Source: Aḥkām wa Masāʾil, Discussion on Ṣalāh, Vol. 1, p. 216
❖ Question:
If someone does not perform the Sunnah prayers besides the obligatory ones, will he be sinful? And if so, will it be considered a minor sin (ṣaghīrah) or a major sin (kabīrah)?
❖ Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ʿammā baʿd!
- On the Day of Judgment, the first matter to be accounted for will be the obligatory prayers.
- If deficiencies are found in the obligatory prayers, they will be completed through voluntary (nafl) prayers.
- But if a person has no nafl prayers to compensate, he will inevitably fail in the accountability of his obligatory prayers.
- In such a case, he will indeed be considered sinful.
✦ Ruling on Abandoning Sunnah and Nafl
- To abandon Sunnah and Nafl prayers is sinful, since they serve as compensation for shortcomings in the farḍ prayers.
- However, whether this sin is classified as major (kabīrah) or minor (ṣaghīrah) is not definitively known.
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
