I am not able to perform my night prayers and recite the Quran, and this has led to feeling low spiritually and lethargic throughout the day. What can be the reason behind this?

Question: It has been a few days that I am not able to perform my night prayers and recite the Quran, and this has led to feeling low spiritually and lethargic throughout the day. What can be the reason behind this?

Answer: You should reflect on your daily affairs and do muhasabah, i.e. self-analysis, to check what possible wrong action may have been committed, and then you should remove the effects of such wrongdoing through repentance and seeking forgiveness. We should keep in mind that we are always being examined and must try our best, according to our spiritual and physical ability, to not fail in carrying out good deeds on a daily basis.

Since the states of a person are not always uniform, a believer should make a principle for himself that becomes the axis of all his acts, and that principle is performing the mandatory acts and abstaining from the prohibited ones. When he is successful in doing this along with other recommended acts, he should thank Allah, and when he fails, he should become upset, but he must not forget that principle.