A Game Instead of Ṣalāh

If you look at our situation — and remember what we said: for everything Allah (swt) has mentioned about Banū Isrāʾīl, there are going to be some people from this ummah who fall into the same mistake. The difference between our ummah, the ummah of Muhammad (peace be upon him), and Banū Isrāʾīl is that with Banū Isrāʾīl it was a general problem, and it ended up causing the wrath of Allah to be upon them. But with the ummah of Muhammad (peace be upon him), the problem will be with some, and there are going to be some who are continuously on the straight path. That is the difference.

Lā tazālu ṭāʾifatun min ummatī ʿalā al-ḥaqq, lā yaḍurruhum man khālafahum ḥattā taqūma al-sāʿah — there will be a group of my ummah on the straight path; any disagreement with them will not harm them, until the Day of Judgement. And the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) also says: la-tattabiʿunna sunana man kāna qablakum ḥadhwa al-qudhdhati bil-qudhdhah, ḥattā law dakhalū juḥra ḍabbin la-dakhaltumūh — you will follow the footsteps of the nations before you, step by step, inch by inch; even if they enter the hole of a lizard, you are going to follow them there. The Companions said: the Yahūd and the Naṣārā — the Jews and the Christians? The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: fa-man idhan — who else?

So there are going to be some of the ummah of Muhammad (peace be upon him) who are going to follow the footsteps of the Jews and the Christians, and there are going to be some of the Muslims who are going to learn the lesson and not commit the same mistake.

Banū Isrāʾīl refused to pay the price. They did not want to give up anything for the sake of freedom, for the sake of Allah, or for the sake of establishment. And we find that our situation is not very different. Banū Isrāʾīl refused to give up the habit of eating garlic and onions and lentils. Well, we have some who are not willing to give up a football game or a basketball game and come to ṣalāh. If the game is at the time of ʿIshāʾ, or ʿAṣr, or Maghrib — I am not going to leave the TV set and go to the masjid. I am not going to leave. Banū Isrāʾīl — at least theirs was an issue of food. Here we are talking about something that does not benefit, but harms: sitting in front of the tube watching a basketball game, or a soccer game, or a football game, and leaving the ṣalāh.

Or another habit — because what we are talking about here is breaking a habit. We are not even willing to break a habit for the sake of Allah. You could have someone who wakes up at 7:30 in the morning every day. The time of Ṣalāt al-Fajr ends at sunrise, so it is too late to pray Fajr by then. Well, you know, I cannot sacrifice my sleep; I am not going to wake up early. But why are you waking up at 7:30? Because of work. I am willing to wake up at 7:30 and sacrifice for work, but I am not willing to wake up for Ṣalāt al-Fajr.

Inna al-ṣalāta kānat ʿalā al-muʾminīna kitāban mawqūtā — the ṣalāh has to be done at its specific time. If you intentionally plan to pray a ṣalāh after its time, it is not accepted. If you intentionally plan to pray Fajr after the time of Fajr is over, it is an unaccepted ṣalāh, because you are doing it intentionally. It is forgiven when you are doing it with an excuse — like when you slept unintentionally, or you forgot, or you were in a very extreme situation and could not pray. Then you can make qaḍāʾ, and Allah (swt) will forgive it. But if you intentionally plan, on a daily basis, to delay the ṣalāh until its time is over, that ṣalāh is not accepted, because it is past its time.

If we look at our situation, we find that there is a lot to learn from this story. We are not willing to give up our habits. When we are talking about giving time, or giving effort, or giving money, we hold back. The religion of Allah is not something that we can take lightly, because Allah (swt) says: yā Yaḥyā khudhi al-kitāba bi-quwwah^*** — take the Book with strength. Allah (swt) is telling Banū Isrāʾīl: take this religion with strength. You have to take it seriously.