[20].Surah Taha [Tâ-Hâ]: Ayat 17-21

Ayat 17. "And what is that in your right hand, O Mûsa (Moses)?"

Ayat 18. He said: "This is my stick, whereon I lean, and wherewith I beat down branches for my sheep, and wherein I find other uses."

Ayat 19. (Allah) said: "Cast it down, O Mûsa (Moses)!"

Ayat 20. He cast it down, and behold! It was a snake, moving quickly.

Ayat 21. Allah said:"Grasp it, and fear not, We shall return it to its former state,

[Tafseer] "And what is that in the right hand, O Moses?"  He said, "It is my rod: on it I lean; with it I beat down fodder for my flocks; and in it I find other uses."  Now comes the miracle of the rod. First of all, the attention of Moses himself is drawn to it, and he thinks of the ordinary uses to which he puts it in his daily life. ((Allah)) said, "Throw it, O Moses!" He threw it, and behold! It was a snake, active in motion, where a different word (thu'ban is used for "snake", and the qualifying adjective is "plain (for all to see)". The scene there is before Pharaoh and his magicians and people: the object is to show the hollowness of their magic by a miracle: the rod appears before them as a long and creeping, writhing serpent. Here there is a symbol to present Allah's Mystery to Moses's mind and understanding: the rod becomes a Hayy (a live snake), and its active motion is  what is most to be impressed on the mind of Moses, for there were no other spectators. So the highest spiritual mysteries can be grasped, with Allah's gift of insight, from the most ordinary things of daily use. Once they are grasped, there is no question of fear. They really are the virtues of this life lifted up to the glorious spiritual plane. ((Allah)) said, "Seize it, and fear not: We shall return it at once to its former condition".  

Hazrat Shaqiq bin `Abdullah reported: The Companions of the Messenger of Allah [SAWW](PBUH) did not consider the abandonment of any action as disbelief except neglecting Salat.

[At-Tirmidhi Hadith # 2622] 

Lesson : The opinion of the Companions of the Prophet [SAWW](PBUH) was based on the information contained in the Ahadith which have been mentioned above. They did not take the Ahadith which interpreted the leaving of Salat as Kufr mere scolding or reproof. They considered slackness and negligence in Salat as Kufr and apostasy and regarded Salat a symbol of Islam.