Book Name:Namaz Ki Ahmiyat
When he dug his sister’s grave open, he found it to be filled with flames of fire. He hurriedly filled the grave back up and rushed to his mother in tears, exclaiming, ‘Dear mother! What were the deeds of my sister?’ She said, ‘Son! Why are you asking?’ He replied, ‘I have seen flames of fire blazing in her grave.’ Upon hearing this, his mother began to cry and said, ‘Your sister was lazy in offering Salah and would offer it after the stipulated time (i.e. she used to offer Salah after making it Qada).’ (Mukashafat al-Qulub, pp. 189)
صَلُّوۡا عَلَى الۡحَبِيۡب صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلٰى مُحَمَّد
Dear Islamic brothers! Drawing on what we have just heard, we come to know that being lazy in offering Salah is a very big sin, and a cause for being punished in the grave. We should all try our best to offer Salah wholeheartedly, five times a day and with the masjid congregation. Do not be lazy when it comes to Salah, even if just a little, as showing laziness and negligence towards Salah is a sign of hypocrisy. When standing to offer Salah with the Muslims, hypocrites would do so lazily and sluggishly, because they had no faith in their hearts. Due to this lack of faith, they were unable to taste the spiritual contentment of worship and servitude. They used to offer Salah just to show off to people. Allah Almighty says regarding them in the 5th Juz of the Holy Quran, 142nd verse of Surah al-Nisa:
وَ اِذَا قَامُوْۤا اِلَى الصَّلٰوةِ قَامُوْا كُسَالٰىۙ-
Translation from Kanz al-Iman: And when they stand up for Salah, they do it unwillingly.
Explaining this sacred verse, it is written in Tafseer Sirat al-Jinan:
Signs of laziness in Salah include: not offering it entirely, only offering it in front of people but not when alone, exhibiting concentration when praying in front of people but rushing through it when alone, taking one’s thoughts here and there when offering Salah, not striving to offer Salah slowly with composure, along with many others. (Sirat al-Jinan, vol. 2, pp. 335)
Alas! Nowadays, we miss our Salah just because of laziness. We immediately become active from being lazy when it comes to committing a sin. Some