Is there a hadith of Mu'adh that says the one who abandons prayer is a disbeliever?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Can this hadith be used as evidence for the disbelief of the one who abandons prayer? Because he ordered them not to command them to pay zakah until they establish prayer, even if they did not obey...?
The Shaykh : It may be cited as evidence, but it is weak. The ruling that the one who abandons prayer is a disbeliever is supported by clear evidence, so there is no need for something where an opponent might dispute you and say there is no evidence for it, and then your argument would be weakened. For this reason, we mentioned previously that a debater should first rely on what cannot be disputed. Even Ibrahim (peace be upon him) turned away from debating the one who argued with him about his Lord when he said, "I give life and I cause death." He did not go on to argue, saying, "You do not give life and you do not cause death; only the means of giving life and the means of causing death are in your hand, while the One who gives life and causes death is Allah." But he turned away from this because there was a possibility of dispute arising, and he said to him:[Al-Baqarah 2:258] Yes.
The Shaykh : It may be cited as evidence, but it is weak. The ruling that the one who abandons prayer is a disbeliever is supported by clear evidence, so there is no need for something where an opponent might dispute you and say there is no evidence for it, and then your argument would be weakened. For this reason, we mentioned previously that a debater should first rely on what cannot be disputed. Even Ibrahim (peace be upon him) turned away from debating the one who argued with him about his Lord when he said, "I give life and I cause death." He did not go on to argue, saying, "You do not give life and you do not cause death; only the means of giving life and the means of causing death are in your hand, while the One who gives life and causes death is Allah." But he turned away from this because there was a possibility of dispute arising, and he said to him: