The word of sincerity has conditions and pillars; if a Muslim does not fulfill them completely, has he performed its reality?

The questioner : Noble Shaykh, the word of sincerity has conditions and pillars. If a Muslim does not fulfill them completely, has he performed its reality? I hope for your guidance.

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions:
The word of sincerity is the saying: "There is no god but Allah." It is not sufficient for a person to say it with his tongue, because the hypocrites say it with their tongues, as Allah the Exalted said: But it is necessary that the person believes in its meaning in his heart, has faith in it, and acts upon what this great word requires, which is worshipping Allah alone with no partner, such that he does not associate with Him in His worship any angel, no sent prophet, no ruling authority, or any other of Allah’s (Mighty and Majestic) creations, as Allah the Exalted said: .
For this reason, the Islamic Shari'ah declared disbelief (takfir) in matters committed by those who say "There is no god but Allah," such as the disbelief of one who abandons prayer. Indeed, one who abandons prayer out of laziness and negligence is declared a disbeliever, as indicated by the Book, the Sunnah, the words of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), and the correct meaning, or rather the correct reasoning.
This is relevant to what we promised earlier, that we would speak at length about the ruling on one who abandons prayer. We previously explained that the disbelief of one who abandons prayer out of negligence and laziness is the implication of the Book, the Sunnah, the words of the Companions, and the correct reasoning. And whoever opposes this, his evidence is free from one of five matters:
Either it has no indication at all, or it occurred from people who are excused due to their ignorance, or it is restricted by a condition that prevents the abandonment of prayer, or it is weak, or it is general but specified by the evidences declaring the abandonment of prayer as disbelief.
We also explained previously that the meaning of abandoning prayer is abandoning it entirely. As for one who prays and neglects, meaning he prays sometimes and leaves it sometimes, he is not declared a disbeliever. We are now presenting what has been made easy for us of the evidences indicating the disbelief of one who abandons prayer:
Among these is the saying of the Blessed and Exalted regarding the polytheists: This noble verse conditioned the establishment of brotherhood in religion with the polytheists upon three conditions:
The first condition: that they repent from shirk (associating partners with Allah).
The second condition: that they establish prayer.
The third condition: that they give zakah (the obligatory alms).
It is known that what is contingent upon a condition is absent when that condition is absent. So if they do not repent, do not establish prayer, and do not give zakah, they are not our brothers in religion. And religious brotherhood is not negated except by disbelief that takes one out of faith.
As for mere sins, however great, if they do not reach the level of disbelief, they do not take a person out of faith. The evidence for this, meaning the evidence that sins do not take one out of faith even if great, is the saying of the Exalted: Allah made the killer and the killed brothers, even though the killer committed a great sin for which Allah threatened him with severe warning in His saying: And Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said: So Allah affirmed brotherhood between the two warring parties and the party that reconciles between them, even though fighting a believer is among the greatest of sins. So if it becomes clear that faith-based brotherhood is not negated by major sins that are less than disbelief, then its negation indicates that whoever commits what necessitates this negation is a disbeliever.
If someone asks: What do you say about one who repented from shirk and established prayer but did not give zakah? Do you declare him a disbeliever as the verse implies, or do you not?
We say: We do not declare him a disbeliever, because we have an explicit text indicating that he is not a disbeliever. The explicit text is preferred by scholars over the implied meaning. This explicit text is what Muslim narrated in his Sahih from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This hadith indicates that one who does not pay zakah is not declared a disbeliever, because his saying: is evidence that he may enter Paradise, and it is not possible to enter Paradise while in a state of disbelief.
Thus, the restriction regarding repentance from shirk and establishing prayer remains a valid restriction with no opposing evidence. Unlike his saying: whose implied meaning is opposed by the explicit text of the hadith I mentioned. Therefore, abandoning zakah and being stingy with it is not a cause of disbelief that takes one out of Islam.
Moreover, some scholars said: The one who abandons zakah and does not pay it is a disbeliever. This is a narration from Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal. But what the evidences indicate is that he is not declared a disbeliever. And we, with the help of Allah, do not go beyond what the evidences indicate, neither in negation nor affirmation.
As for the indication of the Sunnah regarding the disbelief of one who abandons prayer, it is in what Muslim narrated from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: He made abandoning prayer the dividing line between disbelief and faith, or between shirk and faith. It is known that a limit is a divider between two limited things, one of which does not enter into the other. And this is indicated by the wording of the hadith: He said: "and disbelief," and did not say (peace and blessings be upon him): "Abandoning prayer is disbelief," so that it could be interpreted as disbelief less than disbelief. But he defined it with the definite article "al" indicating the reality of disbelief. The Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) pointed to this distinction in his book "Iqtida' al-Sirat al-Mustaqim".
As for the second hadith, it is what the people of the Sunan narrated from Buraydah ibn al-Husayb (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made prayer the dividing line between Muslims and disbelievers. It is known that a limit excludes every limited thing from entering into the other.
As for the words of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), Abdullah ibn Shaqiq (may Allah have mercy on him), a famous Tabi'i, narrated their consensus on the disbelief of one who abandons prayer. He said: "The Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not consider any act whose abandonment is disbelief except prayer."
Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, the famous Imam, also narrated the consensus of the Companions on the disbelief of one who abandons prayer, and others narrated it as well.
As for the correct reasoning that necessitates that one who abandons prayer is a disbeliever with major shirk that takes him out of the religion, it is impossible for a believer, or even for one who has the least weight of a mustard seed of faith in his heart, to know the status of prayer, its greatness, and its position with Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and then persist in abandoning it. This is impossible; there cannot be anything of faith in his heart.
Thus, we say: One who has the least weight of a mustard seed of faith in his heart cannot abandon prayer absolutely while knowing its great position in the religion of Islam.
As for the evidences used by those who said: He is not declared a disbeliever, we pointed out in the previous episode that they are free from one of five matters, as we began in this discourse. And if it becomes clear that the sound evidence is established without opposing resistance, it is obligatory to act upon its implication.
When we declare disbelief on one whom the evidences indicate is a disbeliever, we have not transgressed or exceeded, because the ruling of declaring disbelief or not declaring it belongs to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), just as the ruling of making things lawful or forbidden, obligatory or recommended, belongs to Allah (Mighty and Majestic). There is no blame on a person if he takes what the evidences necessitate from any of the rulings. And every believer must take what the evidences necessitate from any description, for any described thing, and not make disputes a reason for abandoning the implications of the Book, the Sunnah, and other evidences, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted: And He said: .
If someone asks: If you say that one who abandons prayer is declared a disbeliever, does that not cause confusion and disorder, and lead to declaring many people disbelievers?
The answer to that is to say: If we say what the Shari'ah evidences necessitate, the result will be nothing but good and rectitude. Because if people know that abandoning prayer is disbelief that takes one out of the religion and is major apostasy, they will not dare to abandon prayer. Rather, it will be a motivator for them to perform it in the manner required of them.
However, if we say that it is not disbelief but rather open sinfulness, they become even more lenient with it than if we told them: that it is disbelief. We do not say it is disbelief in order to encourage people to perform the prayer, but we say it is disbelief because of the indication of the Book and the Sunnah and the statements of the Companions regarding that.
And what is the argument of this person who says: If you rule that the one who abandons the prayer is a disbeliever, then by this you cause confusion and instability, and you expel many people from the Islamic religion.
I say: The argument of this person is no different from the argument of one who says that if you cut off the hand of the thief, half the people will have their hands cut off. Because we say to this: If you cut off the hand of the thief, the number of thieves will decrease significantly, because the thief, knowing that his hand will be cut off, will not proceed to steal.
And the example of this and that is like the example of one who says: If you kill the murderer who deserves to be killed by retaliation, you are adding to the killing of the first person the killing of another man, and this doubles the number of those killed.
So we say: This statement is a false statement that Allah has invalidated in His saying: So if the murderer knows that if he kills intentionally he will be killed, he will not proceed to kill, and at that time intentional and aggressive killing will decrease.
And the most important thing, the whole of the importance, is that it is obligatory for the knowledgeable person who is mindful of Allah the Mighty and Majestic to follow the evidence wherever it is, whether in affirming or negating, and in rectifying the state with respect to Allah the Mighty and Majestic, Who legislated this which the mufti and the judge have proceeded to. And Allah the Mighty and Majestic has not legislated for His servants except what is in their well-being, happiness, and success in this world and the Hereafter. It is never possible that He would legislate for His servants what contains a predominant harm over its benefit, as Allah the Exalted said: And if you judge people according to the Shari'ah of Allah, not according to their reality, then the reality will change until it transforms into what Allah the Mighty and Majestic intends for His servants in what He has legislated for them.

The questioner : May Allah bless you. We return to the question, which is the word of sincerity (al-ikhlas) and its conditions and pillars, and whether if a Muslim does not bring it in its entirety, has he fulfilled its reality?

The Shaykh : We said: He does not fulfill its reality if he does not bring its conditions and its necessary implications. For the meaning of the word of sincerity, which is "La ilaha illa Allah," is not that one says it with his tongue, but rather it is necessary that he says it with his tongue, believing in its meaning with his heart, and acting upon what it requires of obligations, conditions, and pillars.

The questioner : May Allah bless you.