Persistent drinker of alcohol must not stop praying, may repent even after fourth occasion
17-4-2015 | IslamWeb
Question:
asalaam alaikum the hadhees which says that the person who drink alcocohol third time after repent the god promised to make him drink the mud of khabaal my question is how does we count third time for using alcohol [i mean if he just pray does it will count or does it count when he repent after a pray]? [i ask this question because i told my frend who use alcohol to pray and he say to me it is not good to pray when using alcohol and said every time we pray it is kind of repent and if we pray third time and if we use alcoho again l god will make him drink the mud of khabaal and it is better to to pray after we completely stop using alcohol]
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, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.
‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr 
related that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "Whoever drinks alcohol once, his repentance will not be accepted for forty days; then if he repents, Allaah will accept his repentance. If he does it again, his repentance will not be accepted for forty days; then if he repents, Allaah will accept his repentance. If he does it again, then it is right for Allaah to make him drink from the mud of Khabaal on the Day of Resurrection." At-Tirmithi and An-Nasaa’i reported it and this is the wording in An-Nasaa’i.
The version narrated by At-Tirmithi reads: "... and if he does it for the fourth time, Allaah will not accept his prayer for forty days. Then if he repents, Allaah will not accept his repentance and will make him drink from the river of Khabaal." People asked, "What is the river of Khabaal, O Abu ‘Abd Ar-Rahmaan (the narrator)?" He replied: "A river of the puss flowing from the dwellers of Hellfire."
Abu Tharr 
narrated that the Companions asked: What is the mud of Khabaal, O Messenger of Allaah? He, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, replied: "Discharge of wounds, flowing from the dwellers of Hellfire." [Ahmad]
Mirqaat Al-Masaabeeh reads: "The literal sense of the words 'If he drinks again, his prayer will not be accepted for forty days' is that his worship will not be accepted even if he repents before the end of this specified period of time (forty days). This is indicated by the use of 'then' in 'then, if he repents….'"
Hence, each time is calculated after the end of the forty days and his repentance of his sin. The fact that the prayer of such a sinner is not accepted for forty days means that he is not rewarded for it, not that he can stop praying. Rather, it is incumbent on him to observe the prayer. He will be cleared of the liability to perform that religious obligation, but he will be denied the reward for performing it.
Regarding the fact that his repentance is not accepted the fourth time, Tuhfat Al-Ahwathi reads: "'… If he repents, then Allaah will not accept his repentance': This amounts to emphasis on the warning and severe deterrence, because another Hadeeth states: 'One who asks forgiveness is not one who insists (on sinning), even if he returns to the sin seventy times in a day.' It was narrated by Abu Bakr As-Siddeeq and reported by Abu Daawood and At-Tirmithi."
Your friend's neglect of prayer under the pretext that if he prayed and then drank again, he would fall under severe warning (drinking from the river of Khabaal) is foolish of him because he falls under this warning because of his persistence in committing the sin and not because of his repentance! Moreover, if he neglects the prayer, he will be committing two major sins (abandoning prayer and drinking alcohol) instead of one. Indeed, he bears a graver sin for that and his punishment is harsher and more serious. The sin of neglecting the prayer is more serious than that of drinking alcohol. Does he think that when he abandons the prayer and persistently continues to drink alcohol he will be forgiven?!
You should advise your friend and remind him of Allaah. If he persistently continues to drink alcohol and abandon the prayer, then keeping his company is no good for you.
Allaah Knows best.