Why don't we pray?

Lately, I've been struggling with my faith.

For a long time, I was wondering,

• Why don't I pray regularly?

• Why do my religious practices feel empty?

And I kept asking myself, Why am I like this? Why are so many of us like this? Why do we feel so disconnected from our faith?

Most days, I barely manage one or two prayers. Some days, none at all.

Jummah prayer is my only consistent practice.

And if I'm being honest? It's often more about seeing friends than worship.

After some deep-reflection, I realized something important.

I discovered something that transformed my relationship with faith.

A realization that helped me to get back on track, and stick to my faith more stronger than ever, Alhamdulillah.

Let me share what I've discovered so far:

The Knowledge Imbalance

Every single day, we consume content. So much content.

We scroll through social media. We watch hundreds of videos. We binge TV series, movies and documentaries.

We become experts in our interests. Sports. Politics. Entertainment. Technology.

We read books and articles.

We absorb information that shapes our worldview.

This is how we learn about life.

I first heard about Rolls Royce in a movie. My curiosity led me to YouTube videos. Then to a few articles.

Before I knew it, I understood luxury cars, the entire industry, even its economics.

This happens with everything that interests us.

Some of us can name every K-pop idol. Others recite football statistics from memory. We can explain complex political conflicts or the latest tech innovations.

We keep updating our knowledge about the world because these things interest us or we need them to achieve our “wordly“ desires.

Our Faith Remains Frozen in Time

Here's the painful truth I realized:

We grow our understanding of worldly matters. But our knowledge of faith? It often remains frozen at a teenage level.

By our 30s or 40s, we've become experts in our careers and hobbies. We understand relationships, finances, and society.

But our understanding of Islam? For many of us, it hasn't evolved since we were 16.

Think about it: How can the religious understanding of our teenage self guide us now? It's like asking a high school student to mentor a CEO. The disconnect is inevitable.

Why Prayer Feels Empty

No wonder we struggle to connect with Allah. No wonder prayer feels empty.

The shallow understanding of our younger selves cannot compete with the depth of worldly knowledge we've gained.

The problem isn't that we don't want to be good Muslims. The problem is that we've let our spiritual knowledge stagnate while everything else in our lives has grown.

If we recognize this imbalance, we need to address it.

So what's the solution?

We need to grow and age our understanding of faith, just as we've done with our other interests.

We invest time learning about careers, hobbies, or global trends, constantly updating what we know.

Why not do the same for our faith? Or can we get away with Allah without doing it?

I will write a detailed post on how we can start soon. In shaa Allah.

This journey is worth it because if you are like me, you wouldn't want to trade the infinite eternity with this short, full-of-struggle worldly life.