assalamo alaykum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,
**Neglecting Prayer out of Laziness **
by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen
Praise be to Allah.
Imaam Ahmad said that the one who does not pray because of laziness is a kaafir (disbeliever). This is the more correct view and is that indicated by the evidence of the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger, and by the words of the Salaf and the proper understanding. [Al-Sharh al-Mumti’ ‘ala Zaad al-Mustanqi’, 2/26. This is an explanation by Shaikh Ibn Uthaimeen of the well known Hanbali Book of Fiqh Zaad al-Mustanqi’ by Shaikh Al-Hajjawi].
Anyone who examines the texts of the Quran and Sunnah will see that they indicate that the one who neglects the prayer is guilty of Kufr Akbar (major kufr) which puts him beyond the pale of Islam.
Among the evidence to be found in the Quran is:
The aayah (interpretation of the meaning):
“But if they repent [by rejecting Shirk (polytheism) and accept Islamic Monotheism], perform As-Salaat (Iqaamat-as-Salaat) and give Zakaat, then they are your brethren in religion.” [Quran Surah al-Tawbah 9:11]
The evidence derived from this aayah is that Allah defined three things that the Mushrikeen (polytheist disbelievers) have to do in order to eliminate the differences between them us: they should repent from shirk, they should perform prayer, and they should pay zakaah. If they repent from shirk but they do not perform the prayer or pay zakaah, then they are not our brethren in faith; if they perform the prayer but do not pay zakaah, then they are not our brethren in faith. Brotherhood in religion cannot be effaced except when a person goes out of the religion completely; it cannot be effaced by fisq (immoral conduct) or lesser types of kufr.
Allah also says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Then, there has succeeded them a posterity who have given up As-Salaat (the prayers) * and have followed lusts. So they will be thrown in Hell. Except those who repent and believe (in the Oneness of Allah and His Messenger Muhammad), and work righteousness. Such will enter Paradise and they will not be wronged in aught.” [Quran Surah Maryam 19:59-60]
The evidence derived from this aayah is that Allah referred to those who neglect the prayer and follow their desires, Except those who repent and believe, which indicates that at the time when they are neglecting their prayers and following their desires, they are not believers.
The evidence of the Sunnah that proves that the one who neglects the prayer is a kaafir includes the hadith of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) : “Between a man and shirk and kufr there stands his neglect of the prayer.” [Narrated by Muslim in Kitaab al-Eemaan from Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allah from Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam)]
It was narrated that Buraydah ibn al-Husayb (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “I heard Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) say: ‘The covenant that distinguishes between us and them is the prayer, and whoever neglects it has disbelieved (become a kaafir).’” [It was narrated by Ahmad, Abu Dawood, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nisaa’i and Ibn Maajah]. What is meant here by kufr or disbelief is the kind of kufr which puts a person beyond the pale of Islam, because Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) made prayer the dividing line between the believers and the disbelievers. It is known that the community of kufr is not the same as the community of Islam, so whoever does not fulfil this covenant must be one of the kaafireen (disbelievers).
There is also the hadith of ‘Awf ibn Maalik (may Allah be pleased with him), according to which Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said: “The best of your leaders are those whom you love and who love you, who pray for you and you pray for them. The worst of your leaders are those whom you hate and who hate you, and you send curses on them and they send curses on you.” He was asked, “O Messenger of Allah, should we not fight them by the sword?” He said, “Not as long as they are establishing prayer amongst you.”
This hadith indicates that those in authority should be opposed and fought if they do not establish prayer, but it is not permissible to oppose and fight them unless they make a blatant show of kufr and we have evidence from Allah that what they are doing is indeed kufr. ‘Ubaadah ibn al-Saamit said: “Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) called us and we gave bay’ah (oath of allegiance) to him. Among the things that we pledged to do was to listen and obey him both when we felt enthusiastic and when we were disinclined to act, both at times of difficulty and times of ease, and at times when others were given preference over us, and that we would not oppose those in authority. He said: ‘unless they made a blatant show of kufr and you have evidence from Allah that what they are doing is indeed kufr.’” [Sahih Al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim]. On this basis, their neglecting the prayer, for which Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said we should oppose them and fight them by the sword, constitutes an act of blatant kufr for which we have evidence from Allah that it is indeed kufr.
