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Post-Ramadan Highs and Lows: How to Protect Your Faith in 4 Steps | Blog
Why does the spiritual high of Ramadan fade so quickly? Discover why faith, motivation, and consistency decline after the month ends, and how to sustain them beyond Ramadan.
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Published: April 19, 2026 •Dhul Qadah 2, 1447
Updated: April 20, 2026 •Dhul Qadah 3, 1447
Read time: 16 min
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Ever wondered why our experience in the last ten days of Ramadan, or on its 27th night, diminishes so quickly after the month ends? Where do the light, faith, inspiration to do more, and sense of elation go? Why is it that they are sometimes overtaken by sluggishness, boredom, spiritual emptiness, and lack of commitment to perform acts of worship and refrain from what is religiously prohibited?
1. Understand the lows
Before engaging with these fluctuations, we must understand that they are natural. To begin with, “Allah alone withholds [yaqbid] and lavishes [yabsut].” Since Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is transcendent and not subject to any influences, He does not change. We, on the other hand, are constantly subject to change and alternation in our inner world and external conditions. The contraction (qabd) cited in the verse, marked by convulsion, restraint, and depression, and the expansion (bast), manifested by acceleration, relief, and a sense of elation, are both part and parcel of our human condition. Qabd and bast alternate within and without us, especially in our inner lives, like night and day, as Qur’an exegete Ibn ʿAjiba notes.
The companion Hanzala ibn al-Rabiʿ al-Usaydi, may Allah be well pleased with him, was so frustrated by these spiritual ups and downs that he complained to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be well pleased with him. The two went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. As soon as they met him, Hanzala declared, “Hanzala became a hypocrite, Messenger of Allah!” He proceeded to explain, “When we are with you, you remind us of the Hellfire and Paradise; it is as if we see them with our own eyes. When we leave you, we flounder with wives, children, and estates, so forget much.” Prophetic guidance and wisdom came swiftly, enlightening and relevant, answering these pressing questions about spiritual fluctuation. “By the One in whose hand is my soul! If you were to persist with what you are when you are with me and with remembrance [dhikr], angels would shake your hands while you are on your cushions and on the streets. However, Hanzala, it is one time [this way], and one time [that way]!” The Messenger ﷺ even repeated this last part three times.
It is perfectly natural to experience these spiritual ups and downs. They make us human, for good or bad, and make us cognizant of our need for divine assistance and guidance. It is no wonder that one of the most recited Prophetic supplications is “O Turner of Hearts, fix my heart on Your religion.”
But how can we protect ourselves from the influence of these spiritually low moments? How can we be certain that they will not drag us down into a bottomless spiral of spiritual stagnation, sins, or even loss of faith?
A tremendously beneficial but lesser-known hadith, which lies at the heart of maintaining a religious practice immune to the effects of these pendulum-like shifts, is the following: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Every action has an uptick [shirra]. Every uptick has a flat plane [fatra]. So whoever’s fatra is directed toward my Sunnah shall succeed. Whoever’s fatra is to other than that shall perish.”
This piece of Prophetic guidance offers a practical and radical cure for our spiritual lows. It instructs us that there must be religious works—in this case, the confirmed supererogatory acts of the Sunnah—that are the life buoy that can pull us through, if only by sending a signal to our subconscious that my commitment to this religion stands above and beyond the joys of spiritual highs or the pain of the lows. This consistency in applying the sunnahs—such as the prayers before and after obligatory prayers, and reading the Qur’an daily, for example—is what ensures that we will actually benefit in both the low moments and the highs; yes, there are benefits to both.
The main benefit of the low moments is that they anchor our need for Allah and consolidate our dependence on His favor and gifts of spiritual energy. It is within this context that we understand that sagacious wisdom of the statement of Ibn ʿAtaʾ, “You may benefit in the night of spiritual contraction [qabd] that which you have not benefited from in the day of brilliance of spiritual expansion [bast]; ‘You cannot know which of them is more beneficial to you’ (Qur’an 4:11).”
