A man whose mother is over seventy years old prays and fasts only in Ramadan, and after that she leaves off the prayer. He advised her, but she did not persist in the prayer, and she says, "I am busy."
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The questioner : He has a mother whose age is approximately seventy years. She prays and fasts only in Ramadan, and after that she leaves off the prayer. He said: "I advised her, and I advised her, but she did not persist in the prayer. She says to me: 'I will pray, but I am busy gathering fodder for the sheep.' Please advise us how to deal with this woman. May Allah reward you with good."
The Shaykh : There is no doubt that this action of your mother is a mistake and a great evil. If she dies while leaving off the prayer, she will die in a state of disbelief, may Allah protect us from that, and she will be among the companions of the Fire, in which they will abide forever. It is obligatory for you to try, to the extent of your ability, to save your mother from this great calamity. I do not think you, or anyone else, could see the Fire consuming his mother and leave her in the Fire. If your advice to her has not been effective and has not benefited, then send to her someone who may be able to convince her, such as her father if he is alive, her brother, her uncle, her maternal uncle, her husband, and the like. The important thing is that it is obligatory for you to try, to the extent possible, that your mother be upright upon the religion of Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
And I say to her, if she is listening: Fear Allah in yourself, and know that being occupied with the world at the expense of the Hereafter does not benefit anything; rather, it is a loss of both the world and the Hereafter. Your occupation with the fodder of the animals must not be a barrier for you from performing the prescribed prayer, which is the greatest pillar of Islam after the two testimonies, and whoever leaves it off is a disbeliever, an apostate, and has exited Islam. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you. The questioner also, O honorable Shaykh, says.
The Shaykh : There is no doubt that this action of your mother is a mistake and a great evil. If she dies while leaving off the prayer, she will die in a state of disbelief, may Allah protect us from that, and she will be among the companions of the Fire, in which they will abide forever. It is obligatory for you to try, to the extent of your ability, to save your mother from this great calamity. I do not think you, or anyone else, could see the Fire consuming his mother and leave her in the Fire. If your advice to her has not been effective and has not benefited, then send to her someone who may be able to convince her, such as her father if he is alive, her brother, her uncle, her maternal uncle, her husband, and the like. The important thing is that it is obligatory for you to try, to the extent possible, that your mother be upright upon the religion of Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
And I say to her, if she is listening: Fear Allah in yourself, and know that being occupied with the world at the expense of the Hereafter does not benefit anything; rather, it is a loss of both the world and the Hereafter. Your occupation with the fodder of the animals must not be a barrier for you from performing the prescribed prayer, which is the greatest pillar of Islam after the two testimonies, and whoever leaves it off is a disbeliever, an apostate, and has exited Islam. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you. The questioner also, O honorable Shaykh, says.