Some say that the one who performs a sunnah (recommended practice) is rewarded and the one who leaves it is not punished. Is this correct, and if a person leaves a confirmed sunnah, is he punished for it or
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The questioner : Some say that the one who performs a sunnah (recommended practice) is rewarded and the one who leaves it is not punished. Is this correct? And if a person leaves a confirmed sunnah, is he punished for it or has he deprived himself of the great reward?
The Shaykh : What the questioner mentioned is the truth, and it is the position of the scholars, that leaving a sunnah (recommended practice) does not make sin obligatory, except if he leaves it out of hatred for it, or disdain for it, or because he sees himself as being in no need of it, or something similar to that; then that has its own ruling.
As for merely saying: “Allah has made the obligatory acts obligatory upon me, and praise be to Allah who guided me to them, and I have established them in the required manner, while as for the voluntary acts, I am at ease regarding them.” There is nothing wrong with this, and he has done nothing wrong.
However, a sunnah (recommended practice) may be very, very confirmed, close to being obligatory. Some scholars disliked leaving such a sunnah out of fear of sin. Among this is what is mentioned from Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), who said: “Whoever leaves the witr (the odd-numbered night prayer) is a bad man, and his testimony should not be accepted”, even though he—Imam Ahmad—held that the witr is a sunnah (recommended practice) and not obligatory. But because of the confirmation of its status, Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) seemed to see that being lax about it indicates a lack of care, and for this reason he said: “His testimony should not be accepted”, because if he does not care about the witr, despite its importance and confirmation, he may also be lax about testimony.
The Shaykh : What the questioner mentioned is the truth, and it is the position of the scholars, that leaving a sunnah (recommended practice) does not make sin obligatory, except if he leaves it out of hatred for it, or disdain for it, or because he sees himself as being in no need of it, or something similar to that; then that has its own ruling.
As for merely saying: “Allah has made the obligatory acts obligatory upon me, and praise be to Allah who guided me to them, and I have established them in the required manner, while as for the voluntary acts, I am at ease regarding them.” There is nothing wrong with this, and he has done nothing wrong.
However, a sunnah (recommended practice) may be very, very confirmed, close to being obligatory. Some scholars disliked leaving such a sunnah out of fear of sin. Among this is what is mentioned from Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), who said: “Whoever leaves the witr (the odd-numbered night prayer) is a bad man, and his testimony should not be accepted”, even though he—Imam Ahmad—held that the witr is a sunnah (recommended practice) and not obligatory. But because of the confirmation of its status, Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) seemed to see that being lax about it indicates a lack of care, and for this reason he said: “His testimony should not be accepted”, because if he does not care about the witr, despite its importance and confirmation, he may also be lax about testimony.