Neglecting The Prayer: A Major Sin

By Oladimeji Abdulghaffar

Allah has made the five (5) daily prayers compulsory for Muslims and attached great importance to it. Salat is the most important of the physical acts of worship. Allah says: “Guard Strictly (the five obligatory) prayers especially the middle prayer and stand before Allah with obedience”. (Baqarah 2: 238).

Prayer is the only physical act of worship that a Muslim must perform unconditionally. A poor Muslim, for instance, is not expected to give zakat. Hajj is only performed by people who are financially and medically capable of doing so. Similarly, some people are temporarily or permanently exempted from fasting in the month of Ramadan.

However, every adult Muslim must observe the salat either poor or rich, on a journey or at home, healthy or ill. The Tayammum (dry ablution) is also legislated to ensure that the absence of water or inability to use it does not prevent a Muslim from observing the prayer.

Allah has also attached a lot of rewards to the prayer in this life. It is also the minimum requirement for gaining admission into paradise in the next life. The Prophet S.A.W said: “The first thing for which a person will be brought to account on the day of Judgement will be the Salat. If it is found to be complete, then it will be recorded as complete and if anything is lacking, He will say, ‘Look and see if you can find any voluntary prayers with which to complete the neglected obligatory prayers’. Then the rest of his deeds will be recorded in like manner.” (Nasai, Kitab-us-Salat, Hadith 466)

Despite the great importance of the salat, many people are still negligent of it. Neglect of the prayer can take different forms such as; not praying at all, not observing the prayer regularly, praying with the wrong intention, and not praying at the appropriate time without a valid reason.

Neglecting prayer through any of the aforementioned means constitutes a major sin and has the following implications.

Punishment of Hell. People will spend a varying amount of time in hell as a result of neglecting prayer. Allah says: Then there succeeded them, a generation which neglected prayer and followed lust. So they will be thrown into the Hel (Maryam 19: 59) “In paradise, they will ask the criminals:

What has caused you to enter Hell? They will say: We were not of those who used to offer Salat” (Al Mudathir 74: 38-43).

Those neglecting the prayer are perpetually under the curse of Allah. Allah says: “So Woe unto those performers of Salat, those who are unmindful of their prayers”. (Al Maun 107: 4-5)

Drifting towards disbelieve.

Neglecting the prayer can cause a person to fall into disbelief if not addressed. The Prophet (S.A.W) said: “The covenant which is between us and them is the prayer, whoever abandoned it has disbelieved”. (At-Tirmidhi No. 2621, An Nasai No. 464 and Ahmad 5: 346,355)

Being in the company of the enemies of Allah; The Prophet (S.A.W) mentioned the prayer and said:” … whoever guards it

strictly will have light, evidence (of his faith) and salvation on the day of resurrection and whoever does not guard it will have neither light nor evidence nor salvation and will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection with Pharaoh, Hamman, Qarun and Ubay bn Khalaf.” (Ahmad 2:162)

The four people mentioned at the end of this hadith are enemies of Allah who neglected their duty to him because of leadership position, employment, wealth and trading respectively and whoever is gathered with them will face serious torment in the afterlife. May Allah save us from His punishment. It is therefore important that we understand the importance of salat and guard it seriously.

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