What is the ruling on one who performs Hajj while abandoning the prayer or being negligent with it?

Question : This questioner says: Shaykh Muhammad, what is the ruling on one who performs Hajj while abandoning the prayer or being negligent with it, whether that is done intentionally or out of negligence? Does that suffice for him as the Hajj of Islam?

Answer : If he performs Hajj while not praying, his Hajj is not accepted, because one who does not pray is an apostate and a disbeliever, and it is not permissible for him to be present in Makkah, for a disbeliever is not allowed to enter Makkah. But I am amazed that such a thing would happen: a man who does not pray performs Hajj! Subhan Allah, the prayer is better and greater than Hajj, and more beloved to Allah the Exalted than Hajj. How does this man come to perform Hajj while he does not pray? But in any case, this issue may occur, so we say: if one performs Hajj while not praying, his Hajj is rejected because he is an apostate, and his remaining in Makkah in the Haram, meaning within the boundaries of the Haram, is forbidden for him, and he is sinful for it, increasing thereby in sin and punishment in the Fire. And if Allah the Mighty and Majestic guides him to Islam and he prays, he must repeat the Hajj that he performed.