Does the one who abandons prayer out of laziness become a disbeliever? And a discussion of a book on the subject

The questioner : Yes. He says, for example, on page twenty-two. The book *Fatah min al-Aziz al-Ghafar* (Victory from the Mighty, the Forgiving) in establishing that the one who abandons prayer is not among the disbelievers, authored by 'Ata ibn 'Abd al-Latif ibn Ahmad.

The Shaykh : Do you know this author? No, you don't know him. Yes.

The questioner : He says, for example, because the stronger position in this matter is that abandoning prayer does not constitute disbelief, as will become clear, if Allah wills. Consequently, all the rulings entailed by disbelief are negated here, so there is no need to mention them. Among the evidence cited, for example, is a hadith from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

The Shaykh :

The questioner : And a beacon like a beacon on the road. Among them is O children of Adam, when you meet them, if they return the greeting to you, the angels will return it to you and to them; or they will remain silent regarding them. And your greeting to your household when you enter upon them: whoever neglects any of these has left a share of Islam behind, and whoever abandons them all .

The Shaykh : Do not read to me; tell me yourself. This hadith, as you heard it from me, means that the man is mistaken in the title of the book and in its content. This hadith does not indicate what he claims.

The questioner : And it is cited as evidence that Islam.

The Shaykh : Go back and tell me: he is citing evidence. Your question is for you. Why does this hadith not indicate that the one who abandons prayer is not a disbeliever?

The questioner : It seems to contradict the other hadiths that we know.

The Shaykh : Yes, the other hadiths strike this with that, or that with this, and you do not try to reconcile them?

The questioner : I am not, Shaykh, I mean, I do not have the knowledge that.

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good. May Allah reward you with good, but you said that I was not convinced of its correctness, but rather convinced of its error. Does he want to give such an answer? Does he want to be prepared to discuss this author on every piece of evidence he presented in support of the book's topic? Now, since you say you do not have this knowledge, this helps me in discussing the man's evidence. So why did you not take the stance of one who is uncertain, not knowing whether he is a disbeliever or not? But why do you reject this hadith? Give me the book. The hadith in this book, are you selling it?

The questioner : No, I bought them.

The Shaykh : You are not selling it, meaning? No.

The questioner : It is sold in Dar al-Nar.

The Shaykh : Islam has forms and beacons like beacons on the road. Among them is and the well-known command, and so on. So the hadith says: "Whoever neglects any of these has left a share of Islam behind, and whoever abandons them all ." Do you not notice, and you are an Arab, that he distinguishes between neglecting something of these shares—neglecting from Islam—and if he abandons them all, what has he done? He has turned his back on Islam. So this hadith gives you, may Allah bless you, a clear text, with no ambiguity, that the one who abandons a share of the shares of Islam, such as prayer, such as zakah, such as fasting Ramadan, has not turned his back on Islam, but has only neglected a part of his Islam. But if he abandons them all, he has turned his back on Islam. So this hadith, may Allah bless you, is a clear text that the one who abandons prayer, like the one who abandons zakah, like the one who abandons fasting, is not an apostate from Islam.

The questioner : Also, Shaykh, he says.

The Shaykh : Please, go ahead.

The questioner : 'Ubadah ibn al-Samit said: I bear witness that I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: .

The Shaykh : What do you mean? Answer me, what do you mean? He is not mistaken.

The questioner : Abandoning prayer here means, as I understood from this hadith—perhaps I understood it incorrectly—he is not a disbeliever, and the matter is up to Allah: if He wills, He will punish him, and if He wills, He will forgive him.

The Shaykh : All right, so is he a disbeliever? This is correct, that is what you understood. Now, close the book, put it in front of you, do not open it. Yes, he did not respond, which indicates that he is an Egyptian, correct? A mumble. Your understanding is correct. And we congratulate you on it. As they say, “If you know, then hold fast to it.” But if you add to this correct understanding of this authentic hadith the statement of Allah the Exalted in the Noble Qur'an , do you not understand from your correct understanding of this hadith and your correct understanding of the verse that the one who abandons prayer is not a disbeliever and that he will not remain in the Fire forever? Because He said So, if we assume we have two men who abandon prayer, and Allah forgives one of them but does not forgive the other, what is your position? It is clear to you, what are you looking at like that?

The questioner : Please, go ahead.

The Shaykh : And in Syria, they say the eye is a ladle for words. So when I see your eyes with someone else, it means you are not with me.

The questioner : You are with me, if Allah wills.

The Shaykh : What did I tell you last?

The questioner : I said, if Allah wills.

The Shaykh : No, that was the one before last. Do you see that the one whose eyes are not with the speaker loses it? I told you last: if we assume two men who abandon prayer, and our Lord forgave one of them and did not forgive the other, if He wills He will punish him, and if He wills He will forgive him. He punished one of them and forgave the other. If He punished one of them, will his punishment be the punishment of the disbelievers, the kafirs (disbelievers), who abide in the Fire forever? If the one who abandons prayer is not a disbeliever, and therefore the man's title and the one titled by it is correct one hundred percent. Of course, there are some things and some interpretations and ta'wil (figurative interpretation) in it that are questionable. No human being is free of this absolutely. But the topic of the book is a correct topic, one hundred percent. And on this occasion, I want to remind you that there is a hadith in the two Sahihs that the intercession of the believers on the Day of Resurrection includes those who abandon prayer. So if these people are not disbelievers, as long as they do not abide in the Fire forever, they are not disbelievers.

The questioner : Another question, Shaykh, on the same book.

The Shaykh : Please. It is not for you.

The questioner : He says. In the previous hadith. And from what has preceded, it is clear that this hadith indicates that abandoning prayer entirely does not take one out of the religion. Do we understand from your last statement that he is included in intercession?

The Shaykh : Of course, because it means, as the majority of scholars who do not declare the one who abandons prayer a disbeliever hold, that the one who abandons prayer is in one of two states: either he abandons it out of denial, in which case he is a disbeliever by consensus, and there is no disagreement on this, correct? Where is the disagreement? In the second state, which is the one who abandons prayer out of laziness, believing in its obligation, but out of laziness, poor upbringing, as you see people today living in such a state of negligence. As long as he does not deny it, he is a Muslim, whether he prays and then abandons it, or prays and then abandons it, or abandons it entirely. But here is a subtle point. If there is a ruler who rules with Islam, and he brings every one who abandons prayer, one by one, and says: "Pray, or face death?" If he prefers death to prayer, he is a denier; in modern terms, he is a believer in the creed, meaning he abandons prayer because he does not believe in it, because if he believed in it, he would ransom his head with prayer. But if he prefers being killed to prayer, that is proof that he is a denier. And therefore.
Among the issues on which the jurists disagreed is: What is the ruling on the one who abandons prayer? Some, such as the Hanafi school, said he is to be imprisoned until he repents or dies, but he does not die as a disbeliever. This is the position of a second school held by some scholars: he is to be imprisoned and pricked with a sword, "Pray like this," until he prays or dies. The majority of scholars said he is to be killed. This is the majority view. They divided into two groups: one group said he is killed as a criminal, not as a disbeliever, and the other group said he is killed as a disbeliever, not as a criminal. The difference is that the first group, who said he is killed as a criminal, said he is to be killed, washed, shrouded, prayed over, and buried in the Muslim cemeteries. The other group says he is not to be buried in the Muslim cemeteries. Yes.