“Whoever neglects prayer, Allaah will send fifteen punishments upon him”
Praise be to Allaah.Firstly:
The hadeeth, “Whoever neglects prayer, Allaah will send fifteen punishments upon him, six in this world, three when he is dying, three in the grave and three when he emerges form the grave…” is a fabricated (mawdoo’) hadeeth which is falsely attributed to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).
Concerning this hadeeth Ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) said, in the magazine al-Buhooth al-Islamiyyah (22/329): With regard to the hadeeth which is attributed to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) concerning the punishment of the one who does not pray, and which says that fifteen punishment will be sent upon him etc., this is one of the fabricated ahaadeeth that are falsely attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), as was stated by the scholars (may Allaah have mercy on him) such as al-Haafiz al-Dhahabi in Lisaan al-Meezaan, and al-Haafiz ibn Hajar and others.
Similarly the Standing Committee issued a fatwa, no. 8689, declaring this hadeeth to be false, as it says in Fataawa al-Lajnah, 4/468. Among the things mentioned in this fatwa which it is worth quoting here is:
What has been narrated from Allaah and from His Messenger concerning the punishment of the one who does not pray is sufficient. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Verily, As‑Salaah (the prayer) is enjoined on the believers at fixed hours” [al-Nisa’ 4:103]
And Allaah says of the people of Hell (interpretation of the meaning):
“ ‘What has caused you to enter Hell?’
They will say: ‘We were not of those who used to offer the Salaah (prayers)’” [al-Muddaththir 74:42-43]
and He mentioned among their attributes the fact that they did not pray.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The covenant that stands between us and them is prayer; whoever gives up prayer is a kaafir.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2621; al-Nasaa’i, 431; Ibn Maajah, 1079. classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi, 2113. And there are other verses and ahaadeeth which speak of giving up prayer, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) described it as kufr.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: This hadeeth is mawdoo’ (fabricated) and falsely attributed to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). It is not permissible to propagate it unless it is accompanied by a statement that it is fabricated, so that the people will have a clear understanding about it.
Fataawa al-Shaykh published by the Daw’ah center in ‘Anayzah, 1/6
We ask Allaah to make you steadfast in your keenness to call your brothers and advise them, but you have to make it clear to everyone who is keen to do good for the people and to warn them against evil that it must be done in accordance with that which is proven from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and that there is sufficient material in the saheeh reports that we have no need for the da’eef (weak) material.
We ask Allaah to grant you success and to guide those whom you call and all the Muslims to follow the straight path.
And Allaah knows best.