You Don't Need to Make Time for Spirituality

There is a common tendency to divide life into two categories:

• My spiritual life: praying, making dhikr, reading the Quran, meditating, attending gatherings, and learning about Islam.
• My ordinary life: working, studying, cooking, commuting, family time, raising children, dealing with people, shopping, social media, etc...

When we make this distinction, spirituality can start to feel like another responsibility competing for our limited time. We finish work exhausted, take care of our families, deal with our responsibilities, and then feel guilty because we haven't done enough spiritually.

But what if the problem isn't that we lack time for spirituality? What if we have come to understand spirituality too narrowly?

What if spirituality isn't simply something we make time for, but something that changes how we inhabit the time we already have?

I often hear people say that they don't have enough time to pray, read the Qur'an, or study Islam, and that they feel spiritually behind because of it.

I want to share my perspective on this, because I've never really felt that I don't have time for spirituality. In fact, it has never occurred to me to see spirituality as a separate part of my life.

The way I understand Islam and the teachings of Sufism is that our relationship with Allah isn't meant to be confined to specific moments of worship, but is meant to accompany us throughout our entire lives.

Throughout my working life, I've often been part of teams with very few Muslims, and at times, I've been the only Muslim in the workplace. Whenever I've asked for a place to pray, I've been met with respect. On some occasions, it has even opened up conversations about Islam that might never have happened otherwise.

I understand that some people may feel nervous about asking for space to pray, wondering what their colleagues might think or how their request will be received. But I've learned that when we make the intention to please Allah and take steps towards fulfilling our obligations, we can trust Him to help us make it possible and to protect us.

We cannot control how others will respond, but we don't have to let the fear of their reaction prevent us from doing what matters to us.

The bottom line is that spirituality is not just about religious acts. In fact, many of us have fallen into cycles of performing religious acts without spirituality, meaning, or presence. We may simply go through the motions without being fully aware of what we are doing.

What makes our lives spiritual is our effort to be present and aware of the here and now.

We don't have to limit the ways we connect with Allah to particular acts of worship. We can turn towards Him in everything!

Even in becoming aware of our breath, appreciating our ability to blink, noticing the water we use to shower, or feeling grateful for our teeth as we chew or brush them. We can find reasons to be grateful for all our bodily functions, both the ones we can see and the ones we cannot.

Here are some ways to begin making our whole day spiritual:

1. Spirituality begins when we wake up

You don't have to feel peaceful every morning. Even noticing your state honestly, rather than immediately being ruled by it, can become an opportunity for awareness.

2. Your workplace is part of your spiritual path

You don't stop being a spiritual seeker when you open your laptop or enter an office. How do you respond when someone frustrates you? Can you act with integrity when nobody is watching? Can you recognise your ego when you need to be right, or notice envy when someone else succeeds?

Your work doesn't have to look religious to become an arena for spiritual growth.

3. Spirituality is revealed in how you treat people

How do you speak to your family when you're tired? How do you treat someone who cannot offer you anything in return? How do you behave towards someone whose beliefs differ from yours?

It is easy to feel spiritually elevated while reading beautiful teachings. Our relationships often reveal where those teachings have yet to reach us.

4. Spirituality lives in the ordinary things

Eating with gratitude, taking care of your body, listening attentively, fulfilling a responsibility, resting when you need to rest, and noticing the beauty of the world can all become part of a conscious life.

The ordinary doesn't have to be separate from the sacred.

5. Spirituality is also how you meet your inner world

What happens when jealousy arises? When fear visits? When you feel rejected or misunderstood?

You can use those moments to practise self-awareness, patience, honest reflection, and turning towards Allah. You don't have to wait until you feel calm to engage in your spiritual life. Sometimes the spiritual work lies in how you respond to the fact that you aren't calm.

Spirituality isn't about monitoring every thought until ordinary life becomes another exhausting self-improvement exercise. An unwanted thought arising doesn't make someone spiritually deficient. What matters is how we relate to our thoughts and what we choose to nurture or act upon.

Quran 3:191 describes those who remember Allah while standing, sitting, and lying on their sides. This offers a powerful image of remembrance extending across different states of daily life.

Thank you for reading. Stay blessed ✨

If there's ever a topic you'd like me to write about, feel free to let me know!