He performs the Fajr Prayer after Sunrise

Question :

I have a friend who lives close to me... and the mosque is very near to us ... but my friend does not attend the Fajr prayer, he spends his time at night watching the television and playing cards and he stays awake until the early hours of the morning and does not perform the Fajr prayer until after sunrise. I have rebuked him many times, but his excuse is that he does not hear the Athan, even though the mosque is very close to us. I have made it clear to him that I am ready to wake him for the Fajr prayer, and truly, I go to him and wake him, but I do not see him in the mosque. And after the prayer, I go to him and find him sleeping; so I scold him and he proffers feeble excuses. And sometimes, he says to me: "You are responsible for me before Allah on the Day of Resurrection, because I am your neighbor." I request clarification from your Excellency regarding this. And am I truly bound to wake him for prayer?

Answer:

It is not permissible for the Muslim to stay awake to the extent that it causes him to miss the Fajr prayer in congregation or at its stated time, even if it be due to reading the Qur'an or acquiring knowledge. So how would it be if his wakefulness was due to watching the television or to playing cards or the like? In doing this, he is a sinner and deserving of Allah's punishment; he is also deserving of punishment from the authorities because of his negligence and that of those like him. Delaying the prayer until after sunrise is an act of major disbelief, if it is done deliberately, according to a number of scholars, based upon the words of the Prophet:
"Between a man and disbelief and Shirk is leaving the prayer.

The covenant which is between us and them is the prayer, and whoever abandoned it, has disbelieved.

There are other Hadiths and narrations from the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, in this regard which prove that whoever deliberately, and without a valid legal excuse, delayed the prayer from its appointed time is a disbeliever.

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