سورة الماعون

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn Fudayl said: I asked the righteous servant, Imam Musa Kazim (peace be upon him), about the word of Allah the Mighty and Majestic, الَّذِینَ هُمْ عَنْ صَلاتِهِمْ ساهُونَ [Who are unmindful of their prayers]. He said: "It is neglecting [the right of the prayer]."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) has narrated from Imam Ali (peace be upon him) that he said: No deed is more beloved to Allah than the prayer, so let no affair of the world's affairs keep you back from the prayer at its earliest time. Allah the Mighty and Majestic censured certain peoples and said: الَّذِینَ هُمْ عَنْ صَلاتِهِمْ ساهُونَ [Who are unmindful of their prayers], that is, those who, out of heedlessness, take the times of the prayer lightly.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Yunus ibn Ammar said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about the words of Allah the Exalted: الَّذِینَ هُمْ عَن صَلَاتِهِمْ سَاهُونَ [Who are unmindful of their prayers]: "Is this the whispering of Satan?" He said: "No, not everyone is afflicted by this. Rather, it means the one who neglects the prayer and abandons performing it at the beginning of its time."

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): هُمْ عَنْ صَلَاتِهِمْ سَاهُونَ [They who are unmindful of their prayers] — what is meant is those who abandon the prayer, because prayer slips from the mind of every human being.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): What is meant in this phrase is delaying the prayer from the beginning of its time without any excuse.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that he said: "He is the one who, without any excuse, delays the prayer of the beginning of the time to a later time."

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): They are those who delay the prayer from its proper times.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about the words of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: الَّذِینَ هُمْ عَن صَلَاتِهِمْ سَاهُونَ [Who are unmindful of their prayers], and he said: "What is meant is abandoning the prayer and being lax about it."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Prayer is the pillar of religion. Whoever deliberately abandons his prayer has demolished his religion, and whoever neglects its appointed times will enter "Wayl" — and Wayl is a valley in Hell, as Allah has said: فَوَیْلٌ لِلْمُصَلِّینَ * الَّذِینَ هُمْ عَنْ صَلاتِهِمْ ساهُونَ [So woe to those who pray, who are unmindful of their prayers].

Fiqh al-Rida (peace be upon him): The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "Guard the appointed times of the prayers, for the servant is not safe from mishaps. Whoever is entered upon by the time of an obligatory prayer and deliberately falls short in it is a sinner, and Allah's words: فَوَیْلٌ لِلْمُصَلِّینَ * الَّذِینَ هُمْ عَنْ صَلاتِهِمْ ساهُونَ [So woe to those who pray, who are unmindful of their prayers] include him — the meaning is those who are heedless of the time of the prayer. Know that after knowing Allah, the best of the obligations are the five prayers, and the first of the prayers is the Zuhr prayer, and the first thing about which the servant will be called to account is the prayer; so if his prayer is sound, whatever else besides it is sound, and if it is rejected, whatever else besides it is rejected. Beware of being lazy about it, or slack in it, or belittling its right, or wasting its limit and limits, or pecking at it like a rooster pecks, or making light of it, or occupying yourself away from it with some worldly matter, or performing it outside its time."