Muhammad ibn Abd Allah al-Saffar informed us; Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Ghalib ibn Tamam al-Dabbi informed us; Harami ibn Hafs al-Qasmali (1) narrated to us; Ikrimah ibn Ibrahim al-Azdi narrated to us; Abd al-Malik (2) ibn Umayr narrated to us from Mus'ab ibn Sa'd (3), from his father, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked about, “those who are heedless of their prayer.” He said: “Letting its prescribed time go to waste.” (4)
Ibn Abbas said: They are the hypocrites: when they are away from people, they abandon the prayer, but when they are present in public, they perform it, (5) as indicated by His saying, Most High: “Those who make a show [of their deeds].”
“Those who make a show [of their deeds], and withhold al-ma'un (ordinary acts of kindness).” (6) (7)
“Those who make a show [of their deeds].” He also says, describing the hypocrites: “And when they stand for prayer, they stand reluctantly, only to be seen by people.” (al-Nisa, 142)
Qatadah said: He is heedless of it, caring not whether he prays or does not pray.
It was also said: They hope for no reward if they pray, nor do they fear punishment if they neglect it.
Mujahid said: They are inattentive to it and treat it lightly.
Al-Hasan said: He is the one who, if he performs it, performs it to show off; and if he misses it, he feels no regret.
Abu al-Aliyah said: They do not perform it at its prescribed times, nor do they complete its bowing and prostration.
“And withhold al-ma'un (ordinary acts of kindness).” It is narrated from Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: It is zakah (obligatory alms). This was also the view of Ibn Umar, al-Hasan, Qatadah, and al-Dahhak.
Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud said: “Al-ma'un refers to an axe, a bucket, a cooking pot, and the like.” (6) It is a narration
(1) Manuscript A reads: “al-Qasim”; the correct reading is that given in the text, as in Tahdhib al-Kamal.
(2) Manuscript B reads: “Abd al-Karim”; the correct reading is that given in the text, as in Tahdhib al-Kamal and Sharh al-Sunnah.
(3) Manuscript A has a variant reading; the correct reading is that given in the text, as in Tahdhib al-Kamal and Sharh al-Sunnah.
(4) Al-Bayhaqi narrated it in al-Sunan, 2:214-215, both as a marfu report attributed to the Prophet and as a mawquf report stopped at a Companion. Abu Ya'la narrated it in al-Musnad, 1:336, as a mawquf report; al-Tabari, 30:311; and the author of Sharh al-Sunnah, 2:246. Al-Bayhaqi said in al-Sunan: “This hadith is authentic only as a mawquf report. Ikrimah ibn Ibrahim was declared weak by Yahya ibn Ma'in and other hadith authorities.” Al-Haythami said in Majma al-Zawa'id, 1:325: “It was narrated by al-Bazzar and Abu Ya'la both as a marfu and a mawquf report ... Al-Bazzar said: ‘The hadith authorities narrated it as mawquf, and none raised it to the Prophet except Ikrimah.’” See also al-Durr al-Manthur, 8:642.
(5) Narrated by al-Tabari, 30:31. In al-Durr al-Manthur, 8:642, al-Suyuti additionally attributed it to Ibn Mardawayh.
(6) Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar said in Fath al-Bari, 8:731: “Some Arabs said that al-ma'un means water. Ikrimah said: ‘Its highest form is the obligatory zakah, and its lowest is lending household articles.’ Regarding the first view, al-Farra said: ‘Some held that al-ma'un includes every commonly used item,’ mentioning even a bowl, a bucket, and an axe. He probably meant Ibn Masud, for al-Tabari narrated through Salamah ibn Kuhayl from Abu al-Mughirah that a man asked Ibn Umar about al-ma'un. He replied: ‘Wealth whose due is not paid.’ The man said: ‘Ibn Masud says that it refers to the articles people exchange among themselves.’ Ibn Umar replied: ‘It is as I have told you.’ Al-Hakim also narrated it, adding in another report from Ibn Masud: ‘It is the bucket, the cooking pot, and the axe.’ Abu Dawud and al-Nasai likewise narrated from Ibn Masud: ‘In the time of the Messenger of Allah, we considered al-ma'un to be the lending of a bucket and a cooking pot.’ Its chain is sound up to Ibn Masud. Al-Bazzar and al-Tabarani also narrated it from Ibn Masud explicitly as a marfu report.”