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Taking Prayer Lightly

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Taking Prayer Lightly (Arabic: إستخفاف الصلاة, Istikhfāf al-Ṣalāt), means disregarding the status of prayer, which may occur in the form of letting the prayer time pass until it becomes Qada (missed) or performing its obligatory parts defectively.

There is a difference of opinion regarding the instances of this behavior; some consider delaying prayer without an excuse, distraction, or lack of humility as examples of it. However, others believe that these cases do not fit the definition of taking prayer lightly, which is associated with the threat of divine punishment in hadiths.

Shi'a jurists consider taking prayer lightly to be forbidden (haram). In narrations, consequences such as deprivation of the intercession of the Ahl al-Bayt (a), non-acceptance of prayer, shortened lifespan, death with humiliation, and Punishment of the Grave have been mentioned for this act.

Importance

Al-Turayhi in Majma' al-bahrayn has considered Istikhfaf al-Salat to mean insulting and belittling it through rejection or denial.[1] Some researchers maintain that this definition pertains to denying the importance and status of prayer, rather than rejecting its legitimacy (mashru'iyya) in principle.[2]

Numerous narrations have forbidden believers from taking prayer lightly,[3] which have been collected in a separate chapter in the book Wasa'il al-Shi'a.[4] Prayer is known as the symbol of the religion of Islam, and any disregard for it is in fact considered disregard for the entire Shari'a; therefore, it has been suggested that the warnings and threats about taking it lightly are for this reason.[5]

Shi'a jurists consider taking prayer lightly to be forbidden.[6] According to Morteza Motahhari, one who takes prayer lightly falls under the verse "They will say, 'We were not of those who prayed'" (Qur'an 74:43)[7] and belittling and disregarding prayer removes the individual from the rank of those who pray on the Day of Resurrection.[8]

Instances

Numerous instances have been mentioned for taking prayer lightly, the most important of which include the following: missing prayer due to negligence,[9] abandoning prayer without excuse, carelessness in performing the obligatory parts of prayer,[10] not attending congregational prayer due to considering it unimportant,[11] delaying prayer from its Prime Time (awwal al-waqt) without reason,[12] inattention to learning the rulings of prayer, distraction, and haste in reciting the dhikrs of prayer such that the dhikr of Ruku' and prostration is not recited completely.[13]

Some researchers, citing the otherworldly threats and the forbidden nature of this act in narrations, believe that the instances of taking prayer lightly are limited to essential matters and obligatory acts and do not include recommended acts.[14] In contrast, others believe that taking prayer lightly has degrees, and abandoning the recommended acts of prayer by the Friends of God (awliya' Allah) can be considered an instance of disregarding prayer.[15]

Consequences

  1. Removal of blessing from lifespan.
  2. Removal of blessing from sustenance.
  3. Removal of light from the face.
  4. Non-acceptance of deeds.
  5. Non-acceptance of supplication.
  6. Deprivation of the prayers of others.
  7. Death with humiliation.
  8. Dying hungry.
  9. Dying thirsty, such that no amount of water quenches the thirst.
  10. Darkness of the grave.
  11. Punishment of the Grave.
  12. Being dragged on the face in the Hereafter in front of creatures.
  13. Hard reckoning in the Hereafter.
  14. Painful otherworldly punishment.
  15. Deprivation of God's merciful gaze.[21]