If someone were to say: is it not permissible to interpret the texts about a person who neglects prayer being a kaafir as referring to the one who neglects the prayer because he does not think it is obligatory?
We would say: it is not permissible to interpret the texts in this way because there are two reservations about this interpretation:
It involves ignoring the general description that the Lawgiver took into consideration and to which the ruling was connected. The ruling that the person who neglects prayer is a kaafir is connected to the action of neglecting prayer, not to his denial of it being obligatory. Brotherhood in religion is based on performing the prayer, not on whether a person declares it to be obligatory. Allah did not say, “If they repent and state that the prayer is obligatory”, and Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) did not say “Between a man and shirk and kufr there stands his denial that the prayer is obligatory” or “The covenant that distinguishes between us and them is our statement that the prayer is obligatory, so whoever denies that it is obligatory has disbelieved.” If this is what Allah and His Messenger had meant, then not stating it clearly would have contradicted what is said in the Quran. For Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And We have sent down to you the Book (the Quran) as an exposition of everything” [Quran Surah al-Nahl 16:89]
“And We have also sent down unto you (O Muhammad) the Dhikr [reminder and the advice (i.e. the Quran)], that you may explain clearly to men what is sent down to them” [Quran Surah al-Nahl 16:44]
It is not correct to refer to a reason which the Lawgiver did not make a factor in ruling a person to be a kaafir, because if a person who does not have the excuse of ignorance denies that the five daily prayers are obligatory then he is deemed to be a kaafir, whether he prays or not. If a person performs the five daily prayers, fulfilling all the conditions of prayer and doing all the actions that are obligatory or mustahabb, but he denies that the prayers are obligatory with no valid reason for doing so, then he is a kaafir, even though he is not neglecting the prayers. From this it is clear that it is not correct to interpret the texts about neglecting the prayers as referring to denying that they are obligatory. The correct view is that the person who neglects the prayer is a kaafir who is beyond the pale of Islam, as is clearly stated in the report narrated by Ibn Abi Haatim in his Sunan from ‘Ubaadah ibn al-Saamit (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: “Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) exhorted us: ‘Do not associate anything in worship with Allah, and do not neglect the prayer deliberately, for whoever neglects the prayer deliberately puts himself beyond the pale of Islam.” Moreover, if we interpret the ahaadeeth about neglecting the prayer as referring to a denial that it is obligatory, there would be no point in the reports referring specifically to the prayer, because this ruling applies equally to zakaah, fasting and Hajj – whoever neglects any of these, denying that it is obligatory, is a kaafir, if he does not have the excuse of ignorance.
Just as the one who neglects the prayer is deemed to be a kaafir on the basis of the evidence of the texts and reports, so he may also be deemed to be a kaafir on the basis of rational analysis. How can a person be a believer if he neglects the prayer which is the pillar of religion, and when there are aayaat and ahaadeeth urging us to perform prayer which make the wise believer rush to do the prayer, and when there are aayaat and ahaadeeth warning against neglecting it, which make the wise believer scared to ignore the prayer? Once we have understood this, a person cannot be a believer if he neglects the prayer.
If a person were to say: can we not interpret kufr in the case of one who neglects the prayer as meaning a lesser form of kufr (kufr al-na’mah) rather than the kind of kufr which puts a person beyond the pale of Islam (kufr al-millah)? Or can we not interpret it as being less than Kufr Akbar (major kufr) and more like the kufr referred to in the ahaadeeth, “There are two qualities that exist among people which are qualities of kufr: slandering people’s lineage and wailing over the dead” and “Trading insults with a Muslim is fisq (immoral conduct) and exchanging blows with him is kufr”, etc.?
contd…*
