Surah Al-Muddaththir (74) — Ayah 43

(Ayah 43 to 46) ➊ { قَالُوْا لَمْ نَكُ مِنَ الْمُصَلِّيْنَ … :} The inhabitants of Hell will mention four reasons for their entry into Hell: first, that they were not among those who performed prayer; second, that they did not feed the needy; third, that they used to sit in gatherings to mock and deny matters of religion through idle debate; and fourth, that they denied the Day of Recompense. Their details are as follows: (1) Prayer is among those pillars of faith without which a person cannot be included in the Islamic community, nor can he attain the brotherhood of religion mentioned in {’’ اِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُوْنَ اِخْوَةٌ ‘‘}, as He said: « فَاِنْ تَابُوْا وَ اَقَامُوا الصَّلٰوةَ وَ اٰتَوُا الزَّكٰوةَ فَاِخْوَانُكُمْ فِي الدِّيْنِ» [ التوبۃ : ۱۱ ] “But if they repent, establish prayer, and give zakah, then they are your brothers in religion.” In fact, until a person accepts faith and establishes prayer and gives zakah, he is to be fought against; the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: [ أُمِرْتُ أَنْ أُقَاتِلَ النَّاسَ حَتّٰی يَشْهَدُوْا أَلَّا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللّٰهُ وَ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَّسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ وَ يُقِيْمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَ يُؤْتُوا الزَّكَاةَ فَإِذَا فَعَلُوْا ذٰلِكَ عَصَمُوْا مِنِّيْ دِمَائَهُمْ وَ أَمْوَالَهُمْ إِلَّا بِحَقِّ الْإِسْلَامِ وَ حِسَابُهُمْ عَلَي اللّٰهِ ] [ بخاري، الإیمان، باب: « فإن تابوا وأقاموا الصلاۃ…» : ۲۵ ] “I have been commanded to fight the people until they testify that there is no deity except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and establish prayer and give zakah. If they do that, they have protected their blood and wealth from me, except by the right of Islam, and their reckoning is with Allah.”
(2) The admission of the inhabitants of Hell that they did not feed the needy is evidence of how essential it is in Islam to feed the poor. (3) Mocking the verses of Allah and engaging in idle debate about them is proof that they did not believe in them. If any Muslim commits this, he also becomes a disbeliever, as Allah the Exalted said: « وَ لَىِٕنْ سَاَلْتَهُمْ لَيَقُوْلُنَّ اِنَّمَا كُنَّا نَخُوْضُ وَ نَلْعَبُ قُلْ اَبِاللّٰهِ وَ اٰيٰتِهٖ وَ رَسُوْلِهٖ كُنْتُمْ تَسْتَهْزِءُوْنَ (65) لَا تَعْتَذِرُوْا قَدْ كَفَرْتُمْ بَعْدَ اِيْمَانِكُمْ » [ التوبۃ : 66،65 ] “If you ask them, they will surely say, ‘We were only conversing and playing.’ Say, ‘Was it Allah and His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking?’ Make no excuse; you have disbelieved after your belief.” (4) Belief in the Day of Resurrection is a fundamental condition of faith; without it, a person is not a Muslim. In the Hadith of Jibril, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) defined faith as follows: [ أَنْ تُؤْمِنَ بِاللّٰهِ وَ مَلَائِكَتِهِ وَ كُتُبِهِ وَ رُسُلِهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَ تُؤْمِنَ بِالْقَدْرِ خَيْرِهِ وَ شَرِّهِ ] [ مسلم، الإیمان، باب بیان الإیمان والإسلام…:۸ ] “(Faith is) that you believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day, and in destiny, its good and its bad.”
➋ Some people say that the disbelievers are not addressed with the detailed rulings of Islam, nor are they commanded by Allah to perform the acts of Islam such as prayer and zakah, but rather the demand from them is for faith, and accountability will be only for that, because without faith, any action they do is useless. However, from these verses it is understood that the reason for the disbelievers’ entry into Hell is also the abandonment of deeds, and they are responsible for performing all the acts of Islam. To exempt them from deeds before they believe is just like someone saying that since prayer is not accepted without ablution, until a person performs ablution, he is not addressed with {’’ اَقِيْمُوا الصَّلٰوةَ ‘‘}. The reality is that just as a person without ablution is addressed with {’’ اَقِيْمُوا الصَّلٰوةَ ‘‘} and is commanded to perform ablution and then pray, similarly, the disbelievers are addressed with {’’ اَقِيْمُوا الصَّلٰوةَ وَ اٰتُوا الزَّكٰوةَ ‘‘} and all other rulings, and they are commanded to believe and then perform all these rulings.