سورة مريم

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): فَخَلَفَ مِن بَعْدِهِمْ خَلْفٌ [Then there succeeded them a generation] — what is meant are the evil successors, and the proof of that is the continuation of the verse: أَضَاعُوا الصَّلَاة [They neglected prayer].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): فَخَلَفَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ خَلْفٌ [Then there succeeded them a generation] — al-khalaf is the evil replacement; that is, after the prophets who were mentioned [in the previous verses], an evil people remained, namely the Jews and their followers. أَضاعُوا الصَّلاةَ [They neglected prayer] — that is, they abandoned it or delayed it beyond its times.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Dawud ibn Farqad said: I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "The saying of Allah the Exalted: إِنَّ الصَّلاةَ کانَتْ عَلَی الْمُؤْمِنِینَ کِتاباً مَوْقُوتاً [Indeed prayer is a fixed and appointed duty upon the believers!] (Nisa/103) [what does it mean]?" He said: "[Prayer] is a fixed duty, and it is not such that if you offer it a little earlier or delay it a little it will harm you, so long as you do not neglect it with that neglect [which the verse of the Quran has forbidden]. Allah the Mighty and Majestic says of a people: أَضاعُوا الصَّلاةَ وَ اتَّبَعُوا الشَّهَواتِ فَسَوْفَ یَلْقَوْنَ غَیّاً [They neglected prayer and followed sensual desires, so they will meet perdition]."

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): O son of Mas'ud! After me a people will come who eat colourful and delicious foods, ride mounts, adorn themselves as a woman adorns herself for her husband, and display their adornment to others as women do; their clothing is the clothing of oppressive kings. These are the hypocrites of the ummah in the end times: they drink wine, play at dice, are ruled by their whims and desires, abandon the congregation, do not perform the night ('isha) prayer, and are excessive in oppression. And Allah the Exalted says: فَخَلَفَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ خَلْفٌ أَضاعُوا الصَّلاةَ وَ اتَّبَعُوا الشَّهَواتِ فَسَوْفَ یَلْقَوْنَ غَیًّا [Then there succeeded them a generation who neglected prayer and followed sensual desires, so they will meet perdition]. O son of Mas'ud! Their likeness is like the oleander — its blossom is beautiful but its taste is bitter.

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him) (a letter that Imam Zayn al-Abidin (peace be upon him) wrote to Muhammad ibn Muslim al-Zuhri): What is the matter with you that you do not wake from the sleep of heedlessness and do not restrain yourself from your slips, so that you might say: By Allah, in all my life I have not once risen up purely for the sake of Allah to revive a religion of Allah or put an end to a falsehood. Is this then your gratitude to the One who has taken upon Himself the provision of your livelihood? How fearful I am that you may be among those about whom Allah the Exalted said in the Quran: أَضاعُوا الصَّلاةَ وَ اتَّبَعُوا الشَّهَواتِ فَسَوْفَ یَلْقَوْنَ غَیًّا [They neglected the prayer and followed lusts, so they shall meet perdition]. Allah placed His Book within your reach and taught you its knowledge, but you have squandered it. So we praise Allah, who preserved us from that with which you have been afflicted.

Imam Mahdi (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance) (a supplication for the occultation of Imam Mahdi): O Allah, suffice Your guardian and Your proof on Your earth against the fear of his enemy, and plot against whoever plots against him, and scheme against whoever schemes against him, and place the turn of evil upon those who intend evil for him, cut off their root, and through him strike terror into their hearts and make their feet tremble for him, and seize them openly or by surprise, multiply Your punishment upon them and humiliate them among Your servants, and curse them in Your lands, and settle them in the lowest point of Your Fire, and encompass them with the severest of Your torment, and cast them into the Fire of Hell. Indeed, they neglected the prayer and followed lusts and brought Your servants to humiliation.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): If any from my Ummah possess four qualities, they will enter Paradise: they do not soil themselves with the world, they do not follow their desires, they guard their stomach, and they guard their private parts.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): وَ اتَّبَعُوا الشَّهَواتِ [And they followed lusts] — the one who erects a solid building, and rides what pleases his eye, and wears [the garment of fame and] the costly garment.

Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him): When he came from Basra to Kufa, he came forward and ascended the pulpit, praised and glorified Allah, then said: As to what follows, praise be to Allah who aided His friend, humiliated His enemy, honoured the truthful upholder of the truth, and abased the lying propagator of falsehood. O inhabitants of this city, adopt the taqwa (Allah-consciousness) of Allah, and do not separate from the obedience of that group of the Ahl al-Bayt of your Prophet who themselves have obeyed Allah — those who are more deserving of your obedience in what they themselves have obeyed Allah, than that group of individuals who attach themselves to the truth [falsely] and claim it and stand against us, who by our merit present themselves as possessors of merit and deny that same merit concerning us, and dispute with us over our own right and push us aside from it. Certainly they have tasted the evil consequence and burden of their ugly deeds, and they will soon reach the punishment of this corruption [in the hereafter] — فَسَوْفَ یَلْقَوْنَ غَیًّا [so they will meet perdition]. Indeed, a number of men from among you have withdrawn from aiding me, and I reproach them for this ugly act and censure and rebuke them. You too keep away from them and speak ill of them, and let harsh words reach their ears, so that they yield to gaining our satisfaction or we see from them an act that pleases us.

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Isa ibn Dawud al-Najjar said: I asked Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) about the interpretation of this verse — Allah says: فَخَلَفَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ خَلْفٌ أَضاعُوا الصَّلاةَ وَ اتَّبَعُوا الشَّهَواتِ فَسَوْفَ یَلْقَوْنَ غَیًّا [But there came after them an evil generation, who neglected prayers and followed sensual desires, so they will meet perdition]. ... And it is a mountain of molten copper that revolves in the middle of Hell. Then He says: إِلَّا مَنْ تابَ [except him who repents] — except one who repents from betraying the family of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family). وَ آمَنَ وَ عَمِلَ صالِحاً فَأُولئِکَ یَدْخُلُونَ الْجَنَّةَ وَ لا یُظْلَمُونَ شَیْئاً [and believes and does righteous deeds — those will enter Paradise and will not be wronged in anything] up to مَنْ کانَ تَقِیًّا [whoever is Allah-fearing].