Central Khutbah: “Abandoning Prayer is a Path to Ruin”

Abandoning prayer has serious consequences, both for the individual and for their family. In a hadith reported by Imam Muslim, the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “The first thing that a servant will be questioned about on the Day of Judgment is the prayer. If the prayer is correct, everything else will be correct; but if the prayer is defective, everything else will be defective as well.”

This hadith warns us that neglecting prayer can lead to the ruin of our good deeds and to distancing ourselves from Allah’s mercy. The one who abandons prayer, as another hadith mentions, becomes close to the devil and distant from Allah’s mercy. Such a person loses tranquility, blessing, and protection in this life, and exposes themselves to great danger on the Day of Judgment.

When someone neglects prayer, it does not only affect them but also their family. Children who grow up in a household where prayer is not performed lose the awareness of the importance of worshiping Allah. In this way, the chain of transmitting faith and Islamic values from one generation to the next is broken. In a hadith reported by Imam Tirmidhi, the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Each of you is a shepherd and is responsible for his flock.”

If parents do not perform prayer, it will be difficult for them to motivate their children to do so. This leads to a moral and spiritual crisis within the family, resulting in a decline in religious life and an increase in worldly problems.

Sheikh Muhammad Ratib Nabulsi wrote an essay that details the dilemmas and states of mind of those who abandon prayer, and this is what we wish to convey to you through this sermon.
Why do so many Muslims today not pray?
What is the reason for this neglect and abandonment of this great obligation?
Where is the problem?

Have you ever asked yourself: “Why, as a Muslim, do I not pray?
What makes those who pray better than me?
Why do they pray while I do not?”
Have you not found an answer?

Alright, let me ask you a question: “Do you neglect prayer out of arrogance towards Allah?
Are you so arrogant that you refuse to lower your head to the ground before Allah?
Would you dare say and admit that you are arrogant? Of course not.
So why do you not pray?

Alright, do you abandon prayer under the pretext that you are busy and do not have enough time?
Are you really busy? With what?

With your wife, your children, your work, your studies, building your house, going out, traveling, watching TV shows and movies, or your activities on social media?
Okay, you are busy, but with what and for whom?

Are you so busy that you do not have time for Allah?

Are you so busy that you have no time for the One who created you from a drop of worthless fluid, and who feeds and gives you drink, and who grants wealth and poverty?

Have you not heard Allah’s words: “O you who believe! Let not your wealth and your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. And whoever does that, then they are the losers.” (Surah Al-Munafiqun, 9)
Have you not heard the hadith qudsi in which Allah said: “We send down wealth to establish prayer and give zakat. If a man had a valley full of gold, he would wish for another one, and if he had two valleys, he would wish for a third. Nothing can satisfy man, nor fill his mouth except the dust (of the grave); but Allah accepts the repentance of those who repent.” (Sahih al-Jami’)

The question remains, why do you not pray?

Are you afraid of losing your job, a customer, or some wealth?
Do you know that whoever lets this world distract them from prayer falls under the words of the Exalted: “But you prefer the life of this world, while the Hereafter is better and everlasting.” (Surah Al-A’la, 16-17)
The Exalted Allah said in a hadith qudsi: “O son of Adam, devote yourself to My worship, I will fill your chest with wealth and remove poverty from you. But if you do not, I will fill your hands with busyness and will not remove poverty from you.”

Are you convinced that Allah gives and withholds sustenance?

If so, then why do you not pray?

You might say to me: “Isn’t work an act of worship?”
I will reply to you: “Work that prevents you from performing an obligatory act of worship like prayer is equivalent to worshiping Satan. The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘Woe to the slave of the dinar and the dirham!'” (Bukhari)
Do you not know that Iblis became a disbeliever, was expelled from Paradise, and will dwell eternally in Hell, simply because he refused to make a single prostration out of arrogance, while you are asked to pray five times a day until your death.

Perhaps you neglect prayer out of laziness and in search of rest?
By Allah, I ask you, can a Muslim truly find rest if they do not pray?

How can you find rest without prayer when prayer brings tranquility to the heart?

Have you not heard the words of the Exalted Allah: “Indeed, man was created anxious: when evil touches him, he is impatient, and when good touches him, he is withholding, except those who are devoted to prayer.” (Surah Al-Ma’arij, 19-23)

Do you neglect prayer under the pretext that the heart is what matters?

Are you among those who say: “By Allah, I have a pure heart, I do not harm anyone, I love Allah and His Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and I love people, while many of those who pray harbor hatred in their hearts, deceive people, cheat them, and cause them harm.”
I will tell you: “If the state of the heart were enough, then the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and his companions would have had the greatest right to be exempted from prayer, but they paid the greatest attention to prayer and performing it on time.

My brother, do you not fear Allah?

Are you afraid of death? What are you waiting for?

On what do you base your hopes?
Who guarantees that you will live until tomorrow?
Do you think about what is happening around you?
Do you not know that the first thing for which a person will be held accountable on the Day of Judgment is the prayer?
What will you answer your Lord when He asks you about the prayer?”

Imam Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya said: “Abandoning prayer removes the existing blessings and blocks the arrival of future blessings.”

As long as you neglect prayer, Allah will remove the blessings from your life.
As long as you neglect prayer, your face will become darkened.
As long as you neglect prayer, your efforts and work will not be rewarded by Allah.
As long as you neglect prayer, your supplications will not be answered.
Neglecting prayer is evidence of a lack of guidance and a bad end.
Neglecting prayer means distancing yourself from Allah and His mercy.
Neglecting prayer brings humiliation in this world and in the Hereafter.
By neglecting prayer, you risk being resurrected with Haman, Qarun, Pharaoh, and Ubayy ibn Khalaf.
Neglecting prayer deprives you of the blessing of seeing Allah on the Day of Judgment.
Neglecting prayer is considered a betrayal of trust.

The one who neglects prayer is deprived of the most important source of redemption and the erasure of sins, as well as the increase of good deeds. If you perform prayer, I pray that Allah, the Most High, strengthens you and makes you steadfast in it, and if you do not pray, I pray that Allah guides you to prayer and makes you steadfast in performing this magnificent act of worship.

(Central khutbah by the religious leader Hafiz Hilmija Redžić on August 16, 2024, at the “Centre Culturel Islamique Nordstad” in Diekirch)