There are three whose prayer is not accepted, does not ascend to the heavens, and does not pass beyond their heads. A man who leads a people in prayer while they detest him, a man who performs the funeral prayer over a deceased person without being authorized to do so, and a woman whose husband calls her at night and she refuses him.
ثلاثة لا تقبل منهم صلاة، ولا تصعد إلى السماء، ولا تجاوز رؤوسهم: رجل أم قوما وهم له كارهون، ورجل صلى على جنازة ولم يؤمر، وامرأة دعاها زوجها من الليل فأبت عليه.
Ibn Khuzayma (1519) narrated it from Isa bin Ibrahim, who said, Ibn Wahb told us, from Amr bin Harith, from Yazid bin Abu Habib, from Amr bin Walid, from Anas bin Malik, who said, and he mentioned it. Ibn Khuzayma mentioned this hadith after narrating it from Isa bin Ibrahim with its chain in mursal form, and said, "I dictated the first part while it was mursal, because the hadith of Anas that comes after it was narrated to us by Isa immediately following it, meaning with something similar. Were it not for this, I would not have included the mursal report in this book." Its chain is hasan on account of Amr bin Walid bin Abda Misri, from whom no one narrated except Yazid bin Abu Habib. Abu Hatim said of him, "Unknown," but Yaqub bin Sufyan mentioned him among the trustworthy people of Egypt, and for this reason Hafiz said in Taqrib, "Truthful." However, his statement, "a man who led a funeral prayer," has no corroboration.Tirmidhi (358) narrated it with the wording, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ cursed three, a man who leads a people in prayer while they dislike him, a woman who spends the night while her husband is angry with her, and a man who hears 'Come to success' and does not respond." This is daif. He narrated it from Abdul-Ala bin Wasil bin Abdul-Ala Kufi, who said, Muhammad bin Qasim Asadi told us, from Fadl bin Dalham, from Hasan, who said, I heard Anas bin Malik, and he mentioned it. Tirmidhi said, "The hadith of Anas is not sound, because this hadith has been narrated from Hasan, from the Prophet ﷺ, in mursal form." He also said, "Muhammad bin Qasim was criticized by Ahmad bin Hanbal, who declared him daif, and he is not a hafiz." End of quote.I say, it is as he said. Bukhari related from Ahmad that he accused him of lying, and Abdullah bin Ahmad narrated from his father that he said, "His hadiths are fabricated, he is nothing." As for Ibn Main, he declared him trustworthy in some narrations, and the evidence lies with whoever has knowledge over whoever does not.On this subject there are also narrations from Abdullah bin Amr, Abu Umama, and Talha. As for the hadith of Abdullah bin Amr bin As, its wording is, "Allah does not accept the prayer of three people, one who leads a people while they dislike him, a man who comes to the prayer trailing behind, and trailing behind means coming to it after it has already passed, and a man who enslaves one whom he has freed." This was narrated by Abu Dawud (593) and Ibn Majah (970), both by way of Abdul-Rahman bin Ziyad Afriqi, from Imran bin Abdul-Maafiri, from Abdullah bin Amr, and he mentioned it. In it are Abdul-Rahman bin Ziyad and his teacher Imran, both of whom are daif.As for the hadith of Abu Umama, Tirmidhi (360) narrated it from Muhammad bin Ismail, who said, Ali bin Hasan told us, Husayn bin Waqid told us, Abu Ghalib told us, saying, I heard Abu Umama say, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Three people, their prayer does not go beyond their ears, the runaway slave until he returns, a woman who spends the night while her husband is angry with her, and an imam of a people while they dislike him." Tirmidhi said, "This is a hasan gharib hadith from this angle, and Abu Ghalib's name is Hazwar." I say, it is not as he said, for Abu Ghalib is daif. Ibn Saad and Nasai declared him daif, Abu Hatim said, "He is not strong," and Ibn Hibban said, "It is not permissible to cite him as evidence except where he agrees with the trustworthy narrators." As for Daraqutni, he declared him trustworthy, and the evidence lies with whoever has knowledge over whoever does not. Bayhaqi also declared him daif, saying, "He is not strong," in Sunan al-Kubra (3/128).As for the hadith of Talha bin Ubaydullah, its wording is that he led a group in prayer, and when he finished he said, "I forgot to consult you before I stepped forward. Are you satisfied with my prayer?" They said, "Yes, and who would dislike that, O companion of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?" He said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, 'Whatever man leads a people while they dislike him, his prayer does not go beyond his ears.'" Tabarani narrated this in Kabir (74/1) by way of Sulayman bin Ayub Talhi, who said, my father told me, from my grandfather, from Musa bin Talha, from Talha, and he mentioned it. Regarding Sulayman bin Ayub Talhi, Abu Zura said, "Most of his hadiths are not corroborated." The author of Mizan said, "A man of odd narrations, though he has been declared trustworthy," as stated in Majma al-Zawaid (2344). Ibn Adi said in Kamil (3/1132), after citing several hadiths of his, this one not among them, "Most of these hadiths are singular reports, and no one corroborates Sulayman on these chains." He related from Abu Yaala that he considered him trustworthy, so perhaps he did not scrutinize him as closely as Ibn Adi did.The meaning of the statement, "prayer is not accepted from them," is that their prayer is not accepted in full, not that their prayer is invalid, because in some of the hadiths the wording used is "curse." These deeds are undoubtedly among the major sins, but they do not remove one from the fold of Islam. In these hadiths is a rebuke and a warning against these bad deeds, and it does not mean that their prayer is invalid.