If a man does not perform a single prayer in his life, do we say that he is still a Muslim?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Well, my Shaykh, regarding the one who abandons prayer, to the point that if he never prays in his life, do we say about this person—also—the same thing, that he is still within the religion?
The Shaykh : My brother, give me a break, may Allah bless you. When you come up with an image that is difficult for you to imagine entering your mind, that this person has not prayed to Allah, how can he be a Muslim? I will show you another image.
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : My method of understanding is that we bring the point of disagreement closer, not farther apart. Now, you brought up the image of someone who has never prayed. Personally, I say it is inconceivable that a Muslim who testifies from the depths of his heart that there is no god but Allah would not pray to Allah. I consider this unlikely, but my considering it unlikely is not a matter of belief; it is a suspicion. But now I am coming to ask you, you andThe Shaykh : Ibn Baz, and everyone who holds that opinion, there is no difference between this man you are asking about, who has not prayed to Allah, and a man who prays but is inconsistent. Is there a difference or not?
The student : A big difference.
The Shaykh : Okay, now we ask them: Is this inconsistent person a disbeliever? A disbeliever does not pray, so they do not distinguish between the higher example, which is the lower in sin and open sinfulness, and the one you asked about, and this example I am telling you about: a person who sometimes prays and sometimes does not. In their view, both are the same. Why didn't we take it step by step? If he has never prayed, we would say with you, "He is not a Muslim." But let's go down a degree to see, in the gradations, a Muslim who sometimes prays and sometimes does not. Do you understand this example?
The student : I understand, may Allah reward you with good, my Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Now I will give you an example. They do not have an answer for this: A man used to pray; he used to pray and did not miss a prayer. He missed one prayer alone, out of laziness, preoccupation with trade, or whatever. Did he become a disbeliever? They must say yes or no, right?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : They do not say it. They do not say he is a disbeliever. They must not set conditions and restrictions. The conditions and restrictions are ours. In other words, if we say to him, "Abandoning prayer," for example, a person like Zayd, who has been twenty or thirty years old and is not known except that he prays, but this Shaykh who is zealous for the Muslims, and out of his intense zeal declares them disbelievers if they abandon prayer, he saw this man.
The student : ... .
The Shaykh : This house, yes.
The student : May Allah have mercy on him.
Another student : Yes, my Shaykh.
The Shaykh : So the point is, he saw this zealous man. From the 'Asr prayer to Maghrib, he did not pray this prayer. Do they say he is a disbeliever? You can ask whomever you want from these people. Look at them. Hmm, hmm.
The student : They are hesitant.
The Shaykh : They are hesitant. So when does this person become a disbeliever? They must set conditions and restrictions. For example, they might say to you, "He missed two or three prayers," and so on. They say, "No, merely not praying a prayer like this 'Asr prayer is disbelief." We would say to them, this is not what is implied by his saying:Sahih Ibn Hibban 9:19 ; because what is implied by abandoning prayer is abandoning it absolutely, not abandoning a prayer just once. The conclusion is: We agree with them that disbelief is of two types: doctrinal disbelief and practical disbelief. Doctrinal disbelief is disbelief that takes one out of the religion; there is no disagreement on that. Practical disbelief is doing the deeds of disbelievers. A man, for example, who does not pray like the disbelievers who do not pray; this is possible. We can say, "By Allah, this is a disbeliever." But one who is inconsistent, sometimes praying and sometimes not, is he called a Muslim one time and a disbeliever another? There is no such Islam. But we will come to it.
The Shaykh : My brother, give me a break, may Allah bless you. When you come up with an image that is difficult for you to imagine entering your mind, that this person has not prayed to Allah, how can he be a Muslim? I will show you another image.
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : My method of understanding is that we bring the point of disagreement closer, not farther apart. Now, you brought up the image of someone who has never prayed. Personally, I say it is inconceivable that a Muslim who testifies from the depths of his heart that there is no god but Allah would not pray to Allah