Topic 2: Actions & Accountability
Is it permissible to fast without praying?
Posted by admin
on November 21, 2010
No comments
Praise be to Allaah.
No good deeds will be accepted from one who
does not pray – no zakaah, no fasting, no Hajj or anything else.
Al-Bukhaari (520) narrated that Buraydah said: The Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever does not pray
‘Asr, his good deeds will be annulled.”
What is meant by “his good deeds will be annulled” is that they
will be rendered invalid and will be of no benefit to him. This hadeeth
indicates that Allaah will not accept any good deed from one who does not pray,
so the one who does not pray will not benefit at all from his good deeds and no
good deed of his will be taken up to Allaah.
It seems from the hadeeth that there are two types of those who
do not pray: those who do not pray at all, which annuls all their good deeds,
and those who do not offer a particular prayer on a particular day, which annuls
the good deeds of that day. So annulment of all good deeds happens to those who
forsake all the prayers, and annulment of the good deeds of a particular day
happens to the one who omits a particular prayer.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen was asked in Fataawa al-Siyaam (p. 87)
about the ruling on the fasting of one who does not pray.
He replied:
The fast of one who does not pray is not valid
and is not accepted, because the one who does not pray is a kaafir and an
apostate, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“But if they repent [by rejecting Shirk
(polytheism) and accept Islamic Monotheism], perform As-Salaah
(Iqaamat-as-Salaah) and give Zakaah, then they are your brethren in
religion”
[al-Tawbah 9:11]
And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: “Between a man and shirk and kufr stands his giving up prayer.” Narrated
by Muslim, 82. And he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The
covenant that separates us from them is prayer; whoever gives up prayer is a
kaafir.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2621; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in
Saheeh al-Tirmidhi.
This is also the view of most of the Sahaabah,
if not their consensus. ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Shaqeeq (may Allaah have mercy on him),
who was one of the well-known Taabi’een, said: The companions of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not think that omitting any
action made a person a kaafir, except for prayer. Based on this, if a person
fasts but he does not pray, then his fast is rejected and not accepted, and it
will not avail him anything before Allaah on the Day of Resurrection. We say to
him: Pray then fast, because if you fast but do not pray, then your fast will be
rejected, because acts of worship are not accepted from a kaafir.
The Standing Committee (10/140) was asked: if a person is keen
to fast in Ramadaan and to pray in Ramadaan only, but he stops praying as soon
as Ramadaan is over, does his fasting count?
They replied:
Prayer is one of the pillars of Islam, and it is the most
important pillar after the Shahaadatayn. It is an individual obligation (fard
‘ayn), and whoever does not do it because he denies that it is obligatory, or he
does not do it because he is careless and lazy, is a kaafir. With regard to
those who fast Ramadaan and pray in Ramadaan only, this is trying to cheat
Allaah, and unfortunate indeed are those who only acknowledge Allaah in
Ramadaan. Their fasting is not valid if they do not pray at times other than
Ramadaan, rather this makes them kaafirs in the sense of major kufr (kufr
akbar), even if they do not deny that prayer is obligatory, according to the
more sound of the two scholarly opinions.
How does Shaitan influence us?
Posted by admin
on November 19, 2010
6 comments
This is a short post intended to encourage people to leave comments & questions. So, depending on the level of interest of you guys I may decide to write a full article (with ayats, hadith, tafseer, comments from scholars etc).
We know shaitan (satan) exists, how, because it’s written in the Qur’an. And there’s no other way we know shaitan exist except through definite sources, e.g. Qur’an, ahadith.
We also know that behind all evil there’s shaitan. So, here are some questions and answers:
How much control does man have over their actions if shaitan is influencing us all the time?
Well, we have full control. Shaitan can only suggest an idea or a thought, but he could never force us to do anything. E.g. An attractive women might be passing by, and you are presented with two options; to look or to look away. It would be YOU who would decide to look or look away!
How does Shaitan whisper or plant a thought in our mind?
Simple, by the power of suggestion. It’s similiar to how, for example, the media prepares a whole nation to engage in war, in shedding blood of innocent. They use all their various assets to convince the masses. In the same way shaitan uses all his intellectual assets to influence the course of a person or a nation.
In the above example of an attractive woman passing by, shaitan might plant the following thought to get you to look (in different order of intensity):
- Wow, a beautiful woman.
- Just a quick glance, nothing more.
- No one is looking (!), no one will notice (not even her). Go on, take a quick glance.
- She’ll be gone in few seconds. Hurry! Don’t worry, Allah will forgive you because it’s just a small thing!
Are we really accountable for our actions then?
Yes. Allah (swt) saids, “Every soul is a pledge to his deeds”.
How do you fight shaitan?
It’s important to be clear about how shaitan fights us, i.e. intellectually. He plans ideas in our mind. So, we fight ideas with ideas. We counter bad thoughts with good thought.
Taking the previous example:
When when shaitan saids:
- Wow, a beautiful woman.
We say:
- Yes, maybe, by Allah (swt) forbade me.
When shaitan saids:
- Just a quick glance, nothing more.
We say:
- A quick glance might amount to sin that could shift the balance towards jahannam!
When shaitan saids:
- No one is looking (!), no one will notice (not even her). Go on, take a quick glance. She’ll be gone in few seconds. Hurry! Don’t worry, Allah will forgive you because it’s just a small thing!
We say:
- Allah(swt) is the All Seear and All Hearer. Allah (swt) will reward me for every little deed. Avoiding actions like these is what leads to a happy and purposefull life. Bilaal ibn Sa’d (an early scholar of Islam) said, “Don’t look at the meagerness of your sin, look at who it was that you disobeyed!”
Indeed, life is short, and we shall return to our Lord very soon, when we’ll have to give account of all our deeds, even if it was an atom weight! I know Allah (swt) is the Most Merciful, but Allah (swt) is also the Most Severe in punishment!!