The ruling on one who does not pray at times
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : He says: A friend of mine does not pray, but he is a person of generosity and kindness, and he has passed away. Does he fall under the hadith because he is a monotheist, but he does not pray at times?
The Shaykh : The word "at times" is what relieved me. If he had said he does not pray at all, we would say that, whatever the case, he is among the people of the Fire, abiding therein forever, may Allah protect us from that. His generosity, kindness, and good character would not benefit him, because he is a disbeliever. But since he said "at times," we understand from this question that he is among those who pray and then leave it off. Those who pray and then leave it off are not disbelievers, in our view. Even though some of our scholars hold that he is a disbeliever, and that leaving off even one prayer does not make him a disbeliever, but he is among the most sinful of open sinners, may Allah protect us from that.
Allah will bring out of the Fire one who has never done any good;
يخرج الله من النار من لم يعمل خيرا قط؛The Shaykh : The word "at times" is what relieved me. If he had said he does not pray at all, we would say that, whatever the case, he is among the people of the Fire, abiding therein forever, may Allah protect us from that. His generosity, kindness, and good character would not benefit him, because he is a disbeliever. But since he said "at times," we understand from this question that he is among those who pray and then leave it off. Those who pray and then leave it off are not disbelievers, in our view. Even though some of our scholars hold that he is a disbeliever, and that leaving off even one prayer does not make him a disbeliever, but he is among the most sinful of open sinners, may Allah protect us from that.
Source
اللقاءات الرمضانية لعام 1413هـ - 2 — binothaimeen.net (53:15)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.