“The Shayṭān has misled most people by beautifying for them the performance of certain voluntary acts of worship such as voluntary prayers and voluntary fasting while neglecting other obligatory acts of worship such as enjoining the good and eraḍīcating the evil, to the extent that they do not even make the intention of performing them whenever they are able. Such people are considered by the scholars to be on the bottom of the scale of religion: for the essence of our religion is to perform what Allāh ordered us to do.
The one who does not perform the obligations is actually worse than the one who performs sins. Anyone having knowledge about the revelation of Allāh, the guidance of the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) and the life of the Companions would conclude that those who are pointed at today as the most pious people are in fact the least pious. Indeed, what kind of piety is there in a person who witnesses Allāh’s sanctities being violated, His religion abandoned, the Sunnah of His Messenger shunned, and yet remains still with a cold heart and a shut mouth.
Such a person is like a dumb Shayṭān! In the same way the one who speaks falsehood is a speaking Shayṭān. Is not the misfortune of Islām due only to those who whenever their life and food are secure, would not care about what happens to the religion? The best among them would offer a sorry face. But if they were challenged in one of the things their heart is attached to such as their money, they would spare no effort to get it back.
These people, besides deserving the Anger of Allāh, are afflicted with the greatest calamity without even knowing it: They have a dead heart. Indeed the more alive a person’s heart is, the stronger its anger for the sake of Allāh and the more complete its support to Islām and the Muslims.”
(Iʿlām al-Muwaqiʿīn (2/176)
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