If a Muslim is afflicted by knowing people who abandon some of the prayers and do so openly, how should he act? Is it sufficient to disapprove in his heart?

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Question:
May Allah reward you with good and do you well, Shaykh Salih. If a Muslim is afflicted by knowing people who either pray some obligatory prayers and abandon others, or who openly abandon the prayer, how should he act? Is it sufficient to disapprove in his heart?

Answer:
He must disapprove and clarify the matter. If they comply, that is fine; otherwise, he must distance himself from them and not associate with them, even if they are the closest people to him.

You will not find a people who believe in Allah and the Last Day having affection for those who oppose Allah and His Messenger, even if they were their fathers or their sons or their brothers or their kindred

لَّا تَجِدُ قَوْمًا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ يُوَادُّونَ مَنْ حَادَّ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَلَوْ كَانُوا آبَاءَهُمْ أَوْ أَبْنَاءَهُمْ أَوْ إِخْوَانَهُمْ أَوْ عَشِيرَتَهُمْ

[Al-Mujadila 58:22]

And Ibrahim (peace be upon him) said:

And I will leave you and those you invoke other than Allah and will invoke my Lord

وَأَعْتَزِلُكُمْ وَمَا تَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ وَأَدْعُو رَبِّي

[Maryam 19:48]

When they refused to respond to the call to the oneness of Allah, he (peace be upon him) distanced himself from them. Yes.

Source قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، إذا ما ابتلي المسلم بمعرفة أناس يتركون بعض الصلوات ويجاهرون بذلك، كيف يتصرف، هل يكفي الإنكار بالقلب؟ — youtube.com

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

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