Surah Maryam (19) — Ayah 59

(Ayah 59) ➊ The word {فَخَلَفَ مِنْۢ بَعْدِهِمْ خَلْفٌ : } with a sukoon on the "lam" ({ ’’ خَلْفٌ ‘‘}) is used for both "children" (offspring) in singular and plural, and is mostly used for evil offspring and in a condemnatory sense. With a fatha on the "lam" ({’’ خَلَفٌ‘‘}), it means "successor," whether that is a child or someone else. Its usage is mostly for praise and commendation, and both words can be used interchangeably.

➋ In neglecting prayer, the first innovation is the belief that faith (iman) is only affirmation by the heart and declaration by the tongue, and that with these two, faith is complete. If one acts, it is good and his rank increases, otherwise there is neither decrease nor increase in faith. However, Allah has declared prayer to be faith, as He said: «{ وَ مَا كَانَ اللّٰهُ لِيُضِيْعَ اِيْمَانَكُمْ }» [ البقرۃ : ۱۴۳] "And Allah would never let your faith go to waste." But these people refused to accept prayer as faith; the one who prays is a believer, and the one who does not pray is also a believer, as long as he does not deny it, he is a firm believer. Then the innovation that prayer is only of the heart, and that standing, bowing, and prostration are unnecessary, and calling this "tariqah" and "ma'rifah" is a common excuse for neglecting prayer.

In addition, not praying at the correct time, or not praying according to the method taught by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), sometimes praying and sometimes not, or abandoning it altogether, are all forms of neglecting prayer. By abandoning prayer, a person loses the last practical testimony of Islam. Therefore, according to the statement of Imam Ahmad and one statement of Imam Shafi'i, the one who abandons prayer is a disbeliever. This is not the place for detail; see the commentary of Surah Tawbah, verses (5) and (11). A hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) appears decisive for this discussion. Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: [ لَتُنْتَقَضَنَّ عُرَی الْإِسْلَامِ عُرْوَةً عُرْوَةً فَكُلَّمَا انْتَقَضَتْ عُرْوَةٌ تَشَبَّثَ النَّاسُ بِالَّتِيْ تَلِيْهَا فَأَوَّلُهُنَّ نَقْضًا الْحُكْمُ وَ آخِرُهُنَّ الصَّلَاةُ ] [ صحیح ابن حبان، التاریخ، باب ذکر الأخبار بأن أول ما یظھر… : ۶۷۱۵۔ مسند أحمد : 251/5، ح : ۲۲۲۲۲ ] "The links of Islam will be broken one by one; whenever a link is broken, people will hold firmly to the next one. The first to be broken will be 'ruling' (i.e., judging according to what Allah has revealed), and the last will be prayer."

➌ { وَ اتَّبَعُوا الشَّهَوٰتِ :} There are many desires and passions in a human being. Allah has prescribed lawful ways for the fulfillment of every desire. For example, to fulfill the innate desire for worship, worshipping only Allah according to the method of His Messenger (peace be upon him); for sexual desire, marriage and keeping slave women; for greed for wealth, earning and spending wealth in lawful ways and giving its zakah; for the instinct of anger, directing it towards jihad against disbelievers and enemies of Islam. In short, He has provided means to fulfill every natural urge and has also set limits for transgressing Allah's commands. He declared shirk an unforgivable crime, set the hadd for adultery, declared the act of the people of Lut forbidden, declared usury forbidden, set the hadd for robbery and theft, and made qisas or blood money obligatory for those who kill or injure others. Just as the unworthy successors of previous prophets followed their base desires instead of Allah's commands, so too, according to the prophecy of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), the desire-followers of our ummah did the same. In fact, they made up their own legal rules and presented them as Allah's commands, by which Allah's limits were completely nullified. Along with this, to escape the punishment for every forbidden act, they changed its name or invented a trick to avoid the hadd. The shirk-based beliefs and actions of "wahdat al-wujud" and "tasawwur shaykh" were given the attractive names of "tariqah" and "ma'rifah." To escape the punishment for adultery, it was said that if a woman is brought for a fee and adultery is committed with her, there is no hadd. Adultery was named "halalah" and "mut'ah." If one knowingly marries and commits adultery with one's mother, sister, daughter, or other mahrams, knowing it is forbidden, the hadd was declared waived. The adultery of the ears and eyes was called "sama'," "food for the soul," or "art and fine arts." Usury was made lawful but named "profit." In dar al-harb, usury was declared completely permissible. Any trick to deliberately avoid zakah was made permissible, and it was said that this is not even disliked. If someone likes a beautiful girl and, by producing false witnesses, gets a judgment in his favor from a judge and commits adultery with her, he is declared free from accountability before Allah as well. If caught for adultery, even if four witnesses testify, the hadd is dropped merely by the adulterer saying, "She is my wife," even if he cannot provide any proof of her being his wife, and even if the woman cries out that she is not his wife but someone else's. Any wine made from anything other than grapes and dates was declared lawful, and even if it intoxicates, the hadd was dropped, and its name was changed to "nabidh," "tala," or something else. If someone kills deliberately but not with a sharp weapon, or not with fire or shooting, qisas was dropped, even if he kills by committing sodomy, or by stoning, or by putting in a block of ice, or by drowning, or by imprisoning and starving, or by walling up, qisas was dropped and only blood money could be taken. If theft is proven by witnesses, but the thief merely claims, "I am the owner," even if he provides no proof of ownership, the hadd was suspended. In short, the life, wealth, and honor of people were not as destroyed among Jews, Christians, and polytheists as Muslims destroyed them in following their desires and named it Islamic law. Those people did all this by inventing tricks, but most current Muslim rulers have even abandoned the pretense of tricks and, in plain words, called Allah's command barbaric and have abandoned even the last link of Islam, prayer. In short, the statement of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came true: [ لَتَتَّبِعُنَّ سَنَنَ مَنْ قَبْلَكُمْ شِبْرًا بِشِبْرٍ وَذِرَاعًا بِذِرَاعٍ حَتّٰی لَوْ سَلَكُوْا جُحْرَ ضَبٍّ لَسَلَكْتُمُوْهُ] [بخاري، أحادیث الأنبیاء، باب نزول عیسی ابن مریم علیھا السلام : ۳۴۵۶، عن أبي سعید رضی اللہ عنہ ] "You will surely follow the ways of those before you, handspan by handspan and arm by arm, so much so that if they entered a lizard's hole, you would surely enter it too." The result, in the form of the subjugation of Muslims and the domination of Allah's enemies over them, is before everyone, which Allah has called {’’ غَيًّا ‘‘} (misguidance). The remedy for this is also what Allah has stated in the next verse.

➍ { فَسَوْفَ يَلْقَوْنَ غَيًّا:} "They will meet misguidance" means that in both this world and the Hereafter, they will not find the path to Paradise and will remain astray from it. Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) has interpreted {’’ غَيًّا ‘‘} as loss. [ طبري بسند ثابت ] The interpretation of {’’ غَيًّا ‘‘} as a valley or well of Hell is not proven with an authentic chain from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) or from Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him). However, it is correct that the whole of Hell is the evil end of misguidance, which the criminals will reach.