The believer who maintains the obligatory prayers but does not maintain the recommended practices and voluntary prayers: is he sinful for that?

The questioner : The listener K and S from Wasit Province in Iraq asks this question, saying: The believer who maintains the obligatory prayers but does not maintain the recommended practices and voluntary prayers: is he sinful for that?

The Shaykh : If a person maintains the obligatory prayers and leaves off their regular voluntary prayers and recommended practices, he is not sinful for that. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent Mu'adh to Yemen in the last part of his life (peace and blessings be upon him) and said to him: He did not mention anything other than these five, which indicates that what is besides them is a recommended practice (sunnah) and not obligatory. So if a person leaves off the regular voluntary prayers attached to the obligatory ones, he is not sinful. However, he should not leave off the regular voluntary prayers because of the great reward and good in them. They, meaning the regular voluntary prayers, are twelve rak'ahs that do not take up much of his time: four before the midday prayer with two salams, two after it, two after the sunset prayer, two after the night prayer, and two before the dawn prayer. If a person prays them, Allah will build for him a house in Paradise. And in their prayer is a mending of the defects that occurred in the obligatory prayers, and an increase in reward and recompense from Allah (Mighty and Majestic). So a person should not leave off these regular voluntary prayers because of the great good in them and the completion of the obligatory prayers. Yes.