His question says: Many people are negligent in their prayer. What are the reasons, in your opinion, and what are the means that can be followed to return Muslims to it?
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The questioner : His question says: Many people are negligent in their prayer today. What are the reasons, in your opinion, and what are the means that can be followed to return Muslims to it, if Allah wills?
The Shaykh : The reasons for this are numerous and many. Among the most important and greatest of them is following desires. For this reason, Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, paired the neglect of prayer with following desires, and He said, the Exalted:[Maryam 19:59-60]. Among the reasons for it is also the people’s ignorance of the reality of this prayer, their ignorance of its importance, their ignorance of its benefits, their ignorance of its virtues, their ignorance of its reward, their ignorance of its rank with Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and other matters that have led many people to belittle it.
And among the reasons for it, meaning among the reasons for negligence in prayer, is that many of the praying people, when they pray, they pray it—may Allah grant us and them forgiveness and well-being—they pray it as a routine task, a physical act.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : That is, an act of the limbs only, not an act of the heart. You hardly find in them any submission, humility, or lowliness before Allah, Mighty and Majestic, nor any mindfulness of what they are saying in their prayer, nor any mindfulness of what they are doing. For this reason, they come out of the prayer having gained nothing from it. No light has come to their hearts, no increase has come to their faith, and they have not refrained from indecency and wrongdoing. All of this is because they are praying a prayer of the body without a soul. If they had given the prayer its right of humility, presence of heart, turning to Allah, and the feeling that one is standing before his Lord, they would have loved the prayer, become accustomed to it, and their hearts would have been drawn to it. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan an-Nasa'i 3940Hasan (Darussalam).
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : This is a message we received from the agriculture branch in al-Ghat, from Saleh al-Ghalib, and from him to Sayyid Mustafa Ibrahim al-Musali.
The Shaykh : The reasons for this are numerous and many. Among the most important and greatest of them is following desires. For this reason, Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, paired the neglect of prayer with following desires, and He said, the Exalted:
(59) But there came after them successors who neglected prayer and pursued desires; so they are going to meet evil - (60) Except those who repent, believe and do righteousness; for those will enter Paradise and will not be wronged at all.
فَخَلَفَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ خَلْفٌ أَضَاعُوا الصَّلاةَ وَاتَّبَعُوا الشَّهَوَاتِ فَسَوْفَ يَلْقَوْنَ غَيًّا * إِلَّا مَنْ تَابَ وَءامَنَAnd among the reasons for it, meaning among the reasons for negligence in prayer, is that many of the praying people, when they pray, they pray it—may Allah grant us and them forgiveness and well-being—they pray it as a routine task, a physical act.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : That is, an act of the limbs only, not an act of the heart. You hardly find in them any submission, humility, or lowliness before Allah, Mighty and Majestic, nor any mindfulness of what they are saying in their prayer, nor any mindfulness of what they are doing. For this reason, they come out of the prayer having gained nothing from it. No light has come to their hearts, no increase has come to their faith, and they have not refrained from indecency and wrongdoing. All of this is because they are praying a prayer of the body without a soul. If they had given the prayer its right of humility, presence of heart, turning to Allah, and the feeling that one is standing before his Lord, they would have loved the prayer, become accustomed to it, and their hearts would have been drawn to it. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
my comfort has been provided in prayer
جعلت قرة عيني في الصلاةThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : This is a message we received from the agriculture branch in al-Ghat, from Saleh al-Ghalib, and from him to Sayyid Mustafa Ibrahim al-Musali.