What weakens a person's spiritual protection?

The sources point consistently in one direction, and it is not the direction people expect.

• Abandoned or delayed prayers. This is the foundation, and nothing compensates for its absence
• Persistent sin. Ibn al-Qayyim wrote at length on how sins harden the heart until worship becomes heavy
• Neglected adhkar. The prescribed protection, unused
• Distance from the Quran
• Anger, backbiting, and severed family ties, which affect a household directly
• Consuming what corrodes: unlawful earnings, and content that leaves you agitated or coarse

Note what is not on this list: forgetting to wear something, failing to buy the right water, or not visiting the right practitioner.

The protection Islam prescribes is behavioural and free. Someone praying on time, saying their adhkar, keeping their tongue in check and maintaining family ties is protected by everything the sources actually specify.

Someone neglecting all of that while searching for a stronger reciter has the sequence reversed.

What Weakens Spiritual Protection in Islam? The Real Causes