Greater Sins: Neglecting any Obligatory Act

One of the Greater Sin is to omit or not perform any single obligatory religious duty which has been made obligatory.

The Messenger of Allah said:

One who omits Prayer (intentionally) has indeed gone out of the refuge (beyond the pale) of Allah and His Messenger (saw).

Imam Sadiq (as) says that neglecting a divine command is infidelity as mentioned in the following words of the Almighty,

Do you then believe in a part of the Book and disbelieve in the other? What then is the reward of such among you as do this but disgrace in the life of this world and on the day of resurrection they shall be sent back to the most grievous chastisement and Allah is not at all heedless of what you do.

(Sure Baqrah 2:85)

Imam (as) said,

Allah has considered as infidels those who neglect His commands. He refers to them as believers but does not accept their belief and did not consider it beneficial for them. Rather He says that their recompense in this world is disgrace and in the Hereafter is a terrible punishment.

In addition to this Imam (as) also said,

The Almighty shall not cast a glance of Mercy upon one who leaves a wajib duty or commits a greater sin. And He shall not cleanse him of his sins.

The narrator asked in surprise, Does Allah (really) not look at this person with mercy?

Imam (as) replied, This is because he has become a polytheist (did shirk) assigning a partner.

Did he really become a polytheist? Asked the narrator in astonishment.

Imam (as) continued,

This is because Allah has issued a command and Shaitan has issued another command (that is Shaitan commanded not to do what Allah has ordered). This person neglected Allah’s command and accepted the order of Shaitan (that is he left wajib and performed haraam act)

Thus this person shall abide in the seventh layer where abide the hypocrities of Hell with the Shaitan because he had obeyed latter.

The Holy Prophet (saw) states,

On the night of Meraj Allah the Almighty said,

No slave can gain proximity to Me without fulfilling the duties that I made incumbent on him.

The Holy Prophet (saw) also said,

Act upon the obligatory acts so that you become the most pious among them.

Fasting in the Month of Ramadhan

Accepting the obligatory nature of fasting during the month of Ramadhan is one of necessities of faith. One who denies this is a rebel liable for capital punishment. If one neglects it knowingly and intentionally without any valid excuse (traveling etc.) though he does not deny its obligatory nature, he should be punished with 25 lashes or as prescribed by the religious law. If he repeats the crime he should be punished again. The third time executed.

Imam Sadiq (as) says,

One who eats during the month of Ramadhan (without any excuse) the spirit of faith exits from him.

It is recorded in the Mausiqa of Sama that a man broke his fast in Ramadhan without a valid excuse. He did this three times. When he was brought to the Imam (as) the third time, the Imam (as) ordered that he should be executed.

Reference: Greater Sins by Ayatullah Dastagaib Shirazi, Volume 3 (English). Pg. 159.

The obligatory acts are (1) Namaz (2) Fast (3) Hajj (4) Zakat (5) Khums (6) Jihad (7) Amr bil Maroof (8) Nahy anil Munkar (9)  Tawalla (10) Tabarra