Advice for One Who Maintains the Prayer but Commits Evil Deeds
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
This questioner, who used the letter F as a code for his name, says: I pray and I maintain the prayer, but I commit some evil deeds. What is your advice to me? And why does my prayer not restrain me from evil?
Answer:
Yes, you must repent to Allah. Your maintenance of the prayer is a good thing, and this is what is obligatory for you; indeed, Allah has made it obligatory for you to maintain the prayers. If you commit a sin, repent to Allah and do not despair. The fact that your prayer does not restrain you from sin indicates a deficiency in the prayer. If the prayer were complete and fulfilled its requirements, it would have restrained you from evil, but there is a deficiency and shortcoming in it. We are all sinners, and the best of sinners are those who repent. Yes.
This questioner, who used the letter F as a code for his name, says: I pray and I maintain the prayer, but I commit some evil deeds. What is your advice to me? And why does my prayer not restrain me from evil?
Answer:
Yes, you must repent to Allah. Your maintenance of the prayer is a good thing, and this is what is obligatory for you; indeed, Allah has made it obligatory for you to maintain the prayers. If you commit a sin, repent to Allah and do not despair. The fact that your prayer does not restrain you from sin indicates a deficiency in the prayer. If the prayer were complete and fulfilled its requirements, it would have restrained you from evil, but there is a deficiency and shortcoming in it. We are all sinners, and the best of sinners are those who repent. Yes.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 03/170 — archive.org (22:27)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.