The Shaykh’s explanation of the scholars’ disagreement regarding the ruling on one who abandons prayer out of negligence, and that the majority of scholars hold that he is not declared a disbeliever

The Shaykh : You know, for example, the hadiths related to prayer. The majority of scholars agreed that one who abandons prayer is in one of two states. The first state is when he abandons it out of denial; they unanimously agreed that such a person is a disbeliever, like some of the deviant youth today. If you say to him, “My brother, pray,” he will say to you, “No, I don’t pray, no, I don’t do this”. This is disbelief because it is denial; it is disbelief by the consensus of the Muslims. The second state is when one who abandons prayer does so while believing in it and affirming its obligation, but he is lazy or preoccupied with worldly matters. Of course, this is not something to be praised; rather, he is severely blamed. But does his action place him in the same position as the first one who denies the legitimacy of prayer? The answer is that the majority of scholars say that one who abandons prayer out of laziness is not a disbeliever; only the one who denies it is a disbeliever. Even in a narration from Imam Ahmad, who is known for saying that one who abandons prayer is a disbeliever even if out of laziness, there is another narration in which he agrees with the majority of scholars that one who abandons prayer out of laziness is not a disbeliever, but rather an open sinner. Some say he should be killed, and this is the correct view: he should be killed as a fixed punishment. Some say he should be imprisoned and jailed, and the first opinion is the most correct. The important thing is that a distinction must be made regarding belief in the laws and rulings between one who denies any of them in his heart, who is a disbeliever, and one who does not deny but affirms them, yet falls short in action. This is as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith: Therefore, one who abandons prayer, in whatever form the abandonment takes, cannot be said to be a disbeliever who is punished and eternally abiding in the Fire, except that the one eternally abiding in the Fire is the one who associates partners with Allah, as He (Blessed and Exalted is He) said: When the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned in the hadith of the five prayers the one who maintains them, he said he has a covenant with Allah that He will admit him to Paradise. And he mentioned the one who does not maintain prayer, whose affair is left to Allah, saying: Therefore, he is not judged to be a disbeliever, because if he were a disbeliever, he would fall under the statement of Allah the Exalted: This is what can be said on this occasion.