Are deeds a condition for the validity of faith and entering Paradise?

Question : Are deeds a condition for the validity of faith and entering Paradise?

Answer : We say yes, some of them are a condition, such as prayer, for example. Prayer is a condition for the validity of faith and entering Paradise, because abandoning it is major shirk (associating partners with Allah) that takes one out of the religion, as the texts of the Book and the Sunnah testify to this, and as is reported regarding the consensus of the Companions or the opinion of the majority of them, and as is the implication of correct reasoning. As for Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), it is reported from him that the one who abandons zakah, fasting, and Hajj is like the one who abandons prayer, because all of them are pillars of Islam, and the house does not stand except by its pillars. But the truth is more deserving of being followed, and the correct view is that one does not become a disbeliever by abandoning deeds except prayer.