Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalamualaikum wrwb,

I have just discovered something new from another Islamic forum (www.sunnahonline.com) which says "prayer of the hypocrites would leave prayer to just before the commencement of the following one". Is it the sign of a hypocrite to offer prayers at the end of the stipulated time? Is there any authentic hadeeth which affirms this point? Please quote me if there is any such ahadeeth where the prophet ( Sallellaahu Alaihi wa sallam) has said so.

Jazak Allah!

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Prayer of the hypocrite

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah Taubah verses 53-55:

53 Say (to the hypocrites): "Spend willingly or unwillingly: not from you will it be accepted: for ye are indeed a people rebellious and wicked."

54 The only reasons why their (the hypocrite’s) contributions are not accepted are: that they reject Allah and His Messenger; that they come to prayer without earnestness; and that they offer contributions unwillingly.

55 Let not their wealth nor their sons dazzle thee: in reality Allah's Plan is to punish them with these things in this life, and that their souls may perish in their (very) denial of Allah.

Al-Muwatta Hadith 15.46

Yahya related from Malik that al-Ala ibn Abd ar-Rahman said, "We visited Anas ibn Malik after ‘dhuhr’ and he stood up and prayed asr. When he had finished his prayer, we mentioned doing prayers early in their time, and he said that he had heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: ‘the prayer of the hypocrites! The prayer of the hypocrites! The prayer of the hypocrites is that one of them sits until the sun becomes yellow and is between the horns of Shaytaan (end time of Asr when the sun is just about to set), and then gets up and rattles off four rakas, hardly remembering Allah in them at all!'"

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 1.626 Narrated by Abu Huraira

The Prophet (saws) said, "No prayer is harder for the hypocrites than the Fajr and the 'Isha' prayers and if they knew the reward for these prayers at their respective times, they would certainly present themselves (in the mosques) even if they had to crawl."

'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud says: "If anyone would like to meet Allah tomorrow as a Muslim, he should persevere in observing these five (obligatory) prayers whenever the call for them is made, for Allah has chosen for your Prophet (saws) the way of right guidance. And the [five prayers in congregation] are part of this right guidance. If you were to pray them in your houses, as this man who stays behind in his house, you would be leaving a Sunnah of your Prophet (saws). If you leave the Sunnah of your Prophet (saws), you would go astray. Verily, I have seen a time when no one stayed away from them [the congregational prayers] except for the hypocrites who were well known for their hypocrisy. A man would be brought, supported by two people [due to his weakness] until he was placed in a row."

Related by Muslim.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan