What is the meaning of: {Then there came after them successors who neglected the prayer}?

Question:
He says: I hope you will be kind enough to explain the saying of the Truthful One (Blessed and Exalted is He) in Surat Maryam: I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan: Except for those who repent, believe, and do righteous deeds; those will enter Paradise and will not be wronged in any way [Maryam: 59-60]. A man who, in his youth, committed many major sins and abandoned the prayer, then repented and was guided, and turned to the prayer, and he often cites this verse. What is your opinion, Shaykh Abdul Aziz? May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
Yes, this verse indicates the magnitude of the crime of one who neglects the prayer. He, the Exalted, says: [Maryam: 59]. And "khalaf" with a kasrah is the khalaf of evil, meaning the one who comes after the righteous while being on no guidance is called a khalaf. [Maryam: 59] means: a people who came after them, not on the straight path, but in neglecting the prayers and committing forbidden acts. For this reason, He said: [Maryam: 59] meaning: the forbidden things, such as zina, drinking intoxicants, sodomy, consuming riba, and other things that Allah has forbidden. [Maryam: 59] means: loss and destruction, and a bad outcome. Some of the exegetes said: "Ghayyan" means: a valley in Hellfire, meaning a valley in Hellfire whose taste is foul and whose bottom is deep. We ask Allah for safety.
In any case, the one who neglects the prayers and abandons them has committed a great evil, and he is a disbeliever according to a group of the scholars of knowledge, even if he does not deny the obligation.
As for if he denies the obligation and says: "It is not obligatory," he becomes a disbeliever according to all of them (may Allah keep us safe). But if he abandons it out of negligence, while he knows that it is obligatory upon him, but he is lax, then this is the point of disagreement among the scholars of knowledge.
The correct view is that he is a disbeliever by that, due to his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): And he did not say: "If he denies its obligation." And he said (peace and blessings be upon him): Muslim narrated it in his Sahih, in other evidence besides these two hadiths.
So it is obligatory upon every believing man and woman to care for the prayer and preserve it, in obedience to Allah and in magnifying Him, as He, the Exalted, said: [al-Baqarah: 238]. He said (peace and blessings be upon him) : [al-Baqarah: 43].
Likewise, he should beware of the desires that Allah has forbidden him from committing sins. It is obligatory to beware of them wherever he is, in travel and residence, in absence and presence, in all circumstances, such as zina, forbidden foods, and forbidden drinks like khamr, and other than this of what Allah has forbidden (peace and blessings be upon him) . But whenever he repents, Allah accepts his repentance. If he repents from that, then disbelief is the greatest of sins; if its owner repents, Allah accepts his repentance. For this reason, He, the Exalted, said: [Maryam: 60].
So if he regrets what has passed from him, and ceases, and resolves not to return to it, and stands firm on the prayer and other things that Allah has made obligatory, and on abandoning what Allah has forbidden, then for him is Paradise and honor, as He said in the verse of al-Furqan (may He be exalted) : [al-Furqan: 68] [al-Furqan: 69]. This is their threat if they die upon shirk, or upon killing the soul without right, or upon zina. This is their threat. We ask Allah for safety.
Then He said: [al-Furqan: 70]. So if he repents from shirk, killing, and zina, Allah replaces his bad deeds with good deeds, if the repentance is sound and he follows it with righteous deeds. Allah replaces his bad deeds with good deeds and forgives him (may He be exalted) .
As He said in the other verse: [20:82] And He the Exalted said in the verse of al-Zumar: [39:53] The meaning is for those who repent. The scholars are in agreement that this refers to the repentant; whoever repents, Allah will accept his repentance and forgive him all his sins.
So the obligatory thing is repentance and hastening with it. One should not despair or lose hope, but rather have good opinion of his Lord, and hasten with repentance, and follow it with righteous deeds, such as voluntary prayers, charity, visiting the sick, enjoining good and forbidding evil, calling to Allah, and other than this of the faces of good that are sometimes obligatory, like enjoining good, and sometimes recommended.
So the intended meaning is that he should follow his repentance with righteous deeds, from what is obligatory and what is recommended, and preserve the five prayers, and pay the zakah, and fast Ramadan, and perform Hajj to the House, and enjoin good and forbid evil, and call to Allah, and engage in what Allah has made easy for him of voluntary deeds and other than that of the obediences that He has made obligatory upon His servants (may He be exalted) . And that is among the indicators of the truth of repentance, that he follows it with righteous deeds, is among the indicators of the truth of repentance and the standing firm of its owner upon it. Yes.

The presenter : May Allah reward you with good, and benefit us with your knowledge.