—then he has committed major shirk that takes him outside the fold of Islam. Whoever introduces into Allah’s religion something that does not belong to it—for example, prescribing particular words of remembrance at a particular time—will not have it accepted from him, even if it consists of remembering Allah by glorifying Him, praising Him, proclaiming His greatness, or declaring His oneness. If he has arranged it in a manner not prescribed by the Sunnah, it is not acceptable to Allah, Glorious and Exalted, because he has performed a deed that is not in accordance with the command of Allah and His Messenger.
The essential point is that Allah has stipulated righteous deeds alongside faith. From this we learn that we should not always focus solely on creed and say, “We adhere to the Islamic creed and believe such and such,” without mentioning deeds. Creed alone is insufficient; deeds are indispensable. Thus, whenever you say that we adhere to the Islamic creed, you should add, “and we perform righteous deeds,” because Allah always pairs faith—which encompasses creed—with righteous deeds, so that no person will be devoid of righteous deeds. Creed alone is of no benefit.
If a person says, “I believe in Allah,” but performs no deeds, then where is his faith in Allah? Hence, the preponderant scholarly view is that one who abandons the prayer is a disbeliever whose disbelief takes him outside the fold of Islam. We have explained the evidence for this in a short treatise of ours, so there is no need to repeat it here.
﴿For them are Gardens beneath which rivers flow.﴾ ﴿For them﴾ means that they have them with Allah. ﴿For them are Gardens beneath which rivers flow.﴾ This will be after the resurrection, when they enter these Gardens containing what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and what has never crossed the heart of any human being. Allah Most High therefore says:
﴿No soul knows what delights have been hidden for them as a reward for what they used to do.﴾ [al-Sajda: 17]
In the divine hadith, Allah says: “I have prepared for My righteous servants what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and what has never crossed the heart of any human being.” (1)
They contain bliss beyond human imagination. Among the things Allah Most High mentions in the Gardens are date palms,