How Should One Balance Prayer with Studying for Important Exams?

Answer

I pray you are well.

Understanding the Source of Stress and Guilt

Stress during exams is understandable. However, if guilt is also affecting you, it may be due to neglecting prayer. In such a case, the solution is not to abandon prayer in order to study more. Rather, it is to restore prayer to its proper place in your life.

Take some time out to pray. The prayer does not take very long. Even if you have a busy study schedule, and even if the longest prayer, such as ‘Isha, takes fifteen minutes, this is not a significant amount of time in the course of a full day of study.

Prayer as Rejuvenation, Not Interruption

See prayer as a way to refresh yourself. People often work best in focused bursts. Study with concentration, then step back to pray. Use the prayer as a moment to rejuvenate and reset before returning to your work.

Sometimes you have to take a step back in order to move forward. This is the nature of things. Let your prayer be a time to reconnect with Allah and to regain clarity and focus.

Success Is in the Hands of Allah

You may be the most intelligent person in the world. You may be the most hardworking person in the world. Yet Allah can grant you success in those exams, or He may decree something else. Ultimately, what He chooses for you is what carries real benefit.

Choose what Allah gives you in life. Among the greatest gifts Allah has given you is the prayer. It is a means of drawing closer to Him and a means of expressing gratitude for the blessings He has already granted you.

As one of the awliya said:

“Good manners with Allah is that you accept what He gives you and do not refuse it.”

The prayer is a gift. To neglect it is to turn away from something that was given to you as a mercy and a means of elevation.

Turning to Allah in Times of Difficulty

In times of stress, you have an outlet. You can turn to Allah and say, “O Allah, I am struggling.” “O Allah, this topic is difficult.” “O Allah, I need Your help.” “O Allah, grant me success.”

If you turn to Allah in this way, then, insha’Allah, He will open doors for you.

Prayer can help with stress. It may not remove every difficulty, but it can bring relief. Go to your prayer, stand before Allah, sit and speak to Him, and then return to your studies and put in the appropriate effort.

The Illusion of Worldly Success

If someone thinks, “I will not pray. I will just focus on my exams,” then perhaps they may succeed outwardly. They may achieve high qualifications. But will it truly be good for them?

How many people attain impressive degrees and worldly success, only to become arrogant, to look down on others, or to turn away from Allah completely? Their career and lifestyle convince them that they are secure and self-sufficient. They begin to think, “This is real success.”

Yet real success is not merely worldly achievement while forgetting the One who granted every blessing.

Time spent in prayer is never wasted. In reality, there is a greater examination ahead. There is the test of the Day of Judgment. So prepare for that one as well.

And Allah knows best.
[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began studying Arabic Grammar and Morphology whilst studying for a degree in English and History. After graduating, He traveled to Damascus and studied Arabic, Hanafi Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Theology, and Logic with Shaykh Adnan Darwish, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahman Arjan al-Binsawi, Shaykh Husayn Darwish, Shaykh Muhammad Darwish, the late Shaykh Rashad Shams, and others. He then moved to Amman to continue his studies in those fields, as well as in Tafsir, Quranic Sciences, Hadith Methodology and Commentary, Prophetic Biography, Prophetic Perfections and Traits, Rhetoric, Arabic Literature, and Tajwid. His teachers include Shaykh Ali Hani, Dr. Hamza al-Bakri, Dr. Salah Abu al-Hajj, Dr. Mansur Abu Zina, Shaykh Ahmad Hasanat, Shaykh Ahmad Jammal, and others.