What is the ruling on one who prays the Fajr prayer after six or seven o'clock out of laziness and negligence? With advice for every person who is negligent in prayer.

The questioner : O Shaykh, regarding the Fajr prayer, many young men and people—and I am one of them—pray the Fajr after six, and sometimes seven.

The Shaykh : How do you pray? What is the Fajr?

The questioner : The Fajr, after six. The Fajr is at six, and sometimes seven, out of laziness.

The Shaykh : Laziness? .
-- ... --

The questioner : I ask Allah to forgive us and have mercy on us. There is laziness in the Fajr prayer.

Another questioner : You wake up and hear the call.

The questioner : I do not wake up.

The Shaykh : With your right hand... why do you not wake up for the Fajr prayer?

The questioner : By Allah, my children are small... honestly, my children are small, at night they stayed up... two or three hours... so this is the reason for the delay.

The Shaykh : Is there no other reason?

The questioner: No.

The Shaykh : Think.

The questioner : Staying up late, the bathroom, and such things.

The Shaykh : Think, think... when do you sleep, after the 'Isha' prayer?

The questioner : No.

The Shaykh : Then?

Another questioner : It is permissible on the television, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Be patient.

The questioner : At ten or ten thirty.

The Shaykh : Did we open the way for him?! [Everyone laughs!]
-- ... --

The Shaykh : Out of zeal for your religion, without doubt, and religion is advice. Do I understand from your words that you pray the remaining prayers with the Muslim congregation in the mosque?

The questioner : Not all of them.

The Shaykh : ... We leave all the prayers, and hold onto the 'Isha' prayer, do you pray it in the mosque with the congregation?

The questioner : Not always.

The Shaykh : Not always, why? Are the children keeping you busy again?

The questioner : No, my master, pray upon the Prophet... I pass by my shop sometimes, I am... of course, I lean towards praying in the mosque most of the times, meaning most of the days I pray Maghrib, I go home, I break my wudu', I eat dinner.

The Shaykh : And tell us about the congregation in brief, I am not interested in these details.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : I am interested, no, it is not a condition how, I am interested to know why you do not pray 'Isha' in the mosque?!

The questioner : One is busy, it is a shortcoming, by Allah!

The Shaykh : So were you created for work or were you created for worship?

The questioner : .

The Shaykh : Yes, you know and I know, why then?! I am now advising you with a piece of advice, you and every Muslim, it is obligatory upon you to be zealous in performing all five prayers, first: every prayer in its time, and second: in the mosque with the Muslim congregation...

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : I have not finished my words, or rather my advice has not ended. We said: that it is obligatory upon every Muslim to maintain the performance of the five prayers, every prayer in its prescribed time, then every prayer in the mosque with the Muslim congregation, and it is not permissible for him in any way to consider his leaving the performance of the prayer in the mosque due to work; because work at that hour is not obligatory upon you. Allah - Mighty and Majestic - gave you twelve hours in the day, ten hours He told you to work in them the lawful work by which you earn your daily sustenance, but allocate for Me from these hours one hour - meaning sixty minutes - for five prayers, so there is no excuse for any person to say I was busy, so I did not pray in the mosque with the congregation, this is one thing.
The second thing is that it is not permissible to stay up late after the 'Isha' prayer, you must pray 'Isha' in the mosque and go to your house, if it is your custom to eat dinner, eat dinner, and put your head down and sleep, if you do this then I guarantee that you will not miss the Fajr prayer, praying it at six or seven after the sun has risen!! But the calamity of people today is that the world has tried them with its adornments, especially in the present age, especially this great calamity that has entered the homes of Muslims; which is the television. The presence of the television today is among the most severe prohibitions if you only knew. It is enough that you and others know from your home that the television keeps the sleepy one awake and wakes him up; because there is something in it, what? An attraction. And our Lord - Mighty and Majestic - created man in the best form and best disposition, he has the disposition to work in the day, he has the disposition to sleep at night; so if he violates this divine cosmic organization, his life will be disrupted. If he stays up until midnight, this means he has lost himself from his rest, from his sleep, hours. Where will he compensate for these hours? At the expense of the Fajr prayer and at the expense of the morning; and therefore the Messenger of Allah - peace and blessings be upon him - forbade sleeping before the 'Isha' prayer and staying up late after it. He forbade sleeping before the 'Isha' prayer, why? Because it is accompanied by sleep and he does not wake up until midnight, and at midnight the time for 'Isha' has passed, and the time for 'Isha' does not extend, as many people imagine, to the time of Fajr, no; but rather as he - peace be upon him - said: .

The questioner : One hour, meaning?

The Shaykh : No, one hour may be twelve, and may be eleven thirty, depending on the length and shortness of the night.
The point is: The Messenger of Allah - peace and blessings be upon him - forbade sleeping before the 'Isha' prayer, this is a ruling whose meaning is reasonable in the expression of the jurists; because if a questioner asked: Why? So that you do not miss the 'Isha' prayer, at least you will miss the 'Isha' prayer with the Muslim congregation, and at that time you will have missed an obligatory prayer. Then he - peace be upon him - said in the completion of the hadith that he forbade staying up late after the 'Isha' prayer, this too is a ruling whose meaning is reasonable; why? Because staying up late after the 'Isha' prayer helps the one who stays up to not wake up to perform the Fajr prayer. So if we suppose - look at how the result differs now - Zayd from among the people prays 'Isha' in the mosque, and goes to his house to eat two or three bites, and does not indulge in food, then it is his custom that he wakes up for the Fajr prayer; because this will take his share of his rest, of his sleep. One night, as usual, he put his head down and slept after the 'Isha' prayer and sleep carried him to the rising of the sun. It is said to him: At that time, pray; due to his saying - peace be upon him - : ; because this person took the lawful means of not staying up late after the 'Isha' prayer, and used everything in its place. But one night sleep carried him to after the rising of the sun, this person is excused, and when he wakes up he prays, and if he prays it, it is as if he prayed it in its time... for the Fajr prayer. If he wakes up after the rising of the sun, the prayer is lost for him, and it is not possible for him ever to pray it, why? For the necessity of maintaining, first, the performance of every prayer in its time and in the mosque, and second, to stay away from the causes that divert us from performing the prayer in its time.
The Shaykh : I think the answer is now clear to you, if Allah wills.