Whether one is in a low state—knowing the swing of the spiritual pendulum will eventually lift one from it—or in a spiritual high, our relationship with Allah, founded on love and devotion, ultimately falls outside the confines of both states: spiritual contraction or elation. Ibn ʿAtaʾ’s wisdom penetrates both states to refocus our attention, “He brought you to bast so that He does not make you stay with qabd. He brought you to qabd so that He does not leave you with bast. He brought you out of both so that you are for nothing else other than Himself!”
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2. Surf through the highs
Allah, Mighty and Majestic, encourages us to “hurry toward your Lord’s forgiveness and a Garden as wide as the heavens and earth prepared for the righteous.” An even stronger encouragement, expressed through a metaphor that conveys charging with even greater speed and force, is “Therefore flee unto Allah! I am a clear warner from Him to you.” Another verse highlighting how striving in moments of spiritual highs—marked by strong faith, elation, an abundance of worship, and near complete abandonment of all that is sinful or religiously blameworthy—brings about guidance and a return to Allah is “But We shall be sure to guide to Our ways those who strive hard for Our cause: God is with those who do good.” In his commentary on this verse, the authoritative exegete Abu al-Suʿud (d. 982/1575) explains that such people will be assisted and guided into “the path of traversing to Us, and reaching Our Presence, or that we shall guide them to the paths of goodness and assisting them to traverse it, as in His words, Most High, ‘God has increased the guidance of those who follow the right path’ (Qur’an 47:17). It is narrated that, ‘Whoever applied in action what they know, Allah shall bequeath them the knowledge of that they do not.’”
If one is blessed with being in a high spiritual state, with strong faith, enthusiasm to perform many pious acts, and firm resolve to stay away from sins and blameworthy deeds, they must, above all, recognize Allah’s abundant favor upon them. Such a state is better than the whole world and everything in it combined: “Say, ‘In this bounty of Allah and mercy of his, in that let them rejoice. It is better than all they amass.’”
Of course, this interest in striving and excelling in one’s religiosity, and in expressing one’s relationship with Allah through devotion, love, and other acts of worship, is not for everyone at all times. When someone came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and asked about restricting their religious practice to the minimal obligatory acts without adding any extras, he said about him, “He shall succeed only if he is sincere.” Compare that, however, to another case: the companion Rabiʿa ibn Kaʿb al-Aslami, who used to spend nights in the Prophet’s house, helping him with ablution and other needs. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ told him, “Ask me!” he said, “I ask you for your company in Paradise.” The Prophet ﷺ replied, “Or anything else?” He said, “That [is all]!” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Then assist me against yourself with an abundance of prostration.”
When you are in a spiritual high, seize the opportunity. Prioritize your religion, do as much as you can, aim high, and set the bar for new norms of practice, faith, and religious excellence. More importantly, seek to extend them and ensure they bring about lasting change. These highs are a praiseworthy competition, “It is this [bliss] in aspiring that competitors should compete with each other.” On his deathbed, the venerated companion, Muʿadh ibn Jabal, may Allah be well pleased with him, uttered: “O Allah, you know that I neither liked staying in the world nor a long duration in it because of the flowing rivers or for planting trees. I loved staying in it to strive against the long nights and the thirst of the noontime in intense heat, and to press my shoulders against scholars to join circles of remembrance.”
Perhaps this devotion to drawing near to Allah through such positive competition is best expressed by the pious worshipper from the third generation of Muslims, Wuhayb ibn al-Ward, who is reported to have said, “If it can be that no one outraces you to Allah, then do it!”
3. Manage the consistency
While excelling in religious practice and an abundance of devotional acts may not be for everyone, at least not for everyone all the time, consistency is key to religious commitment. This applies to everyone, all the time.
The wisdom of Messenger of Allah ﷺ teaches us all, “Verily, religion is of ease. No one shall try to wrestle with religion except that it will defeat them. So aim to be correct, be moderate, take on the glad tidings, and seek assistance in the comings and goings, and some of the nocturnal [works].” Commenting on the first part of this hadith, the erudite hadith authority Ibn Hajar stresses, “What is intended is not prohibiting what is more perfect in religion, as it is praiseworthy. Rather, it is immoderation leading to boredom or excessive supererogatory works that result in leaving out what is superior.”
But what does consistency look like in practice? How can it be applied in our busy and complex lives?
First of all, if you decide to commit to a certain religious practice, you must strive your utmost to keep it. The Mother of the Believers, ʿAʾisha, may Allah be well pleased with her, described the Prophet’s religious practice: “Whenever he did an act, he would steadfastly commit to it.” For example, try making a system of rewards and punishments for yourself when it comes to committing to praying the Duha prayer or accustom yourself not to browse on your phone and check your notifications before completing your morning adhkar.This begs the question: What are the best religious acts to commit to? Plainly, “The most loved of works to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is that which its doer performs consistently.”
Second, consistency is a gentle breeze that carries you and your commitments for a long time and toward a far destination, not a whirlwind that throws you off your feet and subsides sooner than you would like. The Mother of the Believers, ʿAʾisha, may Allah be well pleased with her, portrayed the Prophet’s religious practice and daily routine in a compelling metaphor as being like “soft continuous rain [dima].”
Third, focus on quality. It suffices here to say that one should aim for the following: “Excellence [ihsan] is to worship Allah as though you see Him. If you do not see Him, [then know that] He sees you.”
Finally, as part of your plans for religious consistency and commitment, you should plan to gradually and wisely increase what you routinely practice. Know that religious commitment and practice are not what many influencers and social media voices claim they are. They do not involve sudden dramatic shifts in religiosity and lifestyle. Easy come, easy go. Rather, “The best of people are the ones whose life is long and their acts are excellent,” as the Prophet ﷺ said. We should think about our religious commitment through the lens of this Prophetic guidance and improve our practice firmly and gradually.
4. Keep a daily program
“He who is hostile to a friend of Mine [wali], I declare war against. There is nothing more beloved to Me than that My slave approaches Me with what I made obligatory upon him. My slave continues to draw nearer to Me with voluntary works until I love him. And when I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he seizes, and his foot with which he walks. If he asks me, I will surely give to him, and if he seeks refuge in Me, I will surely protect him.”
This hadith recenters love in our relationship with Allah and underscores the centrality of obligatory and supererogatory acts. When explaining who is meant by a “friend of Allah” (wali) in this hadith qudsi, the eminent hadith scholar Ibn Hajar commented that a wali is, “The one who truly knows Allah, who persists [muwazib] in His obedience, and is sincere in worship.” An even clearer explanation is the Qur’an’s, “But for those who are friends of Allah [pl. awliyaʾ] there is no fear, nor shall they grieve. Those who truly believe and ever show God-fearingness.”
Below are, first, suggestions for a daily routine that can help you to meet the previously mentioned Prophetic guidance of maintaining a stable practice of Sunnah at all times, including in times of spiritual lows. Second, there is a set of practical advice to help maintain this religious routine. The suggestions are based on guidance from the above hadith and the religious principle that it is more important to shun sin than to perform or introduce additional acts of religious obedience: “If I prohibit you from something, then shun it. If I command you something, perform from it what you can.” Commenting on this hadith, Imam Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali states, “Some scholars have derived from this [hadith] that prohibitions are stronger than commands. This is because it is not allowed to commit anything prohibited. Commands are based on ability. This [opinion] is narrated from Imam Ahmad.” This must be done in parallel with the previous Prophetic guidance of maintaining the supererogatory acts of the Sunnah at all times as a safety net.
Obligatory acts (fard)
Make your daily obligatory acts, especially the obligatory five prayers, the centerpiece of your relationship with Allah, your spirituality, and your religious excellence. Since they are what He loves the most, make it your daily business to meet them with due love, excellence, and focus. Here are some practical steps to prioritizing the five daily prayers:
- Organize your daily life around them, including sleep, activities, and responsibilities.
- Pray at the beginning of the time period of a given prayer. This is something that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, loves. Develop a healthy tension in you to pray in the earliest possible moment. Prepare yourself ahead of time by thinking where to perform ablution (wuduʾ) and where to pray if you are going somewhere new, for example.
- Begin your focus as early as wuduʾ and the Prophetic supplications associated with it. Make sure that when you utter the opening invocation of prayer, “Allahu akbar” (Allah is greatest), the meaning—of Him being greater than all your preoccupations, worries, sadness, joy, and everything else—overwhelms you.
- Ensure that your presence and sense of tranquility in these prayers reflect your absolute utmost effort, especially when reciting the Qur’an and in the tashahhud. These are your five daily moments of complete separation from everything other than Allah and of focusing solely on your connection to Him.
- Make your supplications within your fard prayers, especially in prostration (sujud), your most important and sincere ones.
- Pray in the mosque, if you are a male. The minimum is twice a day, especially for the dawn (fajr) and night (ʿisha) prayers.
Steering clear of sin
Make a daily commitment not to fall into habitual sins. This is especially important for major sins and habitual minor sins. Imam al-Tusturi says, “Collective devotional works (birr) are done by both the devoted and the wicked. Only a true believer (siddiq) quits sins.”
- Create a system of accountability that includes both rewards and consequences for avoiding sins. Some suggest beginning with a forty-day commitment and diary.
- Plan ahead and be realistic. Be aware of the process by which you fall into sins and the steps that lead to them. If every time X calls, you fall into backbiting, do not answer. If every time you meet a certain group, you end up doing something wrong, no matter how hard you all try not to, do not meet them. If every time you are left alone at home with your laptop, you do what you should not, remove yourself from the situation. Both forcing yourself to pray the Prayer of Repentance (Salat al-Tawba), crying and seeking forgiveness, and committing yourself to give a significant amount of charity every time you fall into a particular sin you are attempting to quit are tested and proven ways to abandon it.
- Beyond this, ensure that under no circumstances do you harm anyone, verbally or materially.
Supererogatory acts (sunan)
If one commits to a minimum of them, these acts guard one’s faith, according to the previous Prophetic assurance. Increasing their type, quality, and quantity is a way to attain more of Allah’s love and draw nearer to Him.
- The first and most important type is extra voluntary prayers performed consistently and never abandoned (sunan muʾakkada). These include:
- The sunnahs before and after fard prayers
- Witr prayer
- The forenoon prayer (duha)
- The second most important voluntary act is the night vigil prayer (qiyam). (For more on that read here).
- Engaging daily with the Qur’an is essential. We should gradually develop three levels of daily engagement:
- Recitation (tilawa): Commit to reading the entire Qur’an once a month, at least, or once every two months if your Arabic ability allows for this.
- Contemplation (tadabbur): Read with the aid of a book of exegesis (tafsir).
- Worship (taʿabbud): Careful devotional recitation during qiyam.
- Maintain wuduʾ as much as possible throughout the day.
- Give charity daily, no matter how small, or if you commit to a monthly payment, supplicate that its reward reaches you daily.
- Observe the sunnah fasts, especially Mondays and Thursdays.
- Perform acts of kindness toward three groups: your family and those close to you, the pious people in your circle, and the wider community, especially non-Muslims.
Practical advice for maintaining this routine
Below are practical words of advice to help maintain such a daily routine, which is, of course, no easy feat.
- Supplicate and seek divine assistance: Firmly committing to a religious daily routine is not easy and takes a lot of effort and planning. Make continuous supplication (dua) for assistance in maintaining this program. After all, “It is You we worship; it is You we ask for help.”
- Make remembrance of Allah (dhikr)—including the Qur’an, the highest form of dhikr—the spiritual fuel for your daily engine.
- Inculcate patience in all its forms: patience in the face of worldly trials, patience in maintaining good deeds, and patience in refraining from sins and blameworthy acts. It is not a coincidence that patience (sabr) is the second most frequently cited virtue of the believers in the Qur’an after God-fearingness (taqwa). Verses 3:15–17 tell us that those who anchor themselves in God-fearingness and piety will have with their Lord luxuriant groves in Paradise, and they are described as those steadfast in patience, truthful in word and deed, humbly devoted in adoration, generous in spending, and those who ask for forgiveness in the final watches of the night. Commenting on why patience is mentioned first, the eminent Qur’anic exegete Ibn ʿAshur stresses that it is because “it is the key to doing acts of obedience and leaving sins.” Patience is the mother of, and prerequisite for, all religious practice.
Despite the undeniable virtue of special religious times and seasons, a wise believer does not confine their spiritual resolve to one night or a month. They approach every night as though it is Laylat al-Qadr and every morning as though it is the Day of ʿArafa.
Perhaps there is no better summation of the above than the poignant words of Imam al-Tusturi: “There is no aid but Allah, no guide but the Messenger of Allah, no sustenance except taqwa, and there is no work except being patient with it all.”
References
1.
Qur’an 2:245.
2.
Aḥmad Ibn ʿAjība al-Ḥasanī, al-Baḥr al-madīd fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-Majīd, ed. Aḥmad ʿAbdullāh al-Qurashī Raslān (Ḥasan ʿAbbās Zakī, 1999), 1:271.
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Al-Sakandarī, al-Ḥikam, 120.
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Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī, Laṭāʾif al-maʿārif, ed. Maḥmūd ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Arnaʾūṭ and Riyāḍ Murād (Dār Ibn Ḥazm li-l-Ṭibāʿa wa-l-Nashr, 2004), 244.
18.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 39, https://sunnah.com/bukhari:39.
19.
Aḥmad Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Fatḥ al-Bārī bi-sharḥ ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, ed. Muḥibb al-Dīn al-Khaṭīb (al-Maktaba al-Salafiyya, 1970), 1:94.
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Abū Dāwūd Sulaymān al-Sajistānī, Sunan Abī Dāwūd, ed. Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ and Muḥammad Qārra Ballī (Dār al-Risāla al-ʿĀlamiyya, 2009), 2:519, no. 1368, https://sunnah.com/abudawud:1368.
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Ibn Māja Muḥammad al-Qazwīnī, Sunan Ibn Māja, ed. Muḥammad Fuʾād ʿAbd al-Bāqī (Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Kutub al-ʿArabiyya, 1952), 2:1416, no. 238, https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah:4238.
22.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 6466, https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6466.
23.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 4777, https://sunnah.com/bukhari:4777.
24.
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25.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 6502, https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6502.
26.
Al-ʿAsqalānī, Fatḥ al-Bārī, 11:342.
27.
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28.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 7288.
29.
Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī, Jāmiʿ al-ʿulūm wa-l-ḥikam, ed. Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ and Ibrāhīm Bājis (Muʾassasat al-Risāla, 1997), 1:252.
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32.
Qur’an 1:5.
33.
For comprehensive advice on organizing one’s day and immersing oneself in Prophetic daily virtues, read Imam al-Ghazālī’s Bidāyat al-hidāya (The Beginning of Guidance) and Imam al-Nawawī’s Riyāḍ al-ṣāliḥīn (The Meadows of the Righteous).
34.
Al-Iṣbahānī, Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ, 10:198.
Tarek Ghanem
Author
YaTarek Ghanem is a lecturer of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He has a background in research, academic publishing, and translation. He has written in various forms and on different platforms on a wide gamut of topics, from religion, Middle Eastern affairs, literature, to art. He is also the founder and CEO of Metalingual Translations. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Islamic Studies, with a focus on the post-classical Islamic legal commentarial tradition.
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