Source: Aḥkām wa Masāʾil, Discussion on Ṣalāh, Vol. 1, p. 216
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)?
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ʿammā baʿd!
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
❖ 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
