Negligence in Salah

Negligence in Salah is of several levels. There are those who do not perform Salah at all. There are those who perform only the Salah of Eid and the Salah of Baqr'id. There is another category that may be performing the Salah of Jummah also. There is another group that performs all the 5 Salah and the Salah of Taraweeh during the month of Ramadhan but as soon as the month of Ramadhan ends, all of a sudden he is not seen anymore. There is another group that is a bit better that performs one or two Salah outside Ramadhan but they are not regular. There is another group that is better than this one and does all the 5 Salah but they do not hesitate to neglect it as soon as occasions such as wedding, outings, engagement, travel arise. And if they fall sick, then they take this as the best excuse to neglect their Salah. Above all this, there is a group that is best. This group performs its 5 Salah regularly. Outings, marriage, funeral or illness does not prevent them from performing their Salah. They are very serious and very strict in their Salah. But here also, there is a lack of concentration.

Thus, the best category is the category who performs their 5 times Salah with concentration, in its prescribed time, in the Masjid with congregation. This is the category that does not neglect Salah on occasions such as wedding, outings, etc. They do not neglect Salah even in sickness also. They know the importance of Salah and they know that Salah must always be performed because they know that Salah is obligatory. It is not something that should be performed only when we have free time and have nothing to do. It is something that is Farz and obligatory and thus we should take out time to perform it.

The gravity of neglecting Salah

According to a Hadith, neglecting Salah is the character of the one who does not have Imaan. It does not befit a Muslim to neglect his Salah. A person who neglects Salah will be resurrected with the Kuffaar and the Mushrikeen on the day of Qiyamah. According to a Hadith of Tirmzi, the first thing that a person will have to give account for is Salah. If he passed in the reckoning of Salah, it means that he succeeded. Otherwise, he failed and he is trapped. 

What does performing Salah with concentration mean?

Concentrating in Salah does not mean that a person is totally absorbed to such an extent that he does not even know where he is because if he reaches this stage, it will be impossible for him to continue his Salah. He will forget how many Rak'at he performed, etc.

How to get concentration in Salah?

To be able to concentrate in Salah, it is sufficient that a person does not bring thoughts into his mind nor does he nourish those thoughts that come involuntarily. If, despite this, these thoughts persist, this does not affect his Salah as long as he does not take pleasure in perpetuating these things. And he must keep his mind engaged in Salah, he must constantly think of the posture in which he is in the Salah just like a person who has recently learned how to perform Salah. That is, he does not perform Salah automatically as though he has pressed a button and the Salah is taking place on its own. Instead, he must think well before performing a posture. For example, before going into Ruk’u', he says in his heart : “I am going into Ruk'u and I will read Tasbeeh”. And before standing, he says in his heart: “now I am doing Qawmah and I have to stand straight”. Thus, in this same way, he keeps thinking and performs his Salah as if he is learning how to perform Salah. This is a very effective way to keep the mind engaged in Salah instead of letting it wander everywhere.

[English version of "Négligence dans namaz" – Al Jamiat – Vol.4 No.11]