t know what to do. I always think about i will get punished if i can‘t do everything allah expects from us how can i overcome i don‘t have so much power anymore.
Response from “Fatima Counselor”:
As salaam Alaikum,
Wow that’s a lot of pressure you’ve put on yourself. I admire the desire and eagerness in wanting to learn and do everything but Islam is not meant to be difficult. I would suggest starting off slow to avoid burn out and you don’t have so much anxiety. Take it one day at a time and take it slow. Allah swt is Ar Rahman and Ar Rahim. He is the giver of patience therefore the most patient. Be kind to yourself, give yourself grace. I’d say start with salat but even that can be broken down smaller, to wudu and niyyah and then actions and timeliness. Once these Grace been established add in some thing slowly.
May Allah swt reward you for your dedication and hard work.
Sincerely,
Your sister in Islam,
“Fatima SD”
Response from your friend at Stones to Bridges:
Mash’Allah brother/sister that is wonderful to hear your eagerness to learn the deen at such a young age! May Allah keep you steadfast, ameen. From my own personal experience, I have also struggled and still do struggle with this. It can be easy to become overwhelmed thinking that, you must be performing all these extra prayers, fasting more, praying tahajjud every night. All of these are wonderful to do but what I found is that it’s really important that you make sure you are starting off with doing your mandatory acts of worship consistently. Then, slowly, you can add to it but keep in mind not to do too much all at once. Like how Rasool’Allah (SAW) said that the best deeds are the ones that are done consistently, even if they are small. Remember too that, Allah is the most Loving and Caring of all those who can show love and care. He sees your efforts and knows that you are trying to get closer to Him. He created you and knows exactly how much you can and cannot handle. I found this video too to be helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0vkZNUi5Lg&ab_channel=FreeQuranEducation
