الشيخ سيد مباØ
صاحب الموقع
عدد الرسائل : 2210
العمر : 63
العمل/الترفيه : كاتب اسلامى
تاريخ التسجيل : 07/12/2008
 |  موضوع: Why do not I offer Salah? Sheikh Khalid `Abdul-Mun`im Ar-Rifa`y مايو 19th 2012, 7:42 pm | |
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Question
That question was going into my mind a long time ago. Sometimes, I do not offer Salah and when I hear the call for Salah, I do not care. However, sometimes I offer Salah,
thanks to Allah, and keep to it, however up to now I cannot keep to it
for a long time. Sometimes, I feel narrowness in my chest and become
tense, but I need a solution to make me diligent to Salah until I die; could you help me?
Answer
All praise be to Allah and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah, upon his family, his Companions, and those who follow him.
Welcome my dear brother to Alukah Website.
Your search for the things which help you be diligent in Salah is a proof that you have started to go into the way of guidance and the Straight Path.
Let it
be known that Allah (Glory be to Him) guides people to the ways of
peace, gets the people out of darkness, and guides people to His
Straight Path in this world and in the Hereafter. Allah (may He be
Glorified and Exalted) says: "As for those
who strive hard in Us (Our Cause), We will surely guide them to Our
Paths (i.e. Allâh's Religion - Islâmic Monotheism). And verily, Allâh
is with the Muhsinûn (good doers)." [Surat Al `Ankabut: 69].
He also says: "And guides to Himself those who turn to Him in repentance." [Surat Ar-Ra`d: 27].
So, Allah (Glory be to Him) grants guidance to those who resort to Him for repentance.
As
for the main reason for not keeping to Salah is your easiness with
yourself by not fighting the Satan until you have become like a spoiled
child who offers Salah whenever he wants and leaves Salah whenever he
wants. Reaching that point is due to many reasons, of which are the
following:
●
The weakness of your faith in Allah (may He be Exalted), belittling
His Commands and Prohibitions, keeping away from His system, and
ignoring the punishment which Allah prepared for those who neglect Salah.
● Indulgence
in many lawful matters such as the desires of food, drink, and sexual
intercourse which in turn lead to negligence to the acts of worship.
Allah (may He be Exalted) says: "And eat and drink but waste not by extravagance, certainly He (Allâh) likes not Al-Musrifûn (those who waste by extravagance)." [Surat Al A`raf: 31].
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "The son of Adam does not fill any vessel worse than his stomach." [Reported by At-Tirmidhy]. `Umar ibn Al Khattab
(may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Beware of food and drink, for
they spoil the body, cause sickness, and make you lazy for offering Salah.
In contrast, be moderate because it is more useful for the body and
away from extravagance. Verily, Allah hates the fat bishop, a man shall
not perish until he gives priority to his lust over his religion.
[Reported by Abu Nu`aym].
● Deep
busyness with the worldly matters. The Prophet (peace be upon him)
dispraised this condition and counted the person who does so a
worshipper for the world. He said: "Let the slave of Dinar and Dirham perish." [Reported by Al Bukhari].
● Busyness
with worldly life, neglecting the Hereafter, and the lack of
remembering death and the Hereafter. The Prophet (peace be upon him)
exhorted the people to visit graveyards because they remind them of the
Hereafter.
● Negligence in fulfilling one's duties, committing sins, or enjoying the ill-gotten money.
● Keeping away from the fiducial atmosphere, the sessions of mentioning Allah, offering Salah in congregation, and sitting with the righteous. Al Hasan Al Basry
said: "Our brothers are dearer to us than our families because our
families remind us of the worldly life, but our [righteous] brothers
remind us of the Hereafter."
● Losing
a good example. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) passed away, the
Companions said: "We found a change in our hearts." [Reported by Al Bazzar, and the narrators of the Hadith are Rijal As-Sahih (narrators of Hadiths compiled by Al Bukhari and Muslim).
● Mixture with the people of debauch and immorality is one of the greatest reasons that generate hardheartedness.
● Long hope. Allah (may He be Exalted) says: "Leave them to eat and enjoy, and let them be preoccupied with (false) hope. They will come to know!" [Surat Al Hijr: 3].
Ali
(may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The most thing which I fear
that you fall in is following whims, and long hope: As for following
whims, the truth shall be fought and as for long hope, people will
forget the Hereafter."
● Busyness
with children and family affairs from obeying Allah (may He be
Glorified and Exalted). Allah (may He be Exalted) says: "Your wealth and your children are only a trial, whereas Allâh! With Him is a great reward (Paradise)." [Surat At-Taghabun: 15].
The perfect way to treat these diseases is by doing the opposite, of which are the following:
● Treating oneself firmly and not to be lenient with it in terms of the Hereafter. Allah (may He be Exalted) says: "Hold fast to that which We have given you, and remember that which is therein so that you may become Al-Muttaqûn (the pious)." [Surat Al Baqarah: 63].
He said: "And
We wrote for him on the Tablets the lesson to be drawn from all things
and the explanation for all things (and said): Hold to these with
firmness, and enjoin your people to take the better therein. I shall
show you the home of Al-Fâsiqûn (the rebellious, disobedient to Allâh)." [Surat Al A`raf: 145].
He said: "(It was said to his son): "O Yahyâ (John)! Hold fast the Scripture [the Taurât (Torah)]." And We gave him wisdom while yet a child." [Surat Maryam: 12].
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said in the Hadith reported by Al Bukhari: "So,
follow a middle course (in worship); if you cannot do this, do
something near to it and give glad tidings and seek help (of Allah) at
morn and at dusk and some part of night."
● Keep away from sin and evil deeds.
