The Brook Before the House

The fourth virtue of ṣalāh: the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) also informs us that when ṣalāh is performed, our minor sins are constantly wiped off, cleansed from us, washed away from us. The sins committed between each ṣalāh — from Ẓuhr to ʿAṣr, ʿAṣr to Maghrib, Maghrib to ʿIshāʾ, ʿIshāʾ to Fajr, Fajr to Ẓuhr, Ẓuhr to ʿAṣr, in a continual fashion — are all automatically washed off. This is a guarantee. To illustrate this particular point, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) asked his companions what they would say of a man living in a house in front of which — right in front of it — runs a clear, beautiful brook of water, a river, crystal clear; a farmer living in that place, who every day jumps into that water and washes himself so nicely, so beautifully, five times a day. Would he be regarded among his friends as an unhygienic, dirty person — a man who goes into the water five times a day, having five showers a day, five complete showers, with no water restrictions, not three-minute showers, simply jumping in and out, with no swimming in it? They said: no, O Messenger of Allah; he would be the cleanest person among us. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: so too is a person who prays five times a day cleansed by Allah (swt) of his minor sins, like the person who washes himself in that brook of clear water five times a day.

What of the major sins? If a person has committed major sins and has gone to the other side without making tawbah, his case is up to Allah (swt). The major sins he committed towards Allah (swt) he has to make tawbah from; and there are certain kinds of major sin he may have committed from which even asking forgiveness of Allah (swt) does not free him — such as still owing qaḍāʾ ṣalāh, having not prayed for five years since puberty. Until that ṣalāh is paid back, he is still in debt to Allah (swt); he needs to pay it back. What of what is owed to other people? That is ḥuqūq al-ʿibād, the rights of others — nothing to do with Allah (swt) — and that is a major sin: those people must be made up with, in order for one's tawbah to be a proper tawbah, one's asking for forgiveness, one's repentance, a proper repentance. But if a person dies in such a state, then on the Day of Judgement, if Allah wills — if He wishes to treat him not with His mercy but with His absolute fairness and justice — He may, if He wishes, punish him, and if He wishes, forgive him. In Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamāʿah it is not said that a person who dies with a major sin is condemned to Jahannam forever; that is never said. That is what the Khawārij used to say. What is said is that no matter how bad a Muslim is — in anybody's book the worst possible Muslim — as long as he or she dies, passes to the other side, with īmān, in a state of Islam, that person has a case with Allah (swt): no matter how much he suffers in Jahannam as a result of the fairness and justice of Allah (swt), he or she will eventually, after burning, go and live in Jannah forever. That is our belief. So ṣalāh expiates our minor sins; that is guaranteed. For the major sins, a particular path must be taken, particular special steps, to ask for forgiveness.