Consequences of Abandoning Prayer according to Quran and Hadith.

All praise be to Allah, Lord of all creation

One should give due concern to Salah (Prayer) as it holds a great position in Islam. One must offer sincere worship to Allah alone, without partners and disavow anything other than Allah. One should believe in Allah as the Only True God and that anything worshipped beside Him is no more than falsehood.

Prayer is the Second pillar of Islam the peak of obedience. Importance of Prayer is mentioned probably over 100 times in the Quran. Failing to perform prayer during the prescribed times is a sin.

Narrated Abdullah bin Buraidah narrated from his father that the Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) said:

"The covenant between us and them is the Salat, so whoever abandons it he has committed disbelief." (Tirmidhi: 2621)

Abandoning Prayer is a major Sin in Islam:

Following are some Aya of Quran which signifies the importance of Prayer (Salah):

 “Then, there has succeeded them a posterity who have given up As-Salat (the prayers) [i.e. made their Salat (prayers) to be lost, either by not offering them or by not offering them perfectly or by not offering them in their proper fixed times, etc.] and have followed lusts. So they will be thrown in Hell. Except those who repent and believe (in the Oneness of Allah and His Messenger Muhammad SAW), and work righteousness. Such will enter Paradise and they will not be wronged in aught.”

(Surah Maryam 19: 59 and 60)

O you who believe! Let not your properties (wealth) or your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. And whosoever does that, then they are the losers.

(Surah Al-Munaafiqoon 63:9)

The commentators of the Quran (Tafsir) say:

"The 'Remembrance of Allah' mentioned in these Aayaat means the five daily prayers. If anyone is so busy in buying and selling, or with his daily work of earning a livelihood, or with his children, that he cannot perform prayers on time, he will be among the losers."

The first thing which will be judged among a man's deeds on the Day of Resurrection is the Prayer. If this is in good order then he will succeed and prosper but if it is defective then he will fail and will be a loser. (Tirmidhi: 413)

Informing us about the inhabitants of Hell, Allah says in Quran:

(The people in Hell will be asked:) “What has caused you to enter Hell?”

They will say: We were not of those who used to offer their prayers (Salat). Nor we used to feed the poor (Al-Miskin) And we used to talk falsehood (all that which Allaah hated) with vain-talkers. And we used to belie the Day of Recompense. Until there came to us that which is certain (i.e., death).” So no Intercession of intercessors will benefit them.

(Surah Al-Mudathir 74:42 to 48)

Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) said:

“If anyone abandons prayer deliberately then he has no claim upon Allah.” (Imam Bukhari’s book of Adab Al-Mufrad: 18)

In another Hadith, Prophet Mohamad (S.A.W.) said:

"I have been ordered (by Allah) to fight against the people until they testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah's Messenger (ﷺ), and offer the prayers perfectly and give the obligatory charity, so if they perform that, then they save their lives and property from me except for Islamic laws and then their reckoning (accounts) will be done by Allah."

(Sahih Al-Bukhari: 25)

Ibn Al-Qayyim explained:

“The person who abandons prayer will be raised with such a foursome because his neglect of player may be due to his involvement with his property, his country, his administrative work or his trade. Therefore, if he was involved with his property he will be resurrected with Qaroon; if with his country, then with Pharaoh; if with his administrative work, then with Hamaan; and if with his trade then with Ubayy bin Khalaf, the trader among the disbelievers of Makkah.”

Abdullaah bin Shaqiq Al-Uqayli [Tabiee: a successor to the companions of the Prophet (S.A.W.)] said:

"The Companions of the Prophet did not consider the abandonment of any good deed to be disbelief except the abandonment of the Prayer."

(Tirmidhi: 2622)

 This was mentioned by Al Mundhiree in At-Targheeb Wa Aa-Tarheeb. Then he comments: A group of Companions and those who came after them believed that an intentional decision to skip one prayer until its time is completely finished makes one an unbeliever. The people of this opinion include:

1. Umar bin Al-Khattaab (R.A.)
2. Abdullaah bin Masood (R.A.)
3. Abdullaah bin Abbaas (R.A.)
4. Muaadh bin Jabal (R.A.)
5. Jaabir bin Abdullaah  (R.A.) and
6. Aboo Ad-Dardaa (R.A.)

Among the non-companions who shared this view were:

1. Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal
2. Ishaaq bin Rahwayh,
3. Abdullaah bin Mubaarak
4. An-Nakhaee
5. Al-Hakam bin Utaibah
6. Aboo Ayub As-Sakhtiyaani
7. Abu Dawood At-Tiyaalisee
8. Abu Bakr bin Abu Shaybah
9. Zuhayr ibn Harb

And others.

We should keep in mind that Allah doesn’t need our prayers. Allah doesn’t need anything from anyone. It is we that stand in need of His mercy as Allah says in Quran:

“Give thanks to Allah," and whoever gives thanks, he gives thanks for (the good of) his ownself. And whoever is unthankful, then verily, Allah is All-Rich (Free of all wants), Worthy of all praise.”

(Surah Luqman 31:12)

we should pray on time instead of making lame excuses. Prayer is obligatory for us so we should try to Offer Salah on its due time. We can get blessings of Almighty Allah by offering Salah

May Allah protect us from misguidance and evil temptation, decreasing the number of our sins and increasing the number of our good deeds and May He helps us to offer five obligatory prayers within their stipulated time.

AMEEN!