In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Abandoning the Prayer (In the Light of Ḥadīth)

    Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Between a servant and disbelief stands the abandonment of prayer.”
    (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)

    Buraydah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The covenant that distinguishes between us and the people who accept Islam is the prayer (that is, from every person who enters Islam we take the pledge of prayer, which is a distinct sign of faith and a hallmark of Islam). Whoever abandons it has, in effect, abandoned the path of Islam and adopted the way of disbelief.”
    (Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī, Sunan Ibn Mājah)

    Abū al-Dardāʾ (may Allah be pleased with him) said: My close friend and beloved advised me that I should never associate anything with Allah, even if I were cut into pieces and burned in the fire. He also warned me never to abandon the prayer deliberately, for whoever intentionally leaves the prayer, the responsibility and protection granted by Allah to His faithful and believing servants are lifted from him. He further warned me never to drink wine, for it is the key to every evil.
    (Sunan Ibn Mājah)

    The noble Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not regard the abandonment of any deed as disbelief except the abandonment of prayer.
    (Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī)

It is reported in a narration that a person who is negligent regarding prayer is subjected to fifteen kinds of punishment: five in this world, three in the grave, and three after emerging from the grave.

    The five punishments in this world are: first, blessing is removed from his life; second, the light of the righteous is removed from his face; third, the reward of his good deeds is taken away; fourth, his supplications are not accepted; and fifth, he is deprived of inclusion in the supplications of the righteous.

    The three punishments at the time of death are: first, he dies in humiliation; second, he dies in a state of hunger; and third, he dies in intense thirst — even if he were to drink the entire ocean, his thirst would not be quenched.

    The three punishments of the grave are: first, the grave is constricted upon him until his ribs interlock; second, a fire is kindled within the grave; and third, a serpent is appointed over him whose eyes are of fire and whose claws are of iron, so long that one would need a full day’s journey to reach their end. Its voice is like thunder, and it says: “My Lord has appointed me over you to strike you from the morning prayer until ẓuhr for neglecting the morning prayer, and from ẓuhr until ʿaṣr for neglecting the ẓuhr prayer, and from ʿaṣr until maghrib for neglecting the ʿaṣr prayer, and from maghrib until ʿishāʾ for neglecting the maghrib prayer, and from ʿishāʾ until morning for neglecting the ʿishāʾ prayer.” Whenever it strikes him once, he sinks seventy cubits into the earth. Thus, he continues to be punished until the Day of Resurrection.

    After emerging from the grave, there are three further punishments: first, his reckoning will be severe; second, the anger of Allah will be upon him; and third, he will be admitted into Hell. This makes a total of fourteen; it is possible that the fifteenth was omitted inadvertently.

May Allah Almighty grant us all the ability to establish the prayer. Āmīn.