What is the meaning of the reports from the Salaf regarding declaring those who abandon prayer to be disbelievers, and the hadiths of intercession?

The Shaykh : It is narrated from these Salaf that they used to say that the one who abandons prayer is a disbeliever. We know from the principles of jurisprudence that the legal texts traced to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sometimes come in a general form while in reality they are specific, and sometimes come in an absolute form while in reality they are restricted. If this is the reality of the hadiths, and peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings, if this is the reality of the Prophetic hadiths, do you not see that it is not permissible for such a thing to be applied to the Salafi reports? That is even more so and more so. If nothing is established from these reports that we might need to say is general, and by its generality we could use it as evidence for what we are dealing with now, namely declaring the one who abandons prayer out of laziness to be a disbeliever, likewise, if it comes in an absolute form, it can be said that it is restricted. But if it is not authentic, we are relieved of it, and we were not in need of saying that, my brother, it is from the general that is specified or from the absolute that is restricted. So I say that there is a hadith in the two Sahihs and others that the hadith of intercession on the Day of Resurrection includes even the one who abandons prayer. So it is not correct for us to say now, in this time when no one understands by the utterance of the word "disbeliever" for a Muslim who testifies that there is no god but Allah except that he has entered into the generality of the saying of Allah the Exalted , if there is a hadith of intercession in the two Sahihs that includes even those who abandon prayer, then if it is authentic from any of the Companions that he said it is disbelief, it is obligatory for us to interpret it as Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said in his interpretation of the saying of Allah the Exalted, he said: "Disbelief less than disbelief."
They did not disbelieve. The word "kufur" (disbelief) is milder than "kafir" (disbeliever), because "kufur" is a past tense verb, meaning that disbelief came from him, whereas "kafir" is a noun of the doer. So if a judge or an emir was just for one day, you do not say about him that he is just, but the rest of his life was injustice, so you can say about him that he was just, and the opposite is the opposite. If he was just, but in a certain government or in a certain case he was unjust, you say he was unjust, so it is not permissible to say about the first one, the unjust one who was just once, that he is just, just as the opposite is also not permissible, meaning the one whose habit is injustice but in a certain government or in a certain case he was just, do we say about him that he is just? No, we say regarding the one who used to be just but was unjust, we do not say he is unjust, because that implies that his characteristic is that he is unjust, and the opposite is the opposite as it has become clear to you. So if the interpreter of the Qur'an (may Allah be pleased with him) interprets as being "disbelief less than disbelief," then if a text comes in the Book or in the Sunnah regarding a type or a person that it is disbelief, it can be from the category of Ibn 'Abbas's interpretation of the saying of Allah the Exalted , meaning "disbelief less than disbelief." And if the hadith of intercession in the two Sahihs is explicit that the one who was abandoning prayer, and even the one who never did any good, comes out of the Fire, then what should we say about him that he is a disbeliever in the meaning that comes to the listener's mind, namely that he is eternally in the Fire? This is from the evil of taking the reports narrated from the Salaf without research and verification, and in very important issues, such as declaring the Muslim who testifies that there is no god but Allah to be a disbeliever, and this is the testimony about which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said , meaning he is not eternally in the Fire. And this was confirmed by the previous hadith that Allah the Exalted, by His intercession, by His mercy, and He is the Most Merciful of the merciful, brings out the one who never did any good. And this phrase, or the intercession of the Lord of the Worlds, if this expression is correct regarding Him, came in the two Sahihs as I mentioned earlier, after our Lord the Exalted intercedes for the believers who entered Paradise with the first of the first, We do not see them with us, He put them in the Fire
They will bring out everyone who has become charcoal in the Fire, except for the circle of the face, where the Fire does not touch the face of the one who prayed; they will recognize the worshippers by their faces. In some other hadiths, which are well-known and familiar to you, they are recognized by the marks of prostration. They will bring out a great number of worshippers, fasters, and those who strive in the path of Allah, and the like. They will say, “O You commanded us,” and Allah the Mighty and Majestic will say, “Bring out the weight of a dinar of faith,” and they will bring out a great number of people. They will say, “” and Allah the Mighty and Majestic will say, “.” And finally, in brief, whoever has a mustard seed of faith in his heart—in every instance they bring out a great number of people. The hadith says, “Praise be to Allah.” All these groups. He brings them out. Our Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, through the intercessors who are believers. The first group is the worshippers.
Do you see the second and third batches? These do not include that the one who abandons prayer, for the mere abandonment, does not disbelieve a disbelief that takes him out of the religion, and it does not include him in the saying of Allah the Exalted . And this is confirmed by his saying, peace and blessings be upon him, after bringing out from the Fire the one who had a mustard seed in his heart, So such a hadith, at that time, obligates us to carry out a process of filtering these reports narrated from the Salaf regarding declaring the one who abandons prayer to be a disbeliever. So whatever of them is not established, we are relieved of it, and we do not find a contradiction between them and the hadiths indicating that the one who abandons prayer without it being accompanied by denial does not disbelieve and does not apostatize from the religion. And whatever of them is established, we interpret it as we interpret the reports, I mean the elevated hadiths narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and what comes to the mind first is that he is not a Muslim, like the well-known hadith, for example, in Sahih Muslim and others.
So it is necessary at that time to interpret this authentic elevated hadith, just as that authentic stopped hadith, with an interpretation that agrees with the explicit text that we mentioned earlier, where the non-prayers are also brought out of the Fire. This is a word on the occasion that the reports also require seeking authenticity in them in many cases.

