The Major Sins Series- Missing SalahPrayer

The Major Sins Series - Missing Salah/Prayer

Speaker: Abu Usamah

Opening

(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim)

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، وَأُصَلِّي وَأُسَلِّمُ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا الْأَمِينِ، وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ، وَعَلَى مَنْ تَبِعَ سُنَّتَهُ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And I send blessings and peace upon our Prophet, the Trustworthy, and upon his family and all his companions, and upon those who adhere to his Sunnah with goodness until the Day of Judgment.

اللَّهُمَّ لَا سَهْلَ إِلَّا مَا جَعَلْتَهُ سَهْلًا وَأَنْتَ تَجْعَلُ الْحَزْنَ سَهْلًا

O Allah, nothing is easy except what You have made easy, and You make sadness easy.

اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا نَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا فِي هَذِهِ اللَّيْلَةِ وَنَسْأَلُكَ خَيْرَ مَا فِيهَا

O Allah, we seek refuge in You from the evil of what is in this night, and we ask You for the best of what is in it.

Introduction: Major Sin Number 4 - Abandoning Prayer

Imam Al-Dhahabi, may Allah have mercy on him, says in his book, the Book of Major Sins:

الْكَبِيرَةُ الرَّابِعَةُ تَرْكُ الصَّلَاةِ

"Major Sin Number 4: Abandoning the Prayer"

O my brothers, as I sit here and look into the audience, I will bet all the money that I have that the Muslims who are connected to us—our relatives, our family members—the vast majority of them do not pray. The vast majority of our relatives do not pray the Salat of Islam.

And then there are a large portion of them who pray some of the prayers and they leave some of the prayers. Right here in this masjid, and you brothers are from the people of the masjid, there are people from those who are present today who pray some prayers and miss other prayers. Some people who don't pray Salatul Fajr unless it's on the weekend or unless they make Khuruj for 40 days and they were with some people who make Khuruj and they woke up in the masjid, then they'll pray the Fajr prayer.

So major sin number 4 is leaving off the Salat.

Historical Context: The Severity of Missing Prayer

There's a scholar in Islam by the name of Abu Zur'ah—not Abu Zur'ah Al-Razi, the Imam of Hadith, but Abu Zur'ah Al-Iraqi. He has a book called Tarh Al-Tathrib, and in that book he was talking about something that was said concerning a scholar who was doing a class on Fiqh, and he did what the scholars used to do in the past. When they would say: Let's imagine such and such happened. Let's imagine this and that happened—what would be the ruling of that?

So this particular scholar said to his students and to the people present: Let's imagine that someone left the Salat intentionally.

The people became so upset because they didn't appreciate him giving such an example, as if he was hoping or wondering: Maybe one day the Muslims will become a group of people where you can even think that there's someone from amongst them who's going to leave the Salat.

So the community became upset with him simply because he said: Let's imagine someone left the prayer—then what would the ruling be? Because it was inconceivable that a person would leave the Salat from the people before.

Now the norm is that the Muslims don't pray.

The Scholarly Difference of Opinion

As it relates to the issue of leaving off the Salat, this is an issue that has difference of opinion (ikhtilaf) between the scholars, whether or not the one who leaves it off is a disbeliever (kafir) or not.

It's an issue that both sides have their proofs, and we should learn the etiquettes of ikhtilaf. It's not permissible for someone who says the one who leaves the Salat is a kafir—he believes in the Salat but he leaves it off as a result of being lazy—some ulama say he's a kafir, like Al-Imam Ahmad.

If one of you brothers took that position, it's not permissible for anyone to say: You're from the Khawarij, you're a takfiri because you make takfir of the one who left the Salat. That's a justified, bona fide position of the ulama in Islam, and they have proof for it from the Quran and the Sunnah.

Similarly, if a person took the other position—the position of the majority of ulama, the jumhur, that the one who leaves the Salat out of negligence and out of being lazy, he's not a kafir—and Al-Imam Al-Shafi'i was of this opinion and other than him—the people who take the position that he's a kafir for leaving the Salat, you can't say to that individual: You're from the Murji'ah. You allow the leaving of the deeds and you believe the person is still a Muslim?

No, it's an issue of ikhtilaf that the scholars had. So therefore we have to be fair and just.

I would advise all of you to do something about reading up on this issue so that you can take a position. We have to learn about the rulings (ahkam) of the Salat.

Learning the Rulings of Prayer

Today when I came for Salat al-Asr, I came in late after making wudu. There were people who were praying back there, over there. One brother I know in particular was praying by himself even though the congregation (jama'ah) has started.

He was praying by himself because he was a traveler. So he wanted to pray Salat al-Dhuhr and then get with the jama'ah to pray Salat al-Asr. I don't know what the other people were doing.

We need to learn about all of the ahkam of the Salat. The Prophet says:

إِذَا أُقِيمَتِ الصَّلَاةُ فَلَا صَلَاةَ إِلَّا الْمَكْتُوبَةَ

"If the iqama has been made and the Salat is established, the Muslims are praying behind the imam, it's haram—not permissible—to go anywhere in that masjid to pray." (Sahih Muslim 710)

It's not permissible. If you have already prayed those prayers, get with the people and pray with them, or get lost so no one can see you. It's not permissible to sit on the side, nor is it permissible for you to pray the two rak'ahs of Fajr while the imam is making the Salat.

The point is, O my brothers, we have to learn about the ahkam of Salat from A to Z. Our children have to know about the ahkam of the Salat.

Scholarly Works on This Issue

So as it relates to this issue, there's ikhtilaf between the ulama. The scholars of Islam took care of this issue and they wrote books.

Those of you who have the book Aqidatu Ashab al-Hadith, Aqidatu Salaf, Ashab al-Hadith—the Aqidah of the Salaf, the people of the Hadith, by Imam Al-Sabuni—I believe that's been translated.

When he came to this issue, he said: In leaving off the Salat, there is ikhtilaf between the ulamas. Al-Imam Al-Shafi'i and the jumhur of the ulamas were of the opinion that he's not a kafir. But Al-Imam Ahmad had the position that he was a kafir.

The scholars wrote about this issue. So it's not permissible for someone to come now and to be rough and tough against the other position, because bona fide scholars took the position on this issue.

Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi's Position

As for Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi, he was Hanbali. And the Hanbali Madhhab is that in general, they take the position that you are kafir.

As Shaykh Ibn Baz, as Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen—they were from the Hanbali Madhhab, mujtahids, and they used to say that the one who leaves the Salat is a kafir.

What I mean by leaving the Salat: They said if a person was lazy, like our relatives, our mother, our father, brothers, sisters, our wives, our brother's wife, so forth and so on—if that person didn't leave or make the Salat, but he believes in Salat, as Shaykh Ibn Baz says, he's a kafir. If he dies like that, you can't inherit from him.

If he dies like that, you have to bury him with the disbelievers. You can't marry him. If his wife wants a divorce, they're divorced automatically.

That's the Hanbali position. Shaykh Al-Islam Muhammad Ibn Uthaymeen was of the opinion that they're kuffar.

Al-Dhahabi—it's not clear what his position is from this particular chapter. It's not clear. And if you had to take a position, it seems that Al-Dhahabi doesn't make takfir of the one who leaves the Salat out of negligence. It seems like that.

He was around scholars who wrote about the issue, like Al-Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim, who has a book, O my brothers, that is called, dealing with this issue alone: As-Salat Wa Hukum Tarikiha (The Salat and the Rules Concerning the One Who Left It).

And he brought all of the proofs from the Quran and from the Sunnah and the statements of the imams of this ummah to prove that he's a kafir.

Al-Imam Al-Albani had a book: As-Salat Wa Hukum Tarikiha. And the scholars wrote about it in the books of fiqh.

One of the best books that I found concerning this issue is the book by Mustafa Ibn Ismail Al-Sulaimani, which is called Sabeel Al-Najat Fi Bayan Hukum Tarik As-Salat. Mustafa Ibn Ismail Al-Sulaimani is Abu Al-Hassan Al-Ma'ribi. He gathered together the statements (aqwal) of the ummah and the statements of the people, and then he gave us a position what he thought was the truth.

He has a very beneficial book.

Evidence from the Quran

Imam Al-Dhahabi brings three verses from the Quran to prove: If you leave off the prayer out of negligence, then you are a kafir.

