keeps a person from neglecting the prayer, for no one utters it with genuine truthfulness and pure intent except that this very truthfulness and purity drive him—inevitably—to perform the prayer. The prayer is the pillar of Islam and the bond between the servant and his Lord. If someone is truly seeking the Face of Allah, he must do whatever brings him nearer to that goal and avoid whatever bars the way. Likewise, whoever bears witness, with heartfelt conviction, that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah will necessarily find that same conviction urging him to offer the prayer, devoting it sincerely to Allah the Exalted and following in it the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, for this is one of the unavoidable implications of a genuine testimony.

Section Five: Texts that are qualified by a circumstance in which leaving the prayer is excused.

Among them is the hadith reported by Ibn Majah1 from Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ declared, “Islam will wear away just as the pattern on a garment wears away…” In it he also said: “Groups of people will remain—an old man and an old woman—saying, ‘We found our fathers upon this word: there is no god but Allah.’”