With the Hadith
Between Disbelief and Faith is Abandoning Prayer
We greet you all, dear friends, everywhere, in a new episode of your program "With the Hadith" and we start with the best greeting, peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you.
Qutaiba told us: Jarir and Abu Muawiyah told us, from Al-A’mash, from Abu Sufyan, from Jabir, that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: "Between disbelief and faith is abandoning prayer." Jami’ al-Tirmidhi 2663
This hadith separates and clarifies the dividing line between disbelief and faith, that is, the dividing line between the two opposites of disbelief and faith. What separates this matter is prayer, and this matter is a metaphor for worship and adherence to specific and general rulings, so if it is interpreted in the linguistic sense, it means performing the specific acts of worship related to a Muslim's relationship with his Lord, so he must show that he adheres to what brings the servant closer to his Lord, and performs the actions that God Almighty has obligated upon him, such as performing actions that show gratitude, worship, and drawing closer to Him, foremost among which is prayer. If the matter is interpreted in the general sense, which is mentioning something and intending the rulings by it; this matter is possible in the text; so that prayer is a metaphor for the rulings that God Almighty has prescribed for man, so one must not be limited to saying faith, but rather he must follow it with acting in accordance with the requirements of faith, which is implementing the rulings that faith brought and that God Almighty asked of us, and on this basis this text is understood in both matters, and both are correct, and accordingly, we Muslims must adhere to the rulings specific to worship and transactions alike, and firm belief in God Almighty is not the same as not practically implementing this belief, which is implementing the rulings that God Almighty brought.
We ask God to make us among those who believe in God as their Lord and persevere in faith with full commitment as stated in Islamic law for ourselves, and to keep us alive as Muslims and cause us to die as Muslims, Amen.
O God, hasten for us a righteous caliphate on the Prophetic method, in which the disunity of the Muslims is gathered, and what they are in of affliction is lifted from them. O God, illuminate the earth with the light of Your generous face. O God, Amen, Amen.
Dear beloved ones, until we meet you with another prophetic hadith, we leave you in God's care, and may God's peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you.
Written for the radio: Dr. Maher Saleh