Concerning this ruling, O my brothers: The one who says praying is not beneficial, I don't have to pray—they had to pray back then, but I don't have to pray now. If you pray, it looks funny, and I feel like a chicken—the one who says that is a kafir.

With the consensus (ijma') of the ulema. No ikhtilaf in that. The Muslim who makes denial (jahd), he says: I don't have to pray. Praying isn't obligatory (wajib), and so forth and so on. If someone says that, all of the ulema say he's a kafir.

The one who didn't pray because he forgot, or he didn't know—all of the ulema say he's not a kafir. Ijma'.

The ikhtilaf is in the issue: the one who leaves the salah, he believes in it, he knows it's wajib, he knows it's beneficial, but he's lazy, like our relatives. He's lazy.

What is the ruling? It's ikhtilaf.

First Ayah: Those Who Lost Prayer

Imam Al-Dhahabi brings three verses from the Quran that prove whether he's a kafir or not a kafir. Leaving off the salah is a major sin from the major sins.

The first statement is a statement of Allah when He said:

"And then there came after them a generation who lost the prayer and they followed their desires. So they are going to meet evil. Except the one who makes tawbah and believes and does righteous deeds. Those people will enter into the Jannah and they will not be oppressed at all."

Allah described in this verse, in the Quran, in Surah Maryam, verse number 59, some believers who were the righteous (salihin). From those people, Allah said: And then there came after them a group of people who lost the salah and they followed their desires.

These people are going to go into the Hellfire. They're going to get a punishment. Except the one who makes tawbah for what he did left off the salah and followed the desires. And they also, after making tawbah, they believed. And after that, they did the righteous deeds.

Those people will enter into the Jannah and they will not be oppressed one day.

So the scholars use this as a proof, and it's clear that Allah said that they left off the salah and that they're going to enter into the Hellfire. And He said: Unless they have iman again, they believe again, because they became kufar.

So that's one of the strong proofs, but it's not a proof that is very strong. That proof by itself doesn't prove or show that someone is a non-Muslim because he left off the salah. Why? It doesn't prove that he's a non-Muslim, number one, because in this verse أَضَاعُوا الصَّلاةَ (they lost the salah), has been explained by the companions.

What is the meaning of losing the salah? Abdullah bin Mas'ud said: The meaning of أَضَاعُوا الصَّلَاةَ here means that they didn't take care of the time of the salah.

They pray the salah of the hypocrite (munafiq)—waited until the time almost went out, and then they pray very quickly. He wants to watch Chelsea play in the semifinals, so while the game is going, he doesn't want to get up.

He says: I'm going to make the salah at halftime. And then when halftime comes, he goes and he prays real quick. That's what the verse is talking about.

With the text that comes from the companions of Rasulullah. So their understanding of the verse is a proof.

Secondly, O my brothers, in the verse, Allah mentioned two crimes: that they lost the salah and they also followed their desires. So there are some people who follow their desires.

Everybody who follows their desires does not become a kafir. Everyone who follows his desires—most people are going to follow their desires. So this proof by itself does not stand up, because for the most part, most people, they are negligent with the times of the salah.

Nonetheless, delaying the salah, losing the salah, is a major sin from the major sins.

Second Ayah: Woe to Those Who Are Negligent

The second proof he brought, O my brothers, was the statement of Allah:

"Woe unto those who pray, those people who concerning their salah, they are negligent."

Again, this is not a proof. And the reason why it's not a proof is because the companions of Rasulullah said that the meaning of this verse الَّذِينَ هُمْ عَنْ صَلَاتِهِمْ سَاهُونَ (who are negligent about their salah), this verse is talking about the people who neglect the time. They are negligent about the salah, meaning they don't have the focus (khushu') in the salah.

They have distraction (lahu) in the salah, they are playing. When it's time for the salah, one of them is looking around. And you come into the masjid, in this masjid, and he's praying over here, and he looks at you when you come into the door.

That's the meaning of this verse according to the companions of Rasulullah. So it is not a proof by itself.

Third Ayah: What Led You to Hell?

The third and last proof from the Quran that Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi brought was the statement of Allah when it will be said to the criminals on the Day of Resurrection:

مَا سَلَكَكُمْ فِي سَقَرَ قَالُوا لَمْ نَكُ مِنَ الْمُصَلِّينَ وَلَمْ نَكُ نُطْعِمُ الْمِسْكِينَ

"What caused you people to be in the Hellfire (Saqar)? They will respond: We were not from those who prayed. And we didn't used to feed the poor." (Quran 74:42-44)

Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi stopped there. That's the extent of this verse. What caused you people to wind up in the Saqar, in the Hellfire? They say: We weren't from those who pray.

But if you continue the verse, you'll see that this is not enough to make a person a kafir. Because they went on to mention something else that they used to do. وَلَمْ نَكُ نُطْعِمُ الْمِسْكِينَ – And we didn't also feed the poor.

So the Muslim who doesn't feed the poor, does he become a kafir and he goes into the Hellfire? Of course not. The verse is talking about those people who are kufar and they didn't see salah as being something from the deen. They didn't see the right (haqq) of the poor and the needy—talking about the kufar.

So these proofs by themselves don't show that the person is a kafir.

Strongest Proof from the Quran

Probably the strongest proof from the Quran for the people who see that leaving the salah is kufr is a statement of Allah in Surah Tawbah:

"But if they make tawbah and they establish the salah and they give the zakat, then they are your brothers in the deen."

Allah was talking to Rasulullah about how to deal with the disbelievers. So it's understood from that: If they don't make tawbah and come to the deen, and they don't establish the salah and give zakat, then they are not your brothers in the deen.

So those are the three proofs, but there are more proofs that the ulema use to show that leaving the Quran—leaving the salah—is kufr, and those three are from the Quran.

Evidence from the Sunnah

As for the Sunnah, the Sunnah has some clearer proofs.

Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi said:

And he brought the hadith to show that they are kufar, that the hadith of Rasulullah that is authentic : بَيْنَ الْعَبْدِ وَبَيْنَ الْكُفْرِ وَالشِّرْكِ "The difference between us and them is the salah. So anyone who leaves it has disbelieved." (Sahih Muslim 82)

تَرْكُ الصَّلَاةِ

The best translation here is "the contract," "the difference." The difference between us and them is the salah.

And the Prophet didn't mention in this hadith: He left it intentionally, he left it as a result of being negligent. If a person leaves off the salah with intent or whether it's negligence, he left it. This hadith says: Then between him and leaving off the salah and shirk is him—between him and shirk is leaving off the salah.

He went on to say:

"Whoever intentionally leaves off the prayer, the protection of Allah will be taken away from him."

And then the second hadith: "Whoever misses Salat al-Asr, then his deeds will be rendered null and void." (Sahih al-Bukhari 553)

Another hadith said: "Whoever misses Salat al-Asr, it is as if he has lost all of his money and all of his family. " (Sahih al-Bukhari 552)

That's the seriousness of the salah, the prayer of Islam. The issue that no matter what, that salah is never going to be taken off of you.

The Obligation of Prayer in All Circumstances

You only have to fast if you have the ability to fast. You don't have to fast if you're traveling or if you're sick. You only have to give zakat if you have the money to give zakat.

You don't have the money, you don't have to give zakat. You only have to make hajj if you have the money or the road is safe and you have the ability, and the sister has the mahram. If you don't have that, you don't have to make any of the pillars (arkan) of Islam, the last three.

But concerning the salah, no matter what, if you can only pray sitting down, you pray sitting down. If you can pray just moving your eyes, salah never comes off of you. Even in jihad, half of the community pray one rak'ah while the other half guard the Muslims.

After they finish the one rak'ah, the other people come to pray the second rak'ah, and those people protect the Muslims.

The salah that the Prophet used to say to Bilal:

"Ya Bilal, make us comfortable with the prayer. " (Sunan Abi Dawud 4985)

Meaning, when Bilal made the adhan for salah and it was time to pray, this used to cause Rasulullah tranquility. He used to get a comfort (rahah). Unlike the people today—salah is a burden.

"I have to get up and pray Fajr. Okay, I'm going to get up, but I'm going to pray very quickly and jump back in the bed."

I'm going to be in communion, in communication with Allah, reading His kalam.

He said to his companions:

"The salah has been made the coolness of my eyes." (Sunan al-Nasa'i 3940)

That's how Rasulullah used to look at the prayer in Islam.

He would be on a journey, and on the journey, before going to get the people, he would say: Hold on, hold on, let's see if we hear the adhan. And he would wait. If he heard the adhan, they'll keep going.

If he didn't hear the adhan for salah, they'll go down and pounce upon the people and pulverize them. The salah was an example of the iman in Islam of the people.

As we mentioned today, it's the opposite. A man wants to marry his daughter to a man—he doesn't ask: Does he make salah? By Allah, leaving off salah is a bigger crime than drinking alcohol (khamr).

Leaving off salah is a bigger crime than making zina. If a man made zina and our family heard about it, became public, we won't let our daughters marry him, and rightly so. But by Allah, leaving salah is greater than zina or drinking khamr.

It's a bigger major sin. It is the most important pillar from the pillars of Islam after the two testimonies of faith (shahadatain).

So if a person left Salat al-Asr, his deeds will be rendered null and void.

What about all of the prayers? All of the prayers every day? The prayer that the Prophet said about it:

"The first thing Allah is going to ask you about on the Day of Resurrection concerning your deeds after the grave, concerning living in this life, is his prayer. If his prayer was right and exact, then the rest of the deeds will be right and exact. If the prayers were not right and exact, they were deficient and lacking, the rest of his deeds are going to be deficient and lacking." (Sunan al-Tirmidhi 413)

More Evidence from the Sunnah

So the salah in Islam, O my brothers, is an important issue. Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi went on to say:

And between the servant and shirk is: If he leaves off the salah. And the Prophet didn't mention in this hadith: He left it intentionally, he left it as a result of being negligent.

If a person leaves off the salah with intent or whether it's negligence, he left it. This hadith says: Then between him and shirk is leaving off the salah.

He went on to say:

"Whoever intentionally leaves off the prayer, the protection of Allah will be taken away from him."

The dhimmah of Allah, Allah's protection, Allah's guidance, Allah's pleasure, will be taken from him.

This hadith has a beginning that we want to mention here because it is important. In the beginning of the hadith, Abu Darda said:

"Rasulullah gave me a wasiya before he died. He told me to take care of nine things. He said: The first thing is, don't make shirk with Allah, even if they cut you into pieces or they were to burn you."

Which shows us the other side of the story: If a Muslim is compelled in his religion to do haram, Islam has opened up the way for him.

Unfortunately, whether it's the salat or the aqeedah, the Muslims have lost the plot.

I've heard up until today four different occasions where Muslims are saying that the Pope, we don't know if he died as a Muslim or non-Muslim. The Pope may be in Jannah because he may have embraced Islam before he died.

And other people even said he was a good man. When did the Muslims start having doubt about issues like that? A person who's the representative of shirk and the trinity (tathlith).

"They disbelieve, those who say Allah is one of three."

A person is the representative of that aqeedah, and the Muslims say you can't say that he's a non-Muslim.

"The religion with Allah is Islam."

That's the Quran.

In Sahih Muslim, the Prophet said:

"There is no man from this Ummah who hears about me, whether he is a Jew or a Christian, and then doesn't believe in me, except that he will enter into the Hellfire." (Sahih Muslim 153)

But if we're going to say Islam is the religion of truth, we're going to have to be able to prove how Islam has answered all of the issues for the human being.

So one of the issues that the human being is confronted with is: Sometimes he's going to be compelled to do what is haram. What does Islam do? Islam allows the door to be open to give you a chance.

"All of those things that are haram to eat—blood, dead meat, the thing that was slaughtered for other than Allah—the animal that was strangled, the animal that was gored, the animal that was eaten by other animals, the animal that was slaughtered for the altars—all of that, haram." (Quran 5:3)

Then at the end of the verse, Allah said:

"But whoever was compelled to eat that, whoever was forced to eat it—Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. Allah will forgive you in your religion when you're compelled and you're forced to do this or you're forced to do that." (Quran 5:3)

So as it relates to Islam, Islam is the religion of truth, O my brothers. And we have to make it our business to learn about the Aqidah of Islam, to be able to say that the man who died on other than Islam, we judge him based upon the outward appearance (zahir).

And then after knowing about the correct Aqidah, the most important pillar from the pillars of Islam is the Salah.

In this hadith here, Rasulullah says: Do not make shirk, even if they burnt you or they cut you up. So the point that we wanted to make was in the case with Ammar ibn Yasir.

The Story of Ammar ibn Yasir

He saw his father and he saw his mother killed before his very eyes. And everyone knows what the disbelievers did to his mother. How they stabbed her with the spear.

They asked Ammar: Now, what do you have to say about Islam and Muhammad? Ammar started cursing Islam and started cursing Rasulullah. But his iman caused him to go to Rasulullah. He told Rasulullah what happened.

Rasulullah said: (كَيْفَ تَجِدُ قَلْبَكَ - How's your heart?)

He said: (أُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ - I believe in Allah and His Messenger.)

Rasulullah said: (إِنْ عَادُوا فَعُدْ - If they take you again, say the same thing again.) (Sunan al-Nasa'i 4071)

If they persecute you again, say the same thing again. Curse me, curse the deen. And then Allah revealed the verse of the Quran:

"Anybody who changes after iman and disbelieves in Allah, except the one who was compelled—this shows the two extremes. On one hand, you can be like Ammar and you can take the easy way out. On the other hand, you can be like Bilal

and say: Ahad, Ahad. On the other hand, you can be like the father of Ammar, Yasir, and his mother and don't change your religion."

So you have to decide when you're being compelled: When do you take that side and when do you take this side? If it's just you by yourself, then take the strong way. No, I'm not going to do it. I don't want the job.

But if other people are behind you—family members, children, people you're responsible for—Islam allows you to take the weak way out. But when you take the weak way out, you still have to make an attempt to get out of your situation.

So whoever leaves off the salah intentionally, he will be outside of the protection of Allah.

Statement of Umar on Those Who Abandon Prayer

Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi said that Umar said:

"The one who leaves off the prayer, he doesn't have any portion of Islam. The one who was not praying, his portion (haqq) from Islam has been left."

Umar also said—and I want to remind you brothers of the statement of Umar:

"Whoever dies and he never made hajj, and he had the ability to do it, then let him die as a Jew or Christian."

I'll make hajj when I'm 40, I'll make hajj when I get married, I'll make hajj when I get out of debt. No, the Muslim has to hurry up and make hajj.

So Umar was of the opinion that if a person left the prayer, he was a kafir.

The Companions' Consensus on Prayer

In addition to that, O my brothers, comes one of the most important issues of this chapter that we want you to concentrate on. One of the most important issues as it relates to judging the one who leaves off Salat.

And that is Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi's statement:

"The companions of Rasulullah did not see the leaving off of any action or deed as being kufr other than the

But the other position that says no, they're not kufar, they're Muslims—is that? If everyone who left the Salat was a kafir, by Allah, the majority of our Ummah are kufar.

And is that conceivable that the majority of the Muslims are kufar? You brothers as you sit there, those people are connected to you. Most of them don't pray. Are we going to believe that the majority of the Ummah of Muhammad are all kufar? That's a big pill and a bitter pill to swallow.

But that's not enough. If we refuse to make takfir of the people simply based upon that, that's putting our intellect (aql) before the revealed texts (naql). The companions have ijma' that they're kufar. So we have to add on to that intellect.

What do we add on to it? Those many scholars who took the other position, and they took those other positions based upon proof from the Quran and the Sunnah.

Allah mentioned in the Quran:

"Allah will not forgive that you make shirk with Him, but He'll forgive everything other than that for whom He wills."

Which caused some of the scholars to say: Leaving off the Salat is less than shirk.

"Say to My servants, O Muhammad, those who transgressed against themselves and you made a lot of sins, don't give up from the mercy of Allah. Allah forgives all sins, except shirk."

So the companions of Rasulullah, they didn't see the one who left the zakat as a kafir.

Some of them did, some of them didn't. When Abu Bakr said: I'm going to fight them, Umar and the companions said: How are you going to fight a group of people who say La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammad Rasul Allah?

Abu Bakr said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari 25, Sahih Muslim 20)

"Zakat always comes after the salah in the Quran."

So the companions were not in agreement that one who left the zakat is a kafir, but they were in agreement that the one who left the salah was a non-Muslim.

Statement of Ibn Hazm

He went on to say:

قَالَ الْإِمَامُ ابْنُ حَزْمٍ رَحِمَهُ اللهُ تَعَالَى لَا ذَنْبَ بَعْدَ الشِّرْكِ أَعْظَمُ مِنْ تَرْكِ الصَّلَاةِ حَتَّى يَخْرُجَ وَقْتُهَا وَقَتْلِ الْمُؤْمِنِ بِغَيْرِ حَقٍ

"There is no crime or sin that is greater after shirk. The next greatest crime is leaving the prayer until the time of the prayer went out, and killing someone unjustly."

So what did Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi do? He brought first: Shirk is the first major sin. And then killing someone. And then magic. And then number four, leaving off the salah is the fourth major sin.

So the scholars of Islam, O my brothers, and the regular Muslims of Islam, they always look at the salah as being an issue that determines and proves a person's Islam and his iman.

Especially during these times where the Muslims on a daily basis are in a campaign and they're in a perpetual war to practice their Islam. So the people who really want to be real Muslims, one of the things they try to hold on to in these terrible times is the prayer.

Especially when you come to the masjid to make that salah—for it to be an issue that people look at: You can leave it if you want, you can take it if you want.

There's something grossly wrong with the mentality of the Muslim ummah today and the fact that we look at the salah as being an issue where you can marry someone, or marry your daughter to someone, or your son to someone, and they don't pray. It's not permissible to marry your daughter to someone who doesn't pray, because that's open corruption (fisk).

The pure (tayyibun) are for the pure (tayyibat), and the pure are for the pure. The one who doesn't pray is from the people who are the people of filth and dirt (khubth).

Hadith: The Man Who Was Disrespectful to the Prophet

Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi went on to say, on the authority of Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri, that a man said: Ya Rasulullah, fear Allah (ittaqillah).

The Prophet said: Woe unto you. If I don't fear Allah, who from amongst you can fear Allah?

Khalid ibn Waleed said: Ya Rasulullah, let me, let me chop his head off. Let me kill him—hypocrite, disbeliever, saying something like that.

Rasulullah said: لَا لَعَلَّهُ أَنْ يَكُونَ يُصَلِّي – No, don't kill him. It may be that he prays.

The fact that the man prayed was a protection for his blood in this issue. Even though he deserved to be killed. And the reason why he wasn't killed is because of the fitnah.

Killing him would have created a bigger fitnah. But he deserved to be killed. But that's from the fiqh of Rasulullah.

And from the fiqh of Imam Al-Dhahabi is that he put this hadith here to show that the salah of the man was the reason why Rasulullah gave protection in front of the people. And it shows the importance of the salah.

He didn't say: Maybe he's good to his mother and his father. It may be he gives a lot of sadaqah to the poor and the needy and the masajid. It may be that he makes jihad and defends Islam. He said: No, don't kill him. It may be that the man is a person who takes care of the salah.

(Sahih al-Bukhari 25, Sahih Muslim 22)

"I've been ordered to kill the people until they bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and they establish the prayer and give the zakah. If they do that, their blood and their money has become protected. I don't take their blood and their money except by the right of Islam. I take the diyah. If one of them kills someone else, then they are killed and so forth and so on."

So the salah, O my brothers, it is something that will protect the blood of a Muslim.

A Weak Hadith Warning

We're almost done here. He went on to say—this hadith that the Prophet said according to this hadith:

مَنْ لَمْ يُحَافِظُ عَلَى الصَّلَاةِ حُشِرَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ مَعَ قَارُونَ وَفِرْعَوْنَ وَهَامَانَ وَأُبَيِّ بْنِ خَلَفٍ

"Whoever doesn't protect the prayer, he will not have any light on the Day of Resurrection. Nor will he be successful. Nor will he have a proof (burhan). And he will be raised up with Qarun. And he will be raised up with Fir'aun. And he will be raised up with Haman. And he will be raised up with Abu Jahl and Ubayy ibn Khalaf."

This hadith is not authentic.

But again, what did we mention at the beginning of our lectures in Kitab Al-Kabair? The methodology (Minhaj) of the scholars of hadith, like Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi, like Al-Imam Al-Nawawi in Riyad Al-Salihin.

Whenever they bring weak hadith, when do they do it? They always bring it at the end of the chapter. They never make the weak hadith the first hadith, the first proof they're trying to prove.

It's always after the verses and then the authentic hadith. And then at the end, they bring the weak hadith.

And when they bring the weak hadith, they'll say: وَعَنِ النَّبِيِّ – And it is said that the Prophet said. وَيُرْوَى عَنِ النَّبِيِّ – And it is narrated.

So these scholars would use the weak hadith in order to strengthen this particular position that they did not rely upon the weak hadith. And we're going to come to a chapter in this book: Lying on Rasulullah as a major sin from the major sins.

So when you narrate a weak hadith that he didn't say, you're falling into a major sin from the major sins. So when Imam Al-Dhahabi knew that he's a scholar of hadith (Muhaddith), a memorizer (Hafidh) in Islam—so this hadith is not authentic and it's one of the famous hadith to prove the danger of leaving Salat.

So remember: Whoever doesn't protect the hadith, the Salat, he will be raised up with Qarun, Fir'aun, Haman, Abu Jahl, and Ubayy ibn Khalaf. That is a weak hadith, that's well-known (Mashhoor). It's weak.

Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi's Final Statement

Whoever doesn't hold on and protect the Salat. Finally, Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi said—and this is why I said you don't get the clear indication of what his position is with the one who leaves off the Salat—he said:

مَنْ تَرَكَ الصَّلَاةَ الْوَاحِدَةَ كَانَ كَالَّذِي سَرَقَ أَوْ زَنَى وَمَنْ فَعَلَ ذَلِكَ مَرَّاتٍ كَانَ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكَبَائِرِ إِلَى أَنْ يَتُوبَ

"He said: The one who delays the prayer until the time goes out, he is a person who has committed a major sin. He's a person of the major sins (sahib al-kabira). And the one who leaves the salah in totality—the one who leaves one salah, he just doesn't pray that one prayer—he is like the one who makes zina or the one who was a thief. Because leaving off the salah until the time goes out is a form of stealing in this major sin. And whoever does it multiple times, time and time again, he is from the people of the major sins, except that he makes tawbah."

Except that he makes tawbah. But if he continuously does this, then he's from the losers, from the wretched (ashqiya), the criminals (mujrimin). He's from the criminals.

And those people will be saddened on the Day of Resurrection. That last sentence that he closed the chapter out with, it appears in this book alone that Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi was of the opinion that the one who abandons the salah wasn't a kafir. Allahu a'lam, we're not going to state that emphatically, because Al-Dhahabi has many books that you have to read to bring all of his statements together to get the final position of the imam.

But in Kitab Al-Kabair, that is not clear up until this point. Allahu a'lam.

Conclusion: The Ruling on Abandoning Prayer

So O my brothers, the salah in Islam—to leave it is a major sin from the major sins.

الصَّلاةَ الصَّلاةَ وَمَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ

"The prayer, the prayer, two times. Take care of the prayer, the prayer and what your right hands possess—those under your authority."

And he fell out. He came through again. What did he say? Did he talk about the Dajjal? Did he talk about Jannah? He said: الصَّلاةَ الصَّلاةَ وَمَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ The prayer, the prayer, and what your right hands possess. (Sunan Abi Dawud 5156)

If that's not enough proof, O my brothers, to show the severity and the seriousness of leaving the salah, then Allah knows what is.

The companions of Rasulullah, they would be afflicted with a disease or a sickness, but that would not allow them to believe they could stay home for the salah.

They will call him and they will bring him to the masjid. Why? Because everyone else in the community used to consider the one who didn't come to the masjid is a hypocrite (munafiq).

أَثْقَلُ الصَّلَاةِ عَلَى الْمُنَافِقِينَ صَلَاةُ الْعِشَاءِ وَصَلَاةُ الْفَجْرِ

"The most difficult salah on the hypocrites (munafiqeen): Salah is difficult on the hypocrites. " (Sahih al-Bukhari 657, Sahih Muslim 651)

يُرَاءُونَ وَلَا يَذْكُرُونَ اللَّهَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا

"They just pray to show the people. They don't really pray, they're not really praying. They just want the people to see: I'm not a munafiq. But they don't really mean that." (Quran 4:142)

So those companions used to make sure that they will come to the masjid in order for one of them not to be labeled as: This person has hypocrisy in him.

But now again, as we mentioned, someone would marry a girl who doesn't pray or marry his sister to a boy who doesn't pray. That marriage is not permissible. You're not taking care of the trust (amanah). You're not taking care of the amanah.

So we're going to stop here, InshaAllah.

وَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