I am a 14 yr old who started reading your fatwas to be a better muslim. I pray 5 times, fast obligatory fast, sleep on my right side since sleeping on stomach is makruh or when I cant sleep I pray and pray and read quran. When I take a break from studies I read quran,I don’t play any games anymore because they are haram, I don’t watch TV because its not remembrance of Allah. But instead of being closer to Allah I just feel sad now. Is this a flaw in my faith? Am I to blame?

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad (ﷺ) is His Slave and Messenger.

We ask Allah to increase you in guidance and keep you firm upon faith. Feeling sadness and anxiety does not necessarily mean that there is a defect in one’s faith.

ʿAbd Al-Ghani Al-Maqdisi said, as quoted in Dhayl Al-Tabaqat by Ibn Rajab: “As for losing the sweetness and delight that we once experienced, this is not necessarily evidence that one’s deeds are not accepted. A beginner may experience things that the one who has reached an advanced stage no longer experiences. This may happen because the soul becomes weary and tired due to the long passage of time and the abundance of worship. It has been narrated that the Messenger of Allah used to forbid excessive worship and exaggeration in it, and he would command moderation out of fear of boredom.” [End quote.]

However, despite this, such feelings of sadness and anxiety may sometimes be caused by exaggeration and excessive strictness. Therefore, a person should be gentle with himself and beware of extremism and unnecessary hardship, because this may lead to boredom, then abandonment, and eventually relapse.

The Messenger of Allah, ﷺ, said: “Those who go to extremes are ruined, those who go to extremes are ruined, those who go to extremes are ruined.” [Muslim]

Al-Nawawi said in his explanation: “Meaning: those who are excessively strict, extreme, and who go beyond proper limits in their statements and actions.” [End quote.]

The Prophet, ﷺ, also said: “This religion is easy, and no one makes the religion excessively difficult except that it overwhelms him.” [Bukhari]

Ibn Al-Munir said, as quoted in Fath Al-Bari: “In this hadith is one of the signs of Prophethood, for we have seen, and those before us saw, that every person who goes to extremes in religion eventually becomes cut off from it.” [End quote.]

Allah Knows best