What is the ruling on one who pays zakah and fasts but does not pray, yet performs Hajj and 'Umrah?

The questioner : What is the ruling on one who pays zakah and establishes the rites but does not pray?

The Shaykh : How? What is the ruling?

The questioner : What is the ruling on one who pays zakah and fasts but does not pray, and performs Hajj and 'Umrah but does not pray, and you have tried to guide him or spoken to him more than once, but he does not establish the prayer?

The Shaykh : What is his excuse? What does he say?

The questioner : He is busy, he has no free time, he has no free time for prayer, meaning he has no free time for prayer at all times, meaning a lot of time is spent with foreigners and, there are many works, meaning.

The Shaykh : This is, without a doubt, a matter that in his own reality is one of two things: either he believes that it is the truth that Allah has made it obligatory for him to pray, he believes in this, but the soul that commands evil suggests to him not to pray with this false excuse; or he does not believe, and he says—at least in his heart, not with his tongue—he says: prayer is a form of physical exercise and spiritual purification. As for the physical exercise, I do "gymnastics" every morning, for example, I do this exercise. As for the spiritual purification, I—praise be to Allah—do not harm people or curse them, and I am better than many of those who pray, and I do not cheat, and so on. If this is the case, then he has exited the religion and the faith; because he has denied what Allah has made obligatory upon him, and what is known from the religion by necessity, as the scholars say.
As for the first case; he in the depths of his heart believes in the legitimacy of the prayer, and that he should pray, and may Allah forgive us and guide us and show us the right path; it is not permissible to declare him a disbeliever, but he is an open sinner. And we are now in a time when we do not rule with Islam, we cannot reach what is in his heart, and we cannot be certain that it is so or so. We say: this is an atheist, this is a disbeliever, he does not pray. Or how can he pay zakah and not pray? Or the opposite; no, he believes in the prayer, and he may say it with his tongue, but he may be a hypocrite, what do we know? Ah, there is a legal ruling if there were someone to execute this ruling, we would soon uncover what is in his heart. Then this one who abandons the prayer would be brought and presented to the sword; it would be said to him: either you pray, you repent to Allah, and you maintain the prayer, or death is before you. Now a question for everyone: if this man truly believes as we think, meaning from his statement that I believe in the prayer and the legitimacy of the prayer, but may Allah curse Satan. If he is sincere in this statement that he makes us hear, and he is presented to the sword; what do you say, will he pray or not?

The questioner : He prays.

Another questioner : He will pray against his will.

The Shaykh : We want to hear from the one who asked the question.

The questioner : He will pray.

The Shaykh : He will pray, good; so if he prefers death over prayer, what will be his status?

The questioner : A disbeliever.

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Without a doubt, a disbeliever, and a disbeliever—in creed, as they say today.

Another questioner : A firm creedal disbeliever, meaning.

The Shaykh : I seek refuge in Allah; why? Because imagine now another example; a man whom the government took, they said to him: O you, renounce all the properties you own, and he is a millionaire, O you, death is before you; what is this person... ah, will he renounce or not? He will renounce. Do you think his wealth is dearer to this man or his life?

The questioner : His self.

The Shaykh : His life. So if he does not prefer to pray in order to save his life, and he loses his life and does not pray; can he be a believer in his heart? Impossible; therefore, this detail indicates a common error in some schools of jurisprudence; which is that the one who abandons the prayer is ordered to pray, and if he prays, otherwise he is killed as a hudud punishment, not for disbelief. This is an error, I can never imagine a true Muslim preferring death over prayer; so he is killed for disbelief, not as a hudud punishment. But our problem today is that there is no Islamic ruling to show us these hypocrites who are scattered among us and destroy our Shari'ah, while they pretend to be Muslims. So if there were applied legal rulings and hudud, then we would be rid of many of these hypocrites, and consequently we would be rid of many of the weak in faith, who are truly believers, but weak in faith; their strength of faith is not such that it motivates and drives them to stand and pray five prayers in every day and night. The Muslim ruler would be a motivator for him to pray, or else death is before him.
Please proceed.