I am a young man and give much charity out of my modest wealth. But I strive against myself in order to regularly observe the prayer as I find real difficulty in this regard. Also, I sometimes smoke using a hookah. So I feel despair that Allaah The Almighty does not accept my charity. Please advise. Thank you.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

We advise you to fear Allaah The Almighty and perform prayers regularly since it is an essential pillar of Islam. More so, it is the line of demarcation between belief and disbelief. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "The line of demarcation between a man and Shirk (i.e. polytheism) and Kufr (i.e. disbelief) is abandoning the prayer." [Muslim]

The reason behind the difficulty that you find in observing prayers regularly could be your preoccupation with false entertainment and bad companions. You have to hasten to overcome all obstacles which preclude you from observing prayers. Whoever wastes the prayer is not a Muslim.

The money you spend in charity is a good thing and Allaah will never allow the work of any worker to be lost or diminished, even if it is the weight of a mustard seed. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it, And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it.}[Quran 99: 7-8]

We ask Allaah The Almighty to grant you success to regularly observe the prayer and to open your heart to faith.