The Causes of Negligence Regarding the Laws and Rulings of the Religion

Question:
May Allah reward you with good and do you good. Shaykh Salih, what is the cause of this negligence regarding prayer, and negligence in many matters of Islam, even the creed of tawhid (the oneness of Allah)? Does it stem from a deficiency in education? A deficiency in upbringing? A deficiency in society as a whole? May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
This stems from indifference and from a lack of faith in the hearts. As for knowledge, every Muslim knows as a necessary fact that prayer is indispensable in Islam. So they are not ignorant of the ruling on prayer, but there is no faith in their hearts. Also, it is due to the lack of restraint from the authority that should take hold of them. It is obligatory upon the rulers of the Muslims to compel those under their authority who claim to be Muslims to perform prayer and to take hold of them. This is the obligation. It is also obligatory upon those who have authority over them, such as their relatives and those responsible for them, to have a hand in their reform, their discipline, and compelling them to pray. If the efforts of the Muslims had been combined, this great defect would not have occurred. Rather, this defect resulted from the little faith, or the loss of faith, in the hearts of these people, and from the negligence of those who have authority, in neglecting their subjects whom Allah entrusted to them, and in compelling them to pray. Yes.