What are the things that invalidate deeds, and do they invalidate all deeds from the time of accountability? We ask for your guidance in this matter. May Allah reward you with good.
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The questioner : This is a listener, Abd al-Rauf Abdullah, from al-Madinah al-Munawwarah, who says: What are the things that invalidate deeds, and do they invalidate all deeds from the time of accountability? We ask for your guidance in this matter. May Allah reward you with good?
The Shaykh : Yes. The invalidators of deeds are divided into two categories: a general category and a specific category that invalidates each particular deed.
As for the general category that invalidates all deeds, it is apostasy. If a person, may Allah protect us from it, apostatizes from the religion of Allah and dies in a state of disbelief, all his deeds are invalidated, as Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Baqarah 2:217].
However, if he apostatizes and then Allah grants him mercy and he returns to Islam, his deeds are not invalidated. For this reason, many people ask about themselves, saying that he performed the obligatory Hajj while he was praying as people pray and fulfilling the rituals of Islam. Then a time came when he apostatized from Islam and left off prayer. Then Allah granted him the return to Islam, so he established prayer and fulfilled the rituals of Islam. He asks whether his Hajj that was before his apostasy is invalid and whether he is obligated to repeat it or not. We say: No, your Hajj is not invalid, and you are not required to repeat it, because Allah the Exalted made the condition for the invalidation of deeds by apostasy that the person dies in a state of apostasy. This is the general invalidator that invalidates all acts of worship.
As for the specific invalidators, they pertain to each deed according to its nature. For example, wudu' is invalidated by a state of ritual impurity, and prayer is invalidated by what invalidates it, such as laughing and talking and the like. Charity is invalidated by showing off and causing harm, fasting is invalidated by eating and drinking, and Hajj is made defective by sexual intercourse before the first state of release. The important point is that the specific invalidators of deeds are numerous and cannot be counted, and they differ according to the acts of worship they invalidate.
The questioner : Thank you, O honorable Shaykh, and may Allah magnify your reward for what you have clarified for us and for the noble listening brothers.
The Shaykh : Yes. The invalidators of deeds are divided into two categories: a general category and a specific category that invalidates each particular deed.
As for the general category that invalidates all deeds, it is apostasy. If a person, may Allah protect us from it, apostatizes from the religion of Allah and dies in a state of disbelief, all his deeds are invalidated, as Allah the Exalted said:
And whoever of you reverts from his religion [to disbelief] and dies while he is a disbeliever - for those, their deeds have become worthless in this world and the Hereafter, and those are the companions of the Fire, they will abide therein eternally.
ومن يرتدد منكم عن دينه فيمُت وهو كافر فأولئك حبطت أعمالهم في الدنيا والأخرة وأولئك أصحاب النار هم فيها خالدونHowever, if he apostatizes and then Allah grants him mercy and he returns to Islam, his deeds are not invalidated. For this reason, many people ask about themselves, saying that he performed the obligatory Hajj while he was praying as people pray and fulfilling the rituals of Islam. Then a time came when he apostatized from Islam and left off prayer. Then Allah granted him the return to Islam, so he established prayer and fulfilled the rituals of Islam. He asks whether his Hajj that was before his apostasy is invalid and whether he is obligated to repeat it or not. We say: No, your Hajj is not invalid, and you are not required to repeat it, because Allah the Exalted made the condition for the invalidation of deeds by apostasy that the person dies in a state of apostasy. This is the general invalidator that invalidates all acts of worship.
As for the specific invalidators, they pertain to each deed according to its nature. For example, wudu' is invalidated by a state of ritual impurity, and prayer is invalidated by what invalidates it, such as laughing and talking and the like. Charity is invalidated by showing off and causing harm, fasting is invalidated by eating and drinking, and Hajj is made defective by sexual intercourse before the first state of release. The important point is that the specific invalidators of deeds are numerous and cannot be counted, and they differ according to the acts of worship they invalidate.
The questioner : Thank you, O honorable Shaykh, and may Allah magnify your reward for what you have clarified for us and for the noble listening brothers.