Notes

  1. ↑ Ṭurayḥī, Majmaʿ al-baḥrayn, 1375 Sh, vol. 4, p. 48.
  2. ↑ Ṭayyib Ḥusaynī & Jūlāyī, "Mafhūm-shināsī-yi istikhfāf wa iḍāʿa-yi namāz...", p. 62.
  3. ↑ Ṭayyib Ḥusaynī & Jūlāyī, "Mafhūm-shināsī-yi istikhfāf wa iḍāʿa-yi namāz...", p. 58.
  4. ↑ Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, 1409 AH, vol. 4, p. 23.
  5. ↑ "Hushdārhā-yi ijtimāʿī; sabuk-shimurdan-i dīn wa namādhā-yi dīnī", Pāygāh-i Iṭṭilāʿ-rasānī-yi Ḥawza.
  6. ↑ Shāhrūdī, Kitāb al-ḥajj, 1402 AH, vol. 1, p. 17; Madanī Kāshānī, Barāhīn al-ḥajj, 1411 AH, vol. 1, p. 15.
  7. ↑ Qur'an 74:43.
  8. ↑ Muṭahharī, Āshnāyī bā Qurʾān, 1402 Sh, vol. 10, pp. 170-171.
  9. ↑ Tabrīzī, Ṣirāṭ al-najāt, 1427 AH, vol. 10, p. 429.
  10. ↑ "Kitāb al-ṣalāt/ Barrasī-yi maʿnā-yi istikhfāf dar namāz...", Pāygāh-i Iṭṭilāʿ-rasānī-yi Muḥammad Taqī Shahīdī.
  11. ↑ Khūʾī, Ṣirāṭ al-najāt, 1416 AH, vol. 3, p. 332.
  12. ↑ Yūsufiyān & Ilhāmī, Akhlāq-i Islāmī, 1376 Sh, vol. 1, p. 53.
  13. ↑ Yūsufiyān & Ilhāmī, Akhlāq-i Islāmī, 1376 Sh, vol. 1, p. 53.
  14. ↑ Ṭayyib Ḥusaynī & Jūlāyī, "Mafhūm-shināsī-yi istikhfāf wa iḍāʿa-yi namāz...", pp. 63–66, 74.
  15. ↑ Ṭayyib Ḥusaynī & Jūlāyī, "Mafhūm-shināsī-yi istikhfāf wa iḍāʿa-yi namāz...", p. 74.
  16. ↑ Kulaynī, Al-Kāfī, 1407 AH, vol. 3, p. 269.
  17. ↑ Ṣadūq, Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh, 1367 Sh, vol. 1, p. 206.
  18. ↑ Ṣadūq, Al-Amālī, 1376 Sh, p. 484.
  19. ↑ Barqī, Al-Maḥāsin, 1371 AH, vol. 1, p. 79.
  20. ↑ Ibn Ṭāwūs, Falāḥ al-sāʾil, 1406 AH, p. 22.
  21. ↑ Ibn Ṭāwūs, Falāḥ al-sāʾil, 1406 AH, p. 22.

References

  • Barqī, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-. Al-Maḥāsin. Edited by Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥaddith. Qom: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 2nd ed., 1371 AH.
  • Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan al-. Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa. Qom: Muʾassasat Āl al-Bayt (a), 1409 AH.
  • Ibn Ṭāwūs, ʿAlī b. Mūsā. Falāḥ al-sāʾil wa najāḥ al-masāʾil. Qom: Daftar-i Tablīghāt-i Islāmī, 1st ed., 1406 AH.
  • Khūʾī, Sayyid Abū l-Qāsim al-. Ṣirāṭ al-najāt (muḥashshā). Qom: Maktab Nashr al-Muntakhab, 1st ed., 1416 AH.
  • Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. Al-Kāfī. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 4th ed., 1407 AH.
  • Madanī Kāshānī, Riḍā. Barāhīn al-ḥajj li-l-fuqahāʾ wa l-ḥujaj. Kashan: Madrasa ʿIlmiyya Āyatullāh Madanī Kāshānī, 3rd ed., 1411 AH.
  • Muṭahharī, Murtaḍā. Āshnāyī bā Qurʾān. Tehran: Ṣadrā, 1402 Sh / 1445 AH.
  • Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Al-Amālī. Tehran: Kitābchī, 6th ed., 1376 Sh.
  • Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh. Tehran: Nashr-i Ṣadūq, 1367 Sh.
  • Shāhrūdī, Sayyid Maḥmūd. Kitāb al-ḥajj. Qom: Muʾassasat Anṣāriyān, 1st ed., 1402 AH.
  • Tabrīzī, Jawād. Ṣirāṭ al-najāt. Qom: Dār al-Ṣadīqa al-Shahīda, 1st ed., 1427 AH.
  • Ṭayyib Ḥusaynī, Sayyid Maḥmūd & Maryam Jūlāyī. "Mafhūm-shināsī-yi istikhfāf wa iḍāʿa-yi namāz wa tahāwun nisbat bi ān". Muṭālaʿāt-i Fiqh-i Muʿāṣir (Quarterly journal), no. 4, Autumn–Winter 1396 Sh.
  • Ṭurayḥī, Fakhr al-Dīn al-. Majmaʿ al-baḥrayn. Edited by Sayyid Aḥmad Ḥusaynī. Tehran: Kitābfurūshī-yi Murtaḍawī, 3rd ed., 1375 Sh.
  • Yūsufiyān, Niʿmatullāh & ʿAlī Aṣghar Ilhāmī. Akhlāq-i Islāmī. Qom: Idāra-yi Āmūzishhā-yi ʿAqīdatī Siyāsī Namāyandigī-yi Walī Faqīh Sipāh, 1st ed., 1376 Sh.
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