Salaah Is a Blessing, Not a Burden: Ten Blessings of Prayer We Often Overlook (New Edition)

Spiritual dehydration. This is what Umm Zakiyyah says is at the root of the soul feeling overburdened by the obligation of Salaah, the five foundational prayers of the Muslim.

"When I was struggling to hold on to my faith," she says. "I used to dread when it was time to pray. Just mustering the strength to perform ablution and stand for Salaah felt so overwhelming... So, whenever I found myself standing (or sitting) for prayer, my heart wasn't really in it, and deep inside, I felt spiritual...