What is the criterion for distinguishing between an obligatory act and a pillar? And if one intentionally leaves an obligatory act, is his prayer invalid, such as the Ibrahimi prayer or the first tashahhud, as al-Ajuri mentioned?

The Shaykh : Yes, please.

The questioner : Praise be to Allah alone, and blessings and peace be upon His Prophet and Messenger, and upon all his Companions.
First, we have come from Kuwait, and we ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to let us die upon the correct methodology, and to make us among those He guides to righteousness.

The Shaykh : O Allah, amen.

The questioner : The first question: A discussion took place among the brothers regarding the regulation of matters, or the regulation of some matters related to prayer, between what is obligatory and what is a pillar.

The Shaykh : Between what is obligatory and a pillar?

The questioner : And a pillar.

The Shaykh : Between what is fard and a pillar, I mean. Yes, that is right.

The questioner : In some matters, I mentioned them in the description of the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) prayer, including the prayer upon the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). I said in the footnote that al-Ajuri, in *al-Shari'ah*, mentioned that whoever does not pray upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), his prayer is invalid, or he has no prayer? Also, among some of the obligatory matters in prayer, such as the first tashahhud and others. The question is: does the one who intentionally leaves these matters have his prayer invalidated or not, and what is the correct criterion?

The Shaykh : You mean, of course, by matters, two matters you mentioned, no more than that: the first is the prayer upon the Messenger (peace be upon him), and the second is the tashahhud, likewise?

The questioner : No, it is about obligatory matters related to prayer.

The Shaykh : I mean other matters.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Well, an obligatory act is established simply by the command of the Messenger (peace be upon him) regarding something, provided that there is no factor shifting the obligation to something lower, such as a recommended practice or a recommended act. As for a pillar, which necessitates the invalidation of what the Muslim was commanded to do, it is not established simply by the command. Therefore, the tashahhud and the prayer upon the Messenger (peace be upon him) are among the obligatory acts, not among the pillars, the leaving of which necessitates the invalidation of the whole, which here is the prayer. As for what you mentioned about al-Ajuri, this is, of course, a statement for which the one who says it bears responsibility, and we transmitted it to support that the command is not for recommendation, as many who say in the chapter of sujud al-sahw, for example, that sujud al-sahw is recommended for leaving a recommended practice, with the evidence that the Messenger (peace be upon him) prostrated for forgetting the first tashahhud, hold. We say that this forgetting was not for a recommended practice, but for an obligatory matter, even though we do not contradict the principle. Rather, we are discussing the evidence. They use the prostration of the Messenger (peace be upon him) for leaving the tashahhud in forgetfulness as evidence for the legitimacy of prostration for forgetfulness, but the tashahhud is obligatory, not a recommended practice. So they must have evidence other than this evidence, and for us, it is his (peace be upon him) saying: regardless of the ruling of the one who made sujud al-sahw obligatory by law. This is what I have as an answer to your previous question. If there is still something in your mind that you want to ask about regarding this, state it so that we may be aware of it.

The questioner : The question in my mind is: what is the point of the statement, or give us the point of the statement. I mean, do you endorse what you wrote in the description, or did you transmit it as a transmission?

The Shaykh : The answer to this has already been given.

The questioner : I mean, an addition for clarification.

The Shaykh : Ah, an addition for clarification. No, we do not adopt this. We said that this and that is obligatory, meaning the prayer upon the Messenger (peace be upon him) is obligatory, and the tashahhud is obligatory. We said this explicitly. And we also said explicitly that we mention this statement to block the path for those who interpret commands as being for recommendation or a recommended act.

The questioner : Our Shaykh, someone says at this statement thatThe Shaykh : if he had adopted a view contrary to al-Ajuri’s, he would have pointed out his error in this issue.

The Shaykh : No, that is not a condition.

The questioner : It is not required?

The Shaykh : This is a matter that does not end. Often, a transmitter transmits from some scholars and then proceeds with it, because the important thing is only to establish his view, which is that the command is for obligation, and that is all.

The questioner : And therefore, we cannot say thatThe Shaykh : he explicitly stated the invalidity of the prayer of one who leaves it?

The Shaykh : Absolutely not, and this meaning does not occur to my mind at all.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.