The ruling on one who does not declare a disbeliever the one who abandons prayer

Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. One of the doctors says that the one who abandons prayer is a disbeliever by the consensus of the Companions, and the disagreement that came after them does not invalidate their consensus. And whoever does not declare a disbeliever to be a disbeliever is himself a disbeliever. So whoever does not declare the one who abandons prayer to be a disbeliever is considered a disbeliever like him. Is this reasoning sound?

Answer:
As for the first statement, it is correct, because the Companions agreed that the one who abandons prayer is a disbeliever. The disagreement only came after them, so it is preceded by the consensus that the one who intentionally abandons prayer is a disbeliever. As for the one who does not declare him a disbeliever, it is not said that he is a disbeliever, because the ruling may not have become clear to him, or he may have followed those who hold that abandoning prayer out of laziness does not necessitate disbelief, and he followed them. The term disbeliever is not applied to him; rather, this is specific to the one who abandons prayer.