● Perseverance
in doing righteous actions day and night, reciting the Glorious Qur'an
prudently, learning useful knowledge, and reading the biographies of
the first generation because it is the greatest matter which helps a
person to adhere to the truth.
● Accompanying
the righteous and the people of goodness, who guide the people to
obedience and exhort the people to it along with abstention from bad
company. Allah (may He be Exalted) says: "And
keep yourself (O Muhammad peace be upon him) patiently with those who
call on their Lord (i.e. your companions who remember their Lord with
glorification, praising in prayers, and other righteous deeds) morning
and afternoon, seeking His Face; and let not your eyes overlook them,
desiring the pomp and glitter of the life of the world; and obey not him
whose heart We have made heedless of Our Remembrance, and who follows
his own lusts, and whose affair (deeds) has been lost." [Surat Al Kahf: 28].
Allah says: "Friends on that Day will be foes one to another except Al-Muttaqûn (the pious)." [Surat Az-Zukhruf: 67].
● To make a strong barrier from supererogatory Salah, so if negligence and disability hit you, it will fall in supererogatory Salah and not in the obligatory duties.
● Perseverance on the congregational Salah in its prescribed time; which is one of the greatest matters that help persistence on Salah.
● Knowing
the means of Satan in blocking the way before you and prevent you from
reaching the Straight Path and you shall find these means written in
the book of "Talbis Iblis" of ibn Al Jawzy and "Ighathat Al Lahfan" of Ibn Al Qayyim Al Jawziyyah.
● Remembering death, the questioning of angels, and the darkness of the grave.
● One
of the most important things that restrain oneself is knowing the
painful punishment which Allah prepared for those who negelect the Salah in the Barzakh
(the period between death and the Resurrection), and the punishment
which awaits man on the Day of Recompense if man insists on that. Allah
(may He be Exalted) says: "Then, there has succeeded them a posterity who have given up As-Salât (the prayers) [i.e. made their Salât
(prayers) to be lost, either by not offering them or by not offering
them perfectly or by not offering them in their proper fixed times] and
have followed lusts. So they will be thrown in Hell." [Surat Maryam: 59].
Allah (Exalted be He) says:"What has caused you to enter Hell? * They will say: We were not of those who used to offer the Salât (prayers)." [Surat Al Muddathir: 42 - 43].
Allah (glory be to Him) showed His Prophet (peace be upon him) the people who are punished because of neglecting the prescribed Salah. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "So,
we proceeded and came to a man Lying flat on his back and behold,
another man was standing over his head, holding a big rock. Behold, he
was throwing the rock at the man's head, injuring it. The rock rolled
away and the thrower followed it and took it back. By the time he
reached the man, his head returned to the normal state. The thrower then
did the same as he had done before.
until
the angel said to him (the Messenger): As for the first man, whose
head was smashed by the rock, he was a person who memorized the Qur'an
but refused to preserve it; moreover sleeps without performing the
prescribed Salah." [Reported by Al Bukhari on the authority of Samurah ibn Jundub].
● Fear
from the bad consequences of neglecting Salah in the world and in the
Hereafter because it is removes the current bounties and cuts the
continuous blessings; the blessings of Allah are not attained but
through His Obedience.
Of
the bad consequences of sins also are: The loss of prestige, status,
and dignity in the sight of Allah and in the sight of the people
because the most honorable person in the sight of Allah is the most
pious and the closest in rank is the more obedient. The status of a
person shall be according to his obedience to his Lord, so if a person
disobeys and violates the command of his Lord, he shall fall in rank,
and his status in the hearts of His Servants goes down.
Of the penalties which hit the one who neglect the Salah are: A bad end, and the lower living standard because of the general saying of Allah (may He be Exalted): "But
whosoever turns away from My Reminder (i.e., neither believes in this
Qur'ân nor acts on its teachings.) verily, for him is a life of
hardship, and We shall raise him up blind on the Day of Resurrection." [Surat Taha: 124].
Imam Ibn Al Qayyim said in His Book: "Ad-Da' Wad-Dawa'" to avoid these punishments, you should do the following:
● Continuous self-evaluation and leaving easiness with it.
● Asking
the help of Allah (may He be Exalted), resorting to Him, and acting
according to the ordinances of His Book, and the Sunnah of His Prophet
(peace be upon him) along with discarding inactiveness and laziness, and
asking Allah for protection: "O Allah! I seek refuge with You from
helplessness, laziness, cowardice and feeble old age; I seek refuge with
You from the afflictions of life and death and I seek refuge with You
from the punishment in the grave." [Reported by Al Bukhari].
● Frequent invocation for steadiness because the Prophet's supplication used to say: "`Ya muqallibal-qulubi, thabbit qalbi `ala dinika (O Controller of the hearts make my heart steadfast in Your religion).'' [Reported by Ahmad].
Following
these means along with good intention and recalling the control of
Allah and that He knows your secrets are the cure for negligence in Salah.
Ponder over the saying of Ibn Al Qayyim:
"The best cure for this case is to move your heart from this world to
the Hereafter then direct yourself to the meanings of the Qur'an,
trying to understand, ponder over, and think of them and try to know
the causes of their revelation. Try to treat the moral diseases of your
heart with these Ayahs because if these Ayahs were recited to the
moral diseases of the heart, the heart will be cured by the will of
Allah."
We
ask Allah to guide your heart, expand your chest, enlighten your
insight, take you to goodness and piety; and make you, us, and all
Muslims firm on religion.
For more benefits, see the book of "Wasa'il Ath-Thabat" by Sheikh Muhammad Salih Al Munajjid, and see the following two Fatwas: "The ruling on those who abandon Salah" and the Fatwa of "I am irregular in offering Salah." And Allah knows best!
شبكة الألوكة / موقع الشيخ خالد بن عبدالمنعم الرفاعي / مواد مترجمة
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