IMPORTANCE OF SALAH AND THE PUNISHMENT FOR THE ONE WHO NEGLECTS IT.

واذ قلنا للملائكة اسجدوا لادم فسجدوا الا ابليس ابى واستكبر وكان من الكافرين

And [mention] when We said to the angels, "Prostrate before Adam"; so they prostrated, except for Iblees. He refused and was arrogant and became of the disbelievers. 
-[Qur'an: Surah Baqarah- 2:34]

In sha Allah I am going to give a very short explanation about this Ayah, which most importantly highlights the importance of Salah

To begin with, the story behind this particular verse is when Allah (Swt) asks the Angels to prostrate to Adam (alaihissalaam), and this prostration is not the prostration out of worship, rather they were asked to prostrate out of respect. 

When you carefully read the above Ayah you will see that when Allah (Swt) asks the Angels to prostrate to Adam (alaihissalaam), they immediately obeyed Him without any questioning, where as Iblis (Shaytaan) refuses to do so, and this was done out of what? This was done out of pride and arrogance which led him into Kufr (Disbelief). This clearly shows us the difference between the one who obeys the command of Allah and the one who rejects the command of Allah.


Now this Ayah not only relates to the Angels and Shaytaan, but it is something that we can take a lesson out of as well. Keeping this in mind, taking everything as a reminder, first to my self and then to the others I am going to briefly explain the importance of Salah from the reflection of the above Ayah.

Iblis (Shaytaan) refused to prostrate to Adam (alaihissalam) and as a result of that, he became a Kaafir (disbeliever). Now he only refused to prostrate to Adam (alaihissalam), but lets consider this same thing in our lives. How many times, have we refused to prostrate to Allah in our Salah? How can we then think that our fate can be different than that of Shaytaan? He refused to prostrate to the creation of Allah and he became a Kaafir, whilst we refuse to prostrate to The Creator Himself, what do you think our end will be?

He only refused one Sajdhah, what would be the case of the one who refuses many many Sajdhas (Prostration) to Allah? Just one Sajdhah he refused, and look at where he ended up and we think it is ok to leave one Salah, to miss our prayer, to delay our Salah, to neglect it. What are we doing?

Think about it, if a person who does not pray, even if he claims to be a Muslim, he ain't one. Because it is mentioned in a Hadeeth- 
The Messenger of Alalh (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) said- “The difference between us and them is Salaah. Whoever neglects it is a kaafir (Disbeliever).” -(Reported by Imaam Ahmad & Imaan Muslim)

It is also mentioned in the opinion of our Scholars- 
"The one who abandons Salah deliberately,intentionally, he is committing an act of Kufr (disbelief)."

Now that is something very very serious.

We think it is ok, it is only between me and my Lord. Yes, exactly it is between you and your Lord. That is why you have to prostrate to Him. Remember one squeeze in the grave will make you regret every time in your life you refused to perform your Salah. Please be strong enough to give five minutes out of your day for the Lord that gave you so many blessings in life.

Salah is the Haqq of Allah, it is the right of Allah. When Allah gives you 24 hours to live, to breath, to enjoy. Can you not make time for prostration (Salah) before Him? Think about it for a moment, how many hours do  you spend in the gym? And what is that for? To have a healthier, built body. How many hours do you spend in front of the television? What is that for? You are doing all these for a purpose, in order for it to benefit you. Have you for one moment thought that through performing your 5 times Salah, the amount of reward it is going to give you? How much it will benefit you in the Aakhira and how happy Allah is going to be with you?

You have energy for everything, but when it comes to Salah, it is as if you have no life and energy left in your body. This is not fair, He created everything for you and you can't take 5 minutes out of your day to thank Him, to worship Him? 

Question yourself

Did you know that when the son of Adam prostrates to Allah, Shaytaan weeps? He cries. He says- I have refused one Sajdhah and this is where I've ended up in, and he is doing one Sajdhah after the other and he is coming closer to Allah.

So if you refuse to pray to Allah, know that you are imitating the worst enemy of Islam, you are imitating Shaytaan, and that includes imitating his arrogance. So if you are arrogant in worshiping Allah, then who's footsteps are you following? Shaytaans. And that is exactly what he wants you to do, to follow him so that you will end up where he is, that is Jahannam (Hell-Fire)

Please take this matter seriously, because Salaah is everything for a Muslim, and the one who neglects it, his punishment is very, very severe. May Allah protect us and give us the ability to perform our Salah.