You mentioned that one who abandons prayer out of ignorance does not become a disbeliever. Does this mean he is ignorant of its obligation?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: You mentioned (may Allah preserve you) that one who abandons prayer out of forgetfulness or ignorance does not become a disbeliever. He says: My question is about the phrase "one who abandons it out of ignorance." Does this mean he is ignorant of its obligation?
The Shaykh:
Yes. One who grew up in a land of ignorance (jahiliyyah) where there are no Muslims and he hears nothing, and he entered Islam without knowing that there is an obligatory prayer in it. This is explained to him, because someone like him is ignorant of this due to his environment being one of disbelief and ignorance. So this is explained to him. Yes.
The presenter:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success.
The Shaykh:
He lives among Muslims and says, "I am ignorant," while he lives among Muslims. This is not an excuse, and he is not ignorant, because he has heard it, and the proof has been established against him. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: You mentioned (may Allah preserve you) that one who abandons prayer out of forgetfulness or ignorance does not become a disbeliever. He says: My question is about the phrase "one who abandons it out of ignorance." Does this mean he is ignorant of its obligation?
The Shaykh:
Yes. One who grew up in a land of ignorance (jahiliyyah) where there are no Muslims and he hears nothing, and he entered Islam without knowing that there is an obligatory prayer in it. This is explained to him, because someone like him is ignorant of this due to his environment being one of disbelief and ignorance. So this is explained to him. Yes.
The presenter:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success.
The Shaykh:
He lives among Muslims and says, "I am ignorant," while he lives among Muslims. This is not an excuse, and he is not ignorant, because he has heard it, and the proof has been established against him. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [398 -3022] ذكرتم أن من ترك الصلاة جاهلاً فإنه لا يكفر، فهل المراد أنه يجهل وجوبها؟ — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.