The ruling on one who wavers between performing the prayer and abandoning it
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
I know a person who is inconsistent in his prayer; sometimes he prays and sometimes he abandons the prayer. What is the ruling of the Shari'ah in this case? Is he one who abandons the prayer?
And as for the Shari'ah, I cannot speak on behalf of the Shari'ah; I am expressing my opinion on the matter. I hope that my brothers who ask questions do not direct the question to a person by saying: "What is the ruling of the Shari'ah?" This description is only true of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), because he is the legislator.Unless he qualifies it and says: What is the ruling of the Shari'ah in your view? There is no harm in that.
In any case: What I see is that the one who prays and abandons, while believing that the prayer is obligatory, is not a disbeliever, but he is an open sinner. However, if he abandons the prayer entirely, and we know that this man does not pray, not at home, not in the mosque, not with people, and not alone, then he is a disbeliever. This is what we see.
And some of the scholars, both from the early and later generations: He holds the view that if one abandons a single prayer until its time passes without an excuse, he is a disbeliever.
And some of them say: If he abandons a prayer and the one that is combined with it, for example: if he abandons the midday prayer along with the afternoon prayer until the sun sets, he is a disbeliever. But if he abandons the midday prayer until the time for the afternoon prayer enters, he is not a disbeliever.
But what I see is: That the one who prays and abandons is not a disbeliever.
And as for the Shari'ah, I cannot speak on behalf of the Shari'ah; I am expressing my opinion on the matter. I hope that my brothers who ask questions do not direct the question to a person by saying: "What is the ruling of the Shari'ah?" This description is only true of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), because he is the legislator.Unless he qualifies it and says: What is the ruling of the Shari'ah in your view? There is no harm in that.
In any case: What I see is that the one who prays and abandons, while believing that the prayer is obligatory, is not a disbeliever, but he is an open sinner. However, if he abandons the prayer entirely, and we know that this man does not pray, not at home, not in the mosque, not with people, and not alone, then he is a disbeliever. This is what we see.
And some of the scholars, both from the early and later generations: He holds the view that if one abandons a single prayer until its time passes without an excuse, he is a disbeliever.
And some of them say: If he abandons a prayer and the one that is combined with it, for example: if he abandons the midday prayer along with the afternoon prayer until the sun sets, he is a disbeliever. But if he abandons the midday prayer until the time for the afternoon prayer enters, he is not a disbeliever.
But what I see is: That the one who prays and abandons is not a disbeliever.