Understanding the concept of underestimating, spoiling and neglecting prayer

One of the serious damages that exists in the field of the explanation of religious teachings, that occasionally causes distortion in the teachings of religion, is the superficial understanding of some of the vocabulary in the Hadith. One of these cases is the vocabulary used about prayer; words such as underestimating, spoiling and neglecting prayer. In the present article the perception of many writers, which has become popular in the society that underestimating, spoiling and neglecting prayer means missing the time for prayer and leaving the prayer until the time is over and not participating in congregational prayer, has been criticized and proved that, first, although these terms are conceptually different, but they are synonymous in terms and are different interpretations of the truth. Second, according to the methodology of the Hadith including these terms, underestimating and spoiling prayer is prohibited and recognized as a major sin: Al-Kabirah in Islam. While leaving the rituals and preparations for prayer, missing the time for prayer and failing to participate in congregational prayer are considered Mustaḥabb (recommended and not obligatory) and can not apply to these three words. Thus, the purpose of the three terms mentioned above is missing the time for prayer, neglecting prayer and leaving the prayer until the time is over. Third, with regard to the context of stating Hadith, one can infer a special meaning from the preferred concept of these terms that the instances can be generalized to any kind of shortcoming that spoils the truth and spirit of prayer.