A Fabricated Hadith

Question :

Noble Shaikh, there are fabricated Hadiths regarding the punishment one receives for abandoning the prayer; what is your view concerning such Hadiths?

Answer:

All praise is for Allah, Lord of all that exists; and may peace and blessings be upon Muhammad, his family, and all of his Companions.

I read a publication that was titled "The Punishment for Abandoning the Prayer." In it is the following: "It has been related from the Prophet that whoever is negligent in the prayer, Allah Almighty will punish him with fifteen kinds of punishment."

Then the fifteen kinds of punishment are listed. At the very end of the booklet is written, "We hope that everyone who reads this copy will photocopy it and distribute it to other Muslims."

I also read another pamphlet that began with three verses of the Qur'an, the first one being:
"Nay! But worship Allâh, and be among the grateful."

Then the writer or writers of the publication claimed that by reading the pamphlet, one will bring good to himself within four days. The reader is also requested to make twenty-five copies and to give them to whoever may need them, and then the reader is warned of an impending punishment if he fails to do so.

Now because these two publications consist of falsehood and evil, I deem it necessary to point out that falsehood, so that a person of limited Islamic knowledge will not be mislead. And so seeking guidance from Allah Almighty, I say:
Without a doubt these are means of innovated matters in religion, from those who speak about Allah without knowledge.

Allah Almighty has clarified in His Mighty Book that this is one of the worst sins:

"Say: (But) the things my Lord has indeed forbidden are Al- Fawahish (great evil sins, every kind of unlawful sexual intercourse, etc) whether committed openly or secretly, sins (of all kinds), unrighteous oppression, joining partners (in worship) with Allah for which he has given no authority, and saying things about Allah of which you have no knowledge."

So the person responsible for this should fear Allâh for the evil that he has attributed to Allâh and His Messenger, that being something that has no basis from Allâh or His Messenger For the knowledge of specific punishments is from the unseen, and no one knows anything about that except from revelation that came to Allah's Messenger, and none of this has been mentioned in the Book or the Sunnah.

The Hadith that mentioned fifteen kinds of punishment for someone who abandons the prayer is fabricated, a fact that. eminent scholars have made clear, scholars such as Al-Hafiz Ath-Thahabi in Al-Mizan, and Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajr.

Speaking of one of its narrators, Muhammad bin 'Ali bin Al- 'Abbas Al-Baghdadi Al-'Attar, Ibn Hajr writes in Lisan Al-Mizan, "He ascribed to Abu Bakr bin Ziyad An-Naysaburi a false Hadith regarding people who abandon the prayer. Muhammad bin Ali Al-Muwazini, a Shaikh of Abu An-Narsi, related this Hadith from him. The person referred to (Muhammad bin 'Ali bin Al-'Abbas) claimed that Ibn Ziyad took the Hadith from Ar- Rabi, from Ash-Shafi'i, from Malik, from Summi, from Abul Salih, from Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him. He claimed that the Prophet said: "Whoever is negligent in the prayer, Allah will punish him with fifteen traits." The Hadith is obviously false, made up by those who are members of a deviant order.

The Permanent Committee For Scientific Researches and Religious Verdicts has issued a verdict (on this date: 10/6/ 1401 H), pointing out that this Hadith is false. And how can a sane person be pleased with spreading a fabricated Hadith, especially since, in an authentic Hadith, the Prophet ﷺ said :
"Whoever reports a Hadith from me, knowing it to be a lie, then he is one of the liars."

Moreover, why resort to false proofs when there are sufficient texts from the Qur'an and the authentic Sunnah that deal with the importance of prayer and the punishment for the one who abandons it. Allâh Almighty said:
"Verily, Salah is enjoined on the believers at fixed hours".

He ﷻ also said:
"What has caused you to enter Hell?" They will say: We were not of those who used to perform their Salah,"

They are described as having abandoned the prayer. Allah Almighty said:
"So woe unto those performers of Salah, who delay their Salah from their stated fixed times, those who do good deeds only to be seen (of men), and refuse Al-Ma'uwn (small acts of kind- ness).

The Prophet ﷺ said :
"Islam is founded on five: to hear witness that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, to establish the prayer, to pay the Zakah, to fast Ramadhan, and to make pilgrimage (Hajj) to the Sacred House of Allah for whoever is able to do so."

The Prophet ﷺ also said :
"The covenant between us and between them is the prayer, so whosoever abandons it has indeed disbelieved."

There are many similar verses of the Qur'an and authentic sayings of the Prophet ﷺ.

Next, the second publication, which began with this verse:
"Nay! But worship Allah, and be among the grateful."

The author wrote that whoever distributes it will receive such and such reward, and whoever neglects to distribute it will be punished with such and such punishment, a saying that is the worst kind of falsehood and the greatest kind of lie, a saying that could only issue from the ignorant and the innovator, people who wish to occupy the common people with tales and lies. They want to cause Muslims to deviate from the clear truth, which is found in the Qur'an and the Sunnah.

Both good and harm that befall man are from Allâh alone, and He Almighty alone knows of this matter. Allah Almighty says:
"Say: "None in the heavens and the earth knows the Unseen except Allah."

The Prophet never said that a person who writes three or more verses of the Qur'an receives a special reward, nor did he say that a person who neglects to write them is afflicted with a special punishment. To make such a claim is a fabrication and a falsehood. Needless to say then that it is forbidden to print and to distribute these two publications; it is forbidden to even help spread them in any way whatsoever. If a person has previously been involved in this evil activity, then he should repent to Allah Almighty regretting what he did, resolving never to return to it again. We ask Allah Almighty, that when we see the truth we recognize it to be the truth, and that we then follow it. And we ask Allah Almighty, that when we see falsehood we recognize it to be falsehood, and that we stay away from it. We ask Allah Almighty to protect us from both apparent and hidden trials. May Allah send peace and blessings upon Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.