Complete Devotion in Salah

Question:

I am a medical student and alhamdullillah we pray 5 times a day in jamaat in one of the rooms of our hostel because mosque is too far. The problem is that some people join the salaah late and before joining they say something funny intentionally to make the praying ones laugh.. What sin does this constitute? , Please shed some light on this issue so that i can make people aware of the sin that they are committing.

Answer:

As-salāmu ‘Alaykum Wa-rahmatullāhi Wa-barakātuh.

In the Name of Allāh, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

We acknowledge receipt of your email with mixed feelings. It gives us great pleasure that amidst the busy schedule you and your colleagues take out time for sake of Allah to glorify Him and perform your obligations. It is nothing but sheer Imaan which spurs you towards your religious obligation. However, at the same time it also instills pangs of agony to see how ignorance of one’s religion can steer someone commit such a disrespectful act as the one you have mentioned.

Allah has chosen Salah as a perfect action which personifies the culmination of worship in Islam. It involves physical worship performed through actions of one’s limb as well as monetary sacrifice through desisting from one’s halal sustenance for the time of Salah. It has Tahmeed (glorification of Allah) as well as Dua’ (supplication) in it. It is enriched with Tilawah (Dhikr through recitation of Quran) as well as Durood (salutation to Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wasallam). In essence Salah becomes an iconic salient feature of Islam, such that anyone seen engaging in it cannot be doubted as a non-Muslim. Allah intends to raise the status of Muslims and these Salah and other worships are stipulated so that Muslims perform them and get their status increased.

With a worship of such excellence, it is inconceivable that a Muslim could mock or make fun of it. Intentionally downplaying any salient feature of Islam renders a person Kafir. Hence it is very important that you inform your friends about the graveness of their misdeed. Imagine that a person is engaged in a conversation with Allah through Salah, and someone jokes and tries to make the person laugh. What would the anger of Allah be? Are we really prepared to face Allah in such a condition?

And Allah Ta‘ala Knows Best

Mufti Faisal al-Mahmudi

Checked and Concurred by,
Mufti Luqman Hansrot