So you mean that you pray sometimes, and sometimes you do not pray? The caller: Yes, Sheikh. I am an abandoner of prayer... unfortunately, with deep regret.
Sheikh Zain Khairallah replies to the caller:
Do not say "unfortunately" to me, my dear brother. Save yourself... save yourself, for indeed, you are upon clear destruction. I say it to you in absolute clarity: I swear by Allah, if the Angel of Death came to you right now and captured your soul, you would surely be among those who are destroyed.
Do not say "unfortunately" to me, and do not speak to me with emotional, high-sounding speeches that will bring no benefit to us. When you stand before Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, the very first thing you will be asked about is the prayer! Will you then say "unfortunately"?! There is no such thing as "unfortunately." This is the prayer... this is the pillar of the religion. Whoever establishes it has established his religion, and whoever abandons it has demolished his religion.
I have no advice for you except to say: get up now and pray; otherwise, you are among the people of the Fire. I say this to you with absolute clarity, for this is what Allah, Glorified and Exalted, has said: “So woe to those who pray [But] who are heedless of their prayer.” [Surat al-Ma‘un, verses 4–5, Sahih International translation of the Noble Qur'an] The intended meaning is those who delay it beyond its prescribed time; meaning they pray, but they delay it.
And Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, says: “But there came after them successors who neglected prayer and pursued desires; so they are going to meet evil.” [Surah Maryam, verse 59, Sahih International translation of the Noble Qur'an] And "Ghayy"—which is translated here literally as "evil"—uniquely refers to a deep, bottomless valley in the depths of Hellfire.
What are you saying to me? "Unfortunately"?! In this matter, there is no such thing as "unfortunately." Rather, you must force yourself, strive hard, do whatever it takes, and then get up and pray... get up and pray. Force yourself, even if you have to compel your soul at the beginning, until this matter firmly settles in your heart. Do that. There is absolutely no leniency or tolerance in this matter.
Is gentleness and leniency to be sought in the matter of prayer, O brothers?! Even the sister who called me a little while ago and said to me, "My husband does not pray," I told her: Advise him to return to the prayer, and if he does not, then leave him. Leave him, in short. There is no softness or compromise in this matter; the issue is governed by decisive and definitive texts of the Sharia.
Take with you this ruling that is always repeated: the one who abandons prayer is among the people of the Fire, the one who abandons prayer is punished in the Fire, and the one who abandons prayer lives in "Ghayy" in Hell, a deep, bottomless valley therein. Indeed, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, declared the one who abandons prayer to be a disbeliever when he said: “The covenant that is between us and them is the prayer; so whoever abandons it has disbelieved.” [Reference of the hadith: recorded by Imam Ahmad in the Musnad, and by at-Tirmidhi, an-Nasa’i and Ibn Majah in the Sunan, from the hadith of Buraydah ibn al-Husayb al-Aslami, may Allah be pleased with him.]
And in another hadith he, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Between a man and disbelief and polytheism is the abandonment of prayer.” [Reference of the hadith: recorded by Imam Muslim in his Sahih, and by Abu Dawud, at-Tirmidhi, an-Nasa’i and Ibn Majah in the Sunan, from the hadith of Jabir ibn Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with them both.] So look at this short and extremely grave step that separates you from disbelief, namely, abandoning the prayer.
Where are you going, O abandoner of prayer? Where are you heading? This is a supreme calamity and a terrible disaster, and you are walking from this very moment toward destruction. Now is an opportunity for repentance. From this moment, correct yourself and pray. Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, says in the Hadith Qudsi: “...and there is nothing with which My servant draws near to Me that is more beloved to Me than what I have made obligatory upon him.” [Reference of the hadith: recorded by Imam al-Bukhari in his Sahih, from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him.] Negligence in the prayer, and I swear by Allah, is a catastrophe in every sense of the word.
How can you be a noble brother and a devoted follower who attends the broadcast with us every day, and then come and say that you do not pray? Do not wait for anyone to advise you to stand before Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and do not wait for anyone to call you to stand before your Creator, or to tell you, "Return to faith, because by abandoning it you have disbelieved." The matter here is not ordinary advice such as my saying to you, "Give charity, my dear," or "Please make a donation." Rather, this is the prayer, and negligence in it means disbelief! So where is your mind going?
Do not say to me, "Advise me, for unfortunately I do not pray," or "Unfortunately I am going through a spiritual relapse." This setback that you speak of, you must take it, trample it underfoot, and get up to pray! You may be saved and recover from any relapse or setback in your life except the relapse of abandoning the prayer; because abandoning the prayer—to put it bluntly and with absolute clarity—is not merely a sin; it is a matter of faith versus disbelief. You must wake up from your sleep, sacrifice your comfort, and lose everything for the sake of preserving your prayer; for the prayer is a red line that must never be crossed. If you pray, you are a believer, and if you abandon it, you have disbelieved. This is not my word; it is the word of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.
So leave aside the emotional, high-sounding speeches, as the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “The covenant that is between us and them is the prayer; whoever abandons it has disbelieved.” [Reference of the hadith: recorded by Imam Ahmad, at-Tirmidhi, an-Nasa’i and Ibn Majah, from the hadith of Buraydah, may Allah be pleased with him.] This hadith of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is absolutely clear, completely evident, and authentic; it needs no interpretation, or compromise.
And there is another hadith in which the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Between a man and disbelief is the abandonment of prayer.” [Reference of the hadith: recorded by Imam Muslim from the hadith of Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him.] It is a hadith that is manifest, with no ambiguity in it. And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said concerning the obligatory prayers: “Five prayers: whoever preserves them, they will be a light, a proof, and a salvation for him on the Day of Resurrection; and whoever does not preserve them, they will be neither a light, nor a proof, nor a salvation for him, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be with Pharaoh, Qarun, Haman, and Ubayy ibn Khalaf.”
Focus with me here on the continuation of the hadith, concerning the ultimate fate of the one who abandons prayer: “And whoever does not preserve them, they will be neither a light, nor a proof, nor a salvation for him, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be with Pharaoh, Qarun, Haman, and Ubayy ibn Khalaf.” [Reference of the hadith: recorded by Imam Ahmad in the Musnad, Imam Ibn Hibban in his Sahih, and Imam al-Bayhaqi in Shu‘ab al-Iman, from the hadith of Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As, may Allah be pleased with them both.]
Can you imagine with whom you will be gathered? Can you picture the awfulness of these four in whose company you will be? Pharaoh, the tyrant who requires no introduction; Qarun, who needs no introduction; Haman, the right hand of Pharaoh, meaning he is no different from him; and Ubayy ibn Khalaf. And for your information, this Ubayy ibn Khalaf is the only person in all of humanity whom the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, killed with his own noble hand. Imagine that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, throughout his entire life never killed anyone with his hand except this man, which indicates his extreme wickedness, his vileness, and his baseness, so much so that his end was to be killed at the hand of the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him. This is the one with whom you will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection.
O you who have abandoned the prayer! Do not say to me, "I have relapsed! Advise me!" The situation does not call for me to weep over you; rather, it is you who must weep over yourself.
The one who abandons the prayer ought to weep blood instead of tears. By Allah, if he knew the reality of the danger and the severe warning that surrounds the one who abandons prayer in this world and the next, and if he spent his entire life weeping blood, that would be little over the magnitude of this immense calamity. So beware, my dear brother, take the utmost care. We ask Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, for pardon and safety, and we ask Him, Glorified is He, to guide you and make you among those who establish the prayer.
