(2) Shaykh al-Shanqiti, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Concerning the divine words, “So woe to those who pray” (surah al-Maun, 4), an ignorant person might imagine that Allah has threatened the very people who perform prayer with woe. Yet in another verse He makes the abandonment of prayer a reason for entering Saqar: “What brought you into Saqar?” They will say, “We were not among those who prayed” (surah al-Muddaththir, 42–43). The reply is perfectly clear: the threat of woe applies to the continuation of the verse—“those who are heedless of their prayer, those who make a show” (al-Maun, 5–6)—and, in reality, it refers to the hypocrites. We mention this answer, though the objection is weak and its refutation obvious, because the freethinkers who abandon the prayer cite this verse as proof for leaving it. We have heard from reliable people and others that a man once asked an unjust person who neglected the prayer, “Why do you not pray?” He replied, “Because Allah threatened the people of prayer with woe in His saying, ‘So woe to those who pray.’” The man said, “Read what comes after it.” He answered, “I have no need of what follows; the beginning is enough to warn me off the prayer.” In the same spirit the poet said: Leave the mosques for worship to those who inhabit them; Make your way to the tavern of the wine-seller that he might serve us drink.