What is the ruling on a man who fasts but does not pray?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The questioner : A man who does not pray but fasts, what is his ruling, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : He prays and fasts?
The questioner : No, he does not fast, he fasts but does not pray.
The questioner : He fasts but does not pray.
The Shaykh : That is it, he fasts but does not pray.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Well, the principle here is the statement of Allah—Blessed and Exalted is He—:[Az-Zalzalah 99:7-8], just as if we imagine, for example, a man who prays but does not give zakah, or who prays and gives zakah but does not perform Hajj, and so on. So every good deed, Allah—Mighty and Majestic—accepts it by the ruling of this verse: [Az-Zalzalah 99:7-8]. This is the principle. And the reason I say this is the principle is that there is a hadith concerning prayer and the one who neglected it or abandoned it entirely, namely his statement—peace and blessings be upon him—: Jami` at-Tirmidhi 413Sahih (Darussalam).
The questioner: We ask Allah for safety.
The Shaykh : Ah, and in other texts, it is stated that if a person’s prayer is not valid, his good deeds are not accepted. But the scholars say: Does this mean that these other acts of worship are not accepted, in the sense that it is as if he did not do them? Or are they not accepted in the same way as if he had performed the complete acts of worship? This knowledge is with my Lord. The point is that the Muslim must take care to perform all the pillars of Islam, all the pillars of Islam: first, the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, then establishing the prayer, then fasting Ramadan, then giving zakah and performing Hajj. These last two are specific to the wealthy who are able to afford them. And this is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
The questioner : The person is to be flogged.
The Shaykh : No, it is not like that, there is no fixed punishment, but he must fast.
The questioner : A man who does not pray but fasts, what is his ruling, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : He prays and fasts?
The questioner : No, he does not fast, he fasts but does not pray.
The questioner : He fasts but does not pray.
The Shaykh : That is it, he fasts but does not pray.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Well, the principle here is the statement of Allah—Blessed and Exalted is He—:
(7) So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it, (8) And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it.
فَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُ * وَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَرَهُ(7) So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it, (8) And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it.
فَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُ * وَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَرَهُIndeed the first deed by which a servant will be called to account on the Day of Resurrection is his Salat. If it is complete, he is successful and saved, but if it is defective, he has failed and lost.
أول ما يحاسب العبد يوم القيامة الصلاة ، فإن تمَّت فقد أفلح وأنجح ، وإن نقصت ، فقد خاب وخسرThe questioner: We ask Allah for safety.
The Shaykh : Ah, and in other texts, it is stated that if a person’s prayer is not valid, his good deeds are not accepted. But the scholars say: Does this mean that these other acts of worship are not accepted, in the sense that it is as if he did not do them? Or are they not accepted in the same way as if he had performed the complete acts of worship? This knowledge is with my Lord. The point is that the Muslim must take care to perform all the pillars of Islam, all the pillars of Islam: first, the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, then establishing the prayer, then fasting Ramadan, then giving zakah and performing Hajj. These last two are specific to the wealthy who are able to afford them. And this is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
The questioner : The person is to be flogged.
The Shaykh : No, it is not like that, there is no fixed punishment, but he must fast.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.