Can Parenting Exhaustion Count as a Form of Ibadah? 

Parenting Perspective 

When you have the right intention, your parenting exhaustion can absolutely be a form of Ibadah. While formal acts of worship like salah and Quran recitation are central pillars of faith, Islam does not limit worship to the prayer mat. It recognises the sanctity of the everyday struggle, especially when it involves caring for others with patience, love, and sincerity. 

If you have a load of duties and tasks to perform including the management of crying toddlers, packing school bags, or folded laundry, and your heart still longs to please Allah Almighty through it all, know that Allah Almighty can see all your effort and sacrifices which you believe are invisible. All these acts hold a spiritual meaning as well. 

The Power of Intention in Everyday Exhaustion 

In Islam, intention (Niyyah) is what transforms ordinary actions into acts of worship. That means: 

• When you wake up at night for a feeding and whisper Bismillah despite your fatigue, it counts. 

• When you clean up a mess, hold back an irritated reply, or kiss your forehead in frustration, hoping to model gentleness, it counts. 

• When you miss your Tahajjud because your child had a fever, and you choose patience instead of guilt, it counts. 

You are not less spiritual for being tired, but you are practicing Ibadah through your daily acts and behavior. Endurance through difficulty for the sake of fulfilling your responsibilities, especially when those responsibilities are given by Allah, is a deeply respected form of worship in our faith. 

Spiritual Insight 

Allah Almighty states in the noble Quran at Surah Al Zalzalah (99), verse 7: 

“Thus, everyone’s actions equivalent to the measurement of an atom that is good shall be observed by them (on the Day of judgement).”  

This includes the good you do when no one claps and when no one sees. When you forget that it mattered. 

The Prophetic Model: The Burden Itself is Honoured 

It is recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari that the holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: 

“If a woman spends the night bearing the burden of her child, Allah will record for her the reward of seventy slaves freed for the sake of Allah.” 

[Sahih al-Bukhari, 5351] 

This hadith honours not only the outcome of parenting, but the burden itself. The aching, the carrying, the long nights and emotional depletion, it all holds immense value in the sight of Allah. 

Your Salah may be shorter in these years and the time you invest for reciting Quran may get interrupted, but your servitude is constant. You are still in worship, just in a different posture. Not always in Sujood on the prayer mat, but sometimes in Sujood of sacrifice, service, staying, for the sake of your child, and for the sake of your Lord. 

Do not let anyone, not even your own inner critic, convince you that this season is spiritually draining. With sincerity and intention, this is Ibadah. This all is beloved to the One who sees every tired breath you take.