Abandoning prayer -
a major sin
Allah Most High says: "Then
there has succeeded them a generation which has given up prayers
and have followed lusts. So they
will be thrown into Hell. Except those who repent and believe in the
Oneness of Allah and His Messenger and act righteously".
[Maryam, 19:59-60]
And He (SWT) said : "Woe unto those performers of prayers
who are unmindful of their prayers (i.e., delay their
prayer from its stated fixed time)". [Al-Maa'oon, 107:4-5]
And He (SWT) said : "O you who believe! Let not your
properties or your children divert you from the remembrance of
Allah. And whosoever does that, then they are the losers".
[Al-Munaafiqoon, 63:9]
The commentators of the Qur'an say: "The 'remembrance of Allah'
mentioned in these Aayaat means the five daily prayers. If anyone is
so busy in buying and selling, or with his daily work of earning a
livelihood, or with his children, that he cannot perform prayers on
time, he will be among the losers."
The first thing which will be judged among a man's deeds on the Day
of Resurrection is the Prayer. If this is in good order then he will
succeed and prosper but if it is defective then he will fail and
will be a loser. [Tirmidhee]
Informing us about the inhabitants of Hell, Allah Most High says :
"(The people in Hell will be asked:) What has caused you to enter
Hell? They will say: We were not among those who used to pray. Nor
did we feed the poor. And we used to talk falsehood (all that which Allaah hated) with vain-talkers. And we used to belie thc Day of
Recompense. Until there came to us that which is certain (i.e.,
death). So no Intercession of intercessors will benefit them". [Al-Muddaththir,
74:42-48]
The Prophet(SAW) said : The covenant between us and them is prayer, so if
anyone abandons it he has become a disbeliever. [Ahmad]
And he also said : What lies between a man and disbelief is the
abandonment of prayer. [Muslim]
And he said : If anyone abandons prayer deliberately then he has no
claim upon Allah. [Ibn Maajah]
And he said : I have been ordered to fight against the people until
they testify that there is no one worthy of worship but Allah and
that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and until they perform the
Prayers and pay the Zakaah, and if they do so they will have gained
protection from me for their lives and property, unless [they do
acts that are punishable] in accordance with Islam, and their
reckoning will be with Allah Most High. [Bukhaari & Muslim]
And he, mentioning the prayer, said : If anyone keeps to it, it
will be light, evidence and salvation for him on the Day of
Resurrection. But if anyone does not keep to it, it will not be
light, evidence and salvation for him on the Day of Resurrection,
and on that Day he will be associated with Qaroon, Pharaoh, Hamaan
and Ubayy bin Khalaf (an enemy of Islam from among the Quraysh).
[Ahmad]
Ibn Al-Qayyim explained: The person who abandons prayer will be
raised with such a foursome because his neglect of player may be due
to his involvement with his property, his country, his
administrative work or his trade. Therefore, if he was involved with
his property he will be resurrected with Qaroon; if with his
country, then with Pharaoh; if with his administrative work, then
with Hamaan; and if with his trade then with Ubayy bin Khalaf, the
trader among the disbelievers of Makkah.
`Abdullaah bin Shaqeeq Al-`Aqeelee (rh) said: "The Companions of the Prophet
did not consider the abandonment of any good deed to be disbelief
except the abandonment of the Prayer." [Tirmidhee, Haakim]
When `Alee was asked about a women who did not pray, he said: "The
one who does not pray is a disbeliever." [Tirmidhee]
Ibn Mas`ood (RA) said: "The one who abandons the prayer has no
religion." [Muhammad bin Nasr Al Mirwazee]
Ibn `Abbaas (RA) said: "The one who leaves off a single prayer
deliberately will find, when he meets Allah Most High, that He (SWT)
is angry with him." [Ibn Abdul-Barr]
Ibn Hazm said: "There is no greater sin after polytheism than
delaying a prayer until its time has passed and killing a believer
without a just cause."
Ibraheem Al-Nakha`ee said: "The one who has abandoned the prayer has
become a disbeliever."
Ibn Hazm writes conclusively: "It has come from `Umar, `Abdur-Rahmaan
bin `Awf, Mu`aadh bin Jabal, Aboo Hurayrah and other companions that
anyone who skips one obligatory prayer until its time has finished
becomes an apostate. We find no difference of opinion among them on
this point." (At-targheeb wa at-tarheeb)
Al-Mundhiree goes on to comment: A group of Companions and those who came after
them believed that an intentional decision to skip one prayer until
its time is completely finished makes one an unbeliever. The people
of this opinion include `Umar bin Al-Khattaab, `Abdullaah bin
Mas`ood, `Abdullaah bin `Abbaas, Mu`aadh bin Jabal, Jaabir bin `Abdullaah
and Aboo Ad-Dardaa'. Among the non-companions who shared this view
were: Ibn Hanbal, Ishaaq bin Rahwayh, `Abdullaah bin Mubaarak, An-Nakha`ee,
Al-Hakam bin `Utaibah, Aboo Ayyoob As-Sakhtiyaanee, Aboo Dawood At-Tiyaalisee,
Aboo Bakr bin Aboo Shaybah, Zuhayr in Harb, and others.
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Translation of salaah
(prayer)
Times and units of
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The Importance of Yawm ul
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