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Fatwa CenterHis older brothers neglect prayer and are influencing their younger brothers
Question
I have bigger brothers and they do the Haraam. They don't pray the Fajr or do any of their Salat by heart which affects the younger kids and so they start doing bad stuff like shout at me and generally rude behaviour. Also they start not to pray as much or becoming lazy. What do I do?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.
There is no doubt that being negligent about Fajr prayer in particular and other prayers in general, is a sin which requires repentance, and this is one of the characteristics of hypocrites. Indeed Allaah warned those who are neglectful about the prayer with severe punishment. Allaah Says (which means): {So woe to those who pray. Those who are heedless of their prayer}[Quran 107:4-5]. Allaah further Says (which means): {But there came after them successors [i.e. later generations] who neglected prayer and pursued desires; so they are going to meet evil.}[Quran 19:59]. For more details, please refer to Fatwa 90478.
Therefore, you should, dear brother, remind them about the importance of the prayer and the danger of being neglectful about it or abandoning it. You should continue in advising and admonishing them and do not despair. You may make use of beneficial tapes, books and leaflets which talk about the prayer and its importance; it might be that they would take heed and be steadfast in performing it.
As regards your young brothers and sisters, you should teach and order those who reached the age of seven to perform the prayer without beating them. Nonetheless, you should order those who reached the age of ten, to perform the prayer and hit them slightly without leaving any marks or scars if they refuse to do so and if you are their guardian. In doing so, you should try to arouse their interest in performing the prayer.
Finally, it should be noted that children under the age of puberty are not obliged to perform the prayer until they reach the age of puberty; ordering them or hitting them to do so is just to make them be accustomed to perform it.
We ask Allaah to guide everyone to whatever He likes and He is pleased with.
Allaah Knows best.
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