The Shaykh's comment on the scholars' disagreement regarding the one who abandons prayer - does he become a disbeliever by abandoning a single prayer or by abandoning them all?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : And I also hope, on this occasion, to know when the one who abandons prayer becomes a disbeliever, my brothers? By one prayer? By five? How is this determined?
We know the severe warning from the Messenger (peace be upon him) when he says, for example:Sunan an-Nasa'i 478Sahih (Darussalam) Is he a disbeliever? If it is said yes, we ask: what is the evidence? And if conditions are set, but there is no way to meet these conditions because they do not exist, what are the conditions? And by how many prayers? If the lazy person abandons prayer, not the one who denies its validity, what are the prayers such that if the abandoner agrees to leave them all, he becomes an apostate from his religion, exiting his faith, even though he believes in the legitimacy of his Lord for them and admits his shortcoming due to abandoning them? No one can set a limit for this. Therefore, in this situation, it is not permissible to utter the word of declaring someone a disbeliever, and the one who utters this word cannot set a limit for its implementation. Have you learned an answer to this question: when does he become a disbeliever? Please proceed.
The questioner : Some scholars say that the one who abandons a single prayer until its time passes intentionally is a disbeliever.
The Shaykh : No problem.
The questioner : Excuse me, and some of them say.
The Shaykh : Please proceed.
The questioner : The one who abandons them entirely, meaning he does not pray at all, not the Friday prayer, not the festival prayers, not the obligatory prayer, that is the one who becomes a disbeliever.
The Shaykh : Good, so what is the evidence for this or that?
The questioner : Abandonment, some of them say the one who abandons it.
The Shaykh : No problem, there is a disagreement. Some say he becomes a disbeliever by abandoning one prayer, and some do not declare him a disbeliever unless he abandons it entirely. By that, I mean if he is of the type we call in the Levant "one who prays intermittently," meaning he prays sometimes and does not pray other times, like those who do not know prayer except in Ramadan, for example. This is common among us. Are these people disbelievers? According to the first group, they are disbelievers; according to the second group, they are not disbelievers. This disagreement alone, leave aside those who say he does not become a disbeliever at all except by denial, which is the well-known view in books of jurisprudence. But now, this detail: some say he becomes a disbeliever by abandoning one prayer, and some say by turning away from prayer for his entire life. So the issue involves disagreement. How do we resolve this disagreement? What is the evidence that makes us feel secure after we say that the one who abandons prayer is a disbeliever? The one who abandons prayer is a disbeliever, who is he? The one who abandoned one prayer, as stated in the hadith:Mishkat al-Masabih 61Da'īf (Zubair `Aliza'i) This is a very severe warning, but is there agreement on its indication of disbelief? It is very clear that those who assert the ruling of disbelief for the one who abandons prayer have not agreed on this. Therefore, the issue requires caution, because we know the many hadiths that warn the Muslim from uttering the word of disbelief about his Muslim brother. And the Muslim who testifies that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, it is not permissible to exclude him from the circle of Islam merely because he neglected one of its pillars. Please proceed.
We know the severe warning from the Messenger (peace be upon him) when he says, for example:
Whoever misses 'Asr prayer, it is as if he has been robbed of his family and wealth.
من فاتته صلاة العصر فكأنما وتر أهله ومالهThe questioner : Some scholars say that the one who abandons a single prayer until its time passes intentionally is a disbeliever.
The Shaykh : No problem.
The questioner : Excuse me, and some of them say.
The Shaykh : Please proceed.
The questioner : The one who abandons them entirely, meaning he does not pray at all, not the Friday prayer, not the festival prayers, not the obligatory prayer, that is the one who becomes a disbeliever.
The Shaykh : Good, so what is the evidence for this or that?
The questioner : Abandonment, some of them say the one who abandons it.
The Shaykh : No problem, there is a disagreement. Some say he becomes a disbeliever by abandoning one prayer, and some do not declare him a disbeliever unless he abandons it entirely. By that, I mean if he is of the type we call in the Levant "one who prays intermittently," meaning he prays sometimes and does not pray other times, like those who do not know prayer except in Ramadan, for example. This is common among us. Are these people disbelievers? According to the first group, they are disbelievers; according to the second group, they are not disbelievers. This disagreement alone, leave aside those who say he does not become a disbeliever at all except by denial, which is the well-known view in books of jurisprudence. But now, this detail: some say he becomes a disbeliever by abandoning one prayer, and some say by turning away from prayer for his entire life. So the issue involves disagreement. How do we resolve this disagreement? What is the evidence that makes us feel secure after we say that the one who abandons prayer is a disbeliever? The one who abandons prayer is a disbeliever, who is he? The one who abandoned one prayer, as stated in the hadith: