# Is someone who prays but commits major sins better than someone who doesn't pray?

*An Australian sheikh's claim that anyone who prays is better than one who does not*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/dhkc0lo1e18/s/1/
- Date: 2022-12-16 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Not Praying, The Bigger Sin? | Mufti Abu Layth (0:00–7:08)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhKc0LO1e18&t=0s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/dhkc0lo1e18/

**Topics:** Prayer; Extremism, crime and justice

**Question as asked:** An Australian sheikh was caught on camera during a sermon saying that a person who does not commit themselves to salah is worse than someone who prays and commits other sins. Can you explain?

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Mufti Abu Layth says it is categorically wrong that someone who prays, however evil, is better than someone who does not, and calls the idea dangerous.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says the claim that a murderer or abuser who prays is still better than a person who does not pray is categorically wrong.

**Evidence, his words at 2:36:** “he prayed Salah he would still be better than a person who doesn't praise Salah or something like this and that's categorically uh wrong okay that's not true at all” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhKc0LO1e18&t=156s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth answers a Super Chat question about an old clip of an Australian sheikh saying in a sermon that a person who does not pray is worse than someone who prays and commits other sins. Mufti says he recalls the clip from around 2015 and has heard that the sheikh regretted it, and remarks that the internet never forgets, unlike Allah's mercy. Mufti says the idea that a murderer, abuser or addict who prays is better than someone who does not pray is categorically wrong and not how mainstream Muslims believe. Mufti argues that, since most people do not pray five times a day, the theory would make groups such as ISIS, who pray while killing people, some of the best people on earth, and calls it an extremist and very dangerous ideology. Mufti adds that he heard the sheikh was trying to draw local youths caught up in gangs and drugs towards the mosque, an intention Mufti says came from love even though the words were terrible.

## Sources and names cited

- salah
- ISIS

## Transcript (machine tier, 0:00–7:08)

[0:00] Mufti Australian Sheikh hablos was caught on camera during a sermon saying that a person he who does not commit themselves to Salah is worse what is worse than someone who prays and commits other sins can you explain ah right okay so so first of all shukran for the Super Chat may Allah bless you keep you smiling I mean I mean you see uh yeah I think what you're talking about is an old quite an old clip um if I recall correctly because I think

[0:39] at the time I made a Facebook post on it and that was way before I used to there were any such things as Facebook lives so it must have been I think we're talking around um probably I don't know what was that like maybe 2015 or maybe something like that so talking a long time ago I think oh reasonably when I say long okay relatively so there was a clip where he had said certain things and so I don't know whether he still is he so has said that I I did hear from certain people that he uh regretted

[1:18] saying that and it's not that Allah I heard something like that from some people a while ago years ago that he did want to take it I think he took it down but people have shared it so he can't really do anything about that and I don't know but look see that I guess is one of the problems of the internet as well you know this ever seeing eye and the panopticon and this uh then the modern kiraman is the internet which is a disaster because unlike in Allah's realm see there's Mercy there's infinite Mercy but

[1:58] the court of public opinion these are not nice but what was being said then was disastrous and uh calamitous and it was you know nothing short of a cataclysmic um you know just uh yeah so it was what was being said was if a person was the worst person ever if a person was a murderer a rapist a drunkard an alcoholic a drug drug addict child a kidnap a child abuse a molested it was all these people and there was a purse

[2:36] and he prayed Salah he would still be better than a person who doesn't praise Salah or something like this and that's categorically uh wrong okay that's not true at all at all um I think they may be quoting something from or something where he's made some statement like similar to this something like this uh I think I read something many many years ago so it's been a long time probably two decades ago I read something so I can't recall it exactly but I think something along this kind of

[3:15] sentiment not exactly the same thing but similar that kind of mentality but that's clearly not how mainstream Muslims believe things so for example terrorists who kill people pray um and let's say most Muslims let's say 95 percent of Muslims don't pray five times a day probably yeah like most Muslims in the world don't pray five times a day so most of humanity Muslims are non-muslims combined in the world today do not pray five times a day okay whatever the percentage now you could take a terrorist like

[3:55] let's take Isis now Isis who would butcher people and they would blow up masks and they would rape women and they would kill children and they would kill they they blew up do you remember when uh they tried to there was some attempt of an explosion in Medina in the prophet's mask they were trying to blow something up the this this these are terrorists like like that like Isis the absolute but they would pray more than most of us you see they would pray they'll definitely pray their five Salah so they according to this Theory would be some

[4:33] of the best people on Earth according to God because most of humanity does not pray so according to that theory these people and this this is really an extremist ideology to think that so long as you pray you could be a terrorist but it doesn't matter um any Muslim that's preaching that is unfortunately very dangerously brainwashed on that kind of speech you have to be very careful of okay very very very dangerous yeah very very dangerous that speech that said

[5:09] I think the video that you uh that I see saracen spoke about here about the Australian share I believe that video is very old and I don't think he was saying it in that context and he wasn't saying it about terrorists and he def like from what I heard uh from people Allahu Alam that he was you know he he was regretful very regretful about what he said but he felt that I he'd you know it kind of got out there now and he didn't he he got carried away in a speech and I think from if I recall correctly I think what he was trying to do was he was trying to

[5:49] encourage local Thugs and gangsters to um to kind of come there had been some kind of a killing and there was some kind of a funeral and after that he had got some of these people because in um in Australia the Muslims are have unfortunately as well just as in certain other parts of the world there is a huge kind of Thug and drug problem with the Muslim youth that they have been drawn into that culture in dealing drugs and running the drug scene so from what I heard is he was trying to get some of these people and draw them a bit closer as in if I can get them to

[6:29] just pray then you know hopefully by praying they might do another little good thing and that might just bring them a bit more to the mask and a bit further away from that and a bit further and so if that was the case from what I heard then he you know okay that that's that intention is is uh coming from a place of Love obviously the words were terrible but and so I think from what I heard he he said he got he said it wrong he didn't mean to say it like that um look any you know we all you know this is the thing it's

[7:07] yeah we we have to yeah we have to be careful but at the same time I get it you know we're humans but we say things sometimes and we later on think oh damn what did I say there but we have to focus on preaching a message of humanity and love and really the greatest thing you know for insan is and the greatest way you can serve and find God see like in the Hadith I cited that where do you find God you find him when you're feeding that hungry person you find him when you're helping that person

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment DhKc0LO1e18/s/1. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/dhkc0lo1e18/s/1/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.