Continuation of the explanation of the hadith: (… and whoever perfects their bowing and their humility, Allah has a covenant with him that He will forgive him
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The Shaykh : Then it comes to the third characteristic, where the humility was not completed.
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : Regarding the second man.
The student: Bowing and humility.
The Shaykh : Humility?
The student: Bowing and humility.
The Shaykh : Bowing and humility.
So now we have finished with the observation of perfecting the ablution and the observation of not praying at its time, where he did not pray it at its first time. He perfected the ablution and prayed at the second time, but he did not perfect the ablution and did not pray it at its time.
We come to the other characteristic, which is that he did not complete the bowing. Does this one who did not complete the bowing have a valid prayer?
So then, may Allah bless you, the matter does not require us to continue speaking about humility, because there is disagreement among the scholars regarding humility: is it a pillar of the pillars of prayer, or is it an obligatory act among the obligatory acts of prayer, or is it among the recommended acts of prayer? We have no evidence that humility in prayer is a pillar of the pillars of prayer; this is a single opinion. Rather, we have evidence that this humility is from the mercy of Allah the Exalted toward His servants, in that He did not make it an obligation upon them as a condition, but an obligation without a condition, out of mercy for them. And I mean by that the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): The humility, which is the fourth complete characteristic for the one who maintains the prayer.
So this humility, either we say, as I believe, that it is not a pillar. In that case, if he prays a prayer after he has perfected the ablution and prayed it at its time and completed the bowing, his prayer is valid even if he did not humble himself, because we have no evidence for the conditionality or pillar status of humility in prayer. And if it is said that it is a pillar, and I do not think any of you would say this, in that case a fourth characteristic comes: that this second man, whom it was said that if Allah wills He will forgive him and if He wills He will punish him, did not pray because he did not humble himself in his prayer. I am not going around in circles on this because I do not believe that humility is a pillar of the pillars of prayer, so that everyone who does not humble himself has an invalid prayer. But there is no doubt that the first three characteristics are among the pillars of prayer. So it is said regarding this one who did not perfect the ablution, did not pray it at its time, and did not complete the bowing: he has no prayer. This aligns with the second wording.
And after that, I say something: this unknown man is a man from the generation of the Tabi'un, and the unknown status of a Tabi'i is not in the same position as the unknown status of one below him. And many of the scholars of hadith, and perhaps Malik was among them, used to take the hadith of the unknown Tabi'i man based on what we previously discussed with the dear brother here, that one should have a good opinion of him for two reasons. The first reason: that lying had not become famous among the Tabi'un, and there is not among them the weakness that appeared in those after them in terms of poor memorization. And perhaps this is a material explanation due to the comfort of the soul that they lived in, and the tranquility that they inhabited.
So the point is that this unknown status here may be excused regarding some aspects of the view of some of the hadith scholars, among them Ibn Kathir and among them Ibn Rajab. They treat the hadiths of the unknown Tabi'un as a means of argumentation with their hadith. So if we suppose, and this is a supposition that must be noted, that this second wording does not have a corroborating narration with its clarity and explicitness, then if we add to it the first observation, which is strong as you see, and the second observation which I attributed to Ibn Kathir and Ibn Rajab, in that case the person arrives at a result that is almost certain: that the one who leaves the prayer, or the one who performs it while neglecting some of its pillars and conditions, has no prayer.
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : Regarding the second man.
The student: Bowing and humility.
The Shaykh : Humility?
The student: Bowing and humility.
The Shaykh : Bowing and humility.
So now we have finished with the observation of perfecting the ablution and the observation of not praying at its time, where he did not pray it at its first time. He perfected the ablution and prayed at the second time, but he did not perfect the ablution and did not pray it at its time.
We come to the other characteristic, which is that he did not complete the bowing. Does this one who did not complete the bowing have a valid prayer?
So then, may Allah bless you, the matter does not require us to continue speaking about humility, because there is disagreement among the scholars regarding humility: is it a pillar of the pillars of prayer, or is it an obligatory act among the obligatory acts of prayer, or is it among the recommended acts of prayer? We have no evidence that humility in prayer is a pillar of the pillars of prayer; this is a single opinion. Rather, we have evidence that this humility is from the mercy of Allah the Exalted toward His servants, in that He did not make it an obligation upon them as a condition, but an obligation without a condition, out of mercy for them. And I mean by that the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
A man may pray a prayer, and nothing is recorded for him of it except a tenth, a ninth, an eighth, a seventh, a sixth, a fifth, a quarter, or a half.
إن الرجل ليصلي الصلاة وما يكتب له منها إلا عشرها تسعها ثمنها سبعها سدسها خمسها ربعها نصفهاSo this humility, either we say, as I believe, that it is not a pillar. In that case, if he prays a prayer after he has perfected the ablution and prayed it at its time and completed the bowing, his prayer is valid even if he did not humble himself, because we have no evidence for the conditionality or pillar status of humility in prayer. And if it is said that it is a pillar, and I do not think any of you would say this, in that case a fourth characteristic comes: that this second man, whom it was said that if Allah wills He will forgive him and if He wills He will punish him, did not pray because he did not humble himself in his prayer. I am not going around in circles on this because I do not believe that humility is a pillar of the pillars of prayer, so that everyone who does not humble himself has an invalid prayer. But there is no doubt that the first three characteristics are among the pillars of prayer. So it is said regarding this one who did not perfect the ablution, did not pray it at its time, and did not complete the bowing: he has no prayer. This aligns with the second wording.
And after that, I say something: this unknown man is a man from the generation of the Tabi'un, and the unknown status of a Tabi'i is not in the same position as the unknown status of one below him. And many of the scholars of hadith, and perhaps Malik was among them, used to take the hadith of the unknown Tabi'i man based on what we previously discussed with the dear brother here, that one should have a good opinion of him for two reasons. The first reason: that lying had not become famous among the Tabi'un, and there is not among them the weakness that appeared in those after them in terms of poor memorization. And perhaps this is a material explanation due to the comfort of the soul that they lived in, and the tranquility that they inhabited.
So the point is that this unknown status here may be excused regarding some aspects of the view of some of the hadith scholars, among them Ibn Kathir and among them Ibn Rajab. They treat the hadiths of the unknown Tabi'un as a means of argumentation with their hadith. So if we suppose, and this is a supposition that must be noted, that this second wording does not have a corroborating narration with its clarity and explicitness, then if we add to it the first observation, which is strong as you see, and the second observation which I attributed to Ibn Kathir and Ibn Rajab, in that case the person arrives at a result that is almost certain: that the one who leaves the prayer, or the one who performs it while neglecting some of its pillars and conditions, has no prayer.