Is there a prayer that is of no benefit?
O Allah! I seek refuge in You from a prayer that is of no benefit. (Abu Dawud, Witr, 32 no: 1549) Is there a hadith like that? If yes, how sound is it? Will you explain ‘a prayer that is of no benefit’ mentioned in the hadith?
Dear Brother / Sister,
For the hadith in question, see Abu Dawud, h. no: 1549; Bayhaqi, ad-Daawatul-Kabir,1/469.
- This hadith is sound.
- It expresses the Prophet’s consciousness of worshipping toward Allah, his sincerity and taqwa; it also teaches his ummah the importance of performing prayers properly.
- In principle, prayer becomes useful when it restrains from shameful and unjust deeds (al-Ankabut, 29/45) and when man acts in accordance with the external and internal conditions of prayer.
It is attained by fulfilling the parts, wajibs, conditions, sunnahs and manners of prayer, and obtaining sincerity, which means seeking Allah’s consent. For, prayer has certain conditions of acceptance like all other deeds of worship.
The prayer of a person who does not read the Quran well enough, reads al-Fatiha wrongly, does not act in accordance with tadil al-arkan, does not base his deeds on Allah’s consent, goes to mosque for others to see and shows off does not deserve to be accepted.
Questions on Islam
- What can be the reasons for the decrease in the thawabs of prayers (salat)?
- Is skipping prayers a bigger sin than fornication?
- What is salah (prayer)? Why is salah (prayer), which consists of a few acts, is so much important in Islam?
- evolution
- If the Creator does not need our worship, why do we need to worship? Why is salah (prayer), which consists of a few acts, is so much important?
- Is tabarruk, expecting barakah (abundance) from things permissible?
- Is the hadith stating that a person who performs duha prayer will earn the thawab of one hajj and umrah sound?
- How is the end of a person who has never performed daily prayers in his life; is he considered to have denied Islam with his neglect? Does a person who does not offer prayers become a kafir (unbeliever)?
- Some people claim that not performing prayers is shirk (polytheism) and unbelief. How true is their statement?
- Is it permissible to perform prayers by following an imam who does not observe tadil al-arkan? Or, is it better to perform prayers individually? If the latter is better, can we get the thawab of congregation?