The questioner: But in the hadith of intercession, teacher, the hadith is that he grasps a handful with his hand and brings out, when he says: "Bring out from the Fire the one who never did any good"?

The Shaykh: Yes, in narrations.

The questioner: The narration means that no one remains in Hell.

The Shaykh: No one from the disbelievers?

The questioner: From the Muslims, from the believers.

The Shaykh: Good, this is what we want, and it is so.

Another questioner: A research on this prayer, may Allah reward you with good, our Shaykh, meaning we are talking and the words of our brothers around the issue of the wave of interpretation that we are living through for the texts and so on, so perhaps we will find a possible interpretation that is mentioned to us. And it may be said that the hadith, what about our brothers who pray with us, fast with us, and perform Hajj with us? It tells you that the second wave, these did not perform Hajj, but they fasted and prayed, and the third wave did not fast but they prayed, so prayer remains on its original state. This is an interpretation that may be said, our Shaykh.

The Shaykh: How is it said?

Another questioner: It is the most of the interpretations.

The Shaykh: Why, meaning, explain their saying, how is it said? Meaning, when they said: We do not find our brothers who used to pray, perform Hajj, and give zakat, etc., so bring out, bring in, and bring out, they bring out, meaning the ones who pray without the ones who fast, like this.

Another questioner: Like that, it may be said, meaning this is, yes, this is the one.

The Shaykh: It may be said this, but where do they take this detail from?

Another questioner: By interpretation.

The Shaykh: No, who argued for it?

Another questioner: That is, meaning they are batches, not one batch, so the first batch were those who abandoned, meaning the ones who pray.

The Shaykh: I understood this, is the end result that those who abandon prayer are not in these batches?

Another questioner: That is what they will say.

The Shaykh: I understood, what is the evidence for the ones who fast in these batches?

Another questioner : Of course.

The Shaykh: An argument in these batches.

Another questioner: Yes, because they do not declare them disbelievers.

The Shaykh: This is it, good. The ones who pray, if they are not among these, good. And when the last sentence comes: "Bring out from the Fire the one who has in his heart the weight of a dinar, half a dinar, a mustard seed of faith," then the intercession of the Lord of the Worlds, "the one who never did any good," how do they interpret this? The door of interpretation is the door of denial, it is the door of denial.

The presenter : May Allah bless you.