Spiritual Food for the Soul

Hazrat Shaikh Moulana Muhammad Zakariyya (rahmatullahi ‘alaih) once mentioned the following:

Punctuality upon one’s ma’moolaat (fixed amount of daily devotional practices e.g. recitation of the Qur’aan Majeed, zikr, etc.) is the ladder to progress in deen. Hence, one should ensure that one does not fall short in completing one’s daily ma’moolaat.

Ma’moolaat are considered as spiritual food for the soul. Thus, neglecting one’s ma’moolaat leads to the soul becoming weak, and punctuality on the ma’moolaat causes the soul to gain strength.

This spiritual food for the soul can be resembled to the physical food which nourishes the physical body. If a person is ill and does not want to eat food, then everyone around him will become concerned and will insist that he eats food so that his body does not become weak. The spiritual nourishment is similar to physical nourishment. If due to circumstances, one is unable to complete one’s ma’moolaat, then one will be excused. However, one should not leave out one’s ma’moolaat entirely, but should still carry out some portion of the ma’moolaat (so that the soul remains sustained and nourished, and one acquires the barakah of the ma’moolaat).

(Qutbul Aqtaab Hazrat Sheikhul Hadith Moulana Muhammad Zakariyya (rahmatullahi ‘alaih) pg. 499)