The ruling on one who believes that prayer is the distinguishing factor between Muslims and disbelievers

Question:
The questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, what is your opinion of one who believes that the difference between Muslims and others is the performance of prayer? They say that if the followers of religions other than Islam pray, they become Muslims, and that is [saying] there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and they cite the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) . Please inform us, may Allah preserve you?

Answer:
This is the statement of an ignorant person. We do not know who says this; it is not known. This is the statement of an ignorant person who does not understand the objectives of the Shari'ah. So there is no doubt that this is invalid.
Yes, if a disbeliever prays the prayer of the Muslims, he may be judged as a Muslim at the beginning. He is judged to be a Muslim based on the fact that he has shown, meaning, agreement with the Muslims, just as we accept from him if he says there is no god but Allah, we judge him to be a Muslim based on what appears of his state initially. As for saying that if he prays a prayer that is not valid, like the one who prays while his ablution is broken, or rather it is worse, is the prayer of one in a state of ritual impurity valid? Is the prayer of one in a state of ritual impurity accepted?
If the prayer of one in a state of ritual impurity is not accepted, then the prayer of the disbeliever is not accepted. Read the conditions of prayer mentioned by the scholars. The first thing is Islam, declaring the two testimonies. Without declaring the two testimonies, the prayer itself is nothing; there is no prayer. This is a discarded opinion that is not relied upon, and no attention is paid to it, and no one who claims affiliation with the religion says it, and there is no sect that holds this. And his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) this applies to one who has become a Muslim, one who has declared the testimony, so he must pray. If he does not pray, he is a disbeliever. This is the meaning of the hadith . Yes.