Ruling on Abandoning Prayer During a Period of Illness

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A message was received for the program from listener Salah Muhammad from Asyut. He says in his message: I pray, praise be to Allah, and I am twenty-three years old. I abandoned prayer for a period due to illness, but Allah healed me. After that, I continued to abandon prayer. Now I pray, praise be to Allah. Do I have any sin or expiation to perform? What is the expiation so that I can fulfill it? Thank you.
Answer: My brother, you must repent to Allah. Praise be to Allah for adhering to repentance. As long as you have repented, praise be to Allah, you must stick to it, increase in righteous deeds, and ask your Lord for steadfastness upon the truth. You must strive to keep the company of the good and avoid the company of the wicked. You have nothing to do beyond that, for repentance wipes out what came before it, as Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said in His great Book:

But indeed, I am the Perpetual Forgiver of whoever repents and believes and does righteousness and then continues in guidance.

وَإِنِّي لَغَفَّارٌ لِمَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا ثُمَّ اهْتَدَى

[Ta-Ha:82], and He, Glorified is He, said:

And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed.

وَتُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ

[An-Nur:31].
And when He, Glorified is He, mentioned shirk (associating partners with Allah), zina (unlawful sexual intercourse), and killing in His saying, the Exalted:

And those who do not invoke with Allah another deity or kill the soul which Allah has forbidden [to be killed], except by right, and do not commit unlawful sexual intercourse

وَالَّذِينَ لا يَدْعُونَ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا آخَرَ وَلا يَقْتُلُونَ النَّفْسَ الَّتِي حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ وَلا يَزْنُونَ

[Al-Furqan:68], He said after it:

And whoever should do that will meet a penalty. ⁽⁶⁹⁾ Multiplied for him is the punishment on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein humiliated - ⁽⁷⁰⁾ Except for those who repent, believe and do righteous work. For them Allah will replace their evil deeds with good. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.

وَمَنْ يَفْعَلْ ذَلِكَ يَلْقَ أَثَامًا ۝ يُضَاعَفْ لَهُ الْعَذَابُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَيَخْلُدْ فِيهِ مُهَانًا ۝ إِلَّا مَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا فَأُوْلَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا

[Al-Furqan:68-70].
And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

The one who repents from sin is like one who did not sin.

التائب من الذنب كمن لا ذنب له

Sunan Ibn Majah 4250Da’if (Darussalam)

, so thank your Lord for the repentance, stick to it, ask your Lord for steadfastness, and beware of the causes of fitnah (trial, discord or temptation). Beware of returning to abandoning prayer, for prayer is the pillar of Islam, and abandoning it is kufr (disbelief) against Allah, Mighty and Majestic. So beware of that.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

The head of the matter is Islam, and its pillar is the Salat

رأس الأمر الإسلام وعموده الصلاة

Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2616Hasan (Darussalam)

, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

Between a man and disbelief and shirk (associating partners with Allah) is the abandonment of prayer.

بين الرجل وبين الكفر والشرك ترك الصلاة

, narrated by Muslim in his Sahih. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) also said:

The covenant that distinguishes between us and them is prayer; so whoever leaves it, he has committed Kufr.

العهد الذي بيننا وبينهم الصلاة فمن تركها فقد كفر

Sunan Ibn Majah 1079Sahih (Darussalam)

So beware, my brother, of abandoning it and of sitting with those who abandon it, perhaps you will be saved. Ask your Lord for steadfastness upon the truth until you meet Him . Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.

Source binbaz.org.sa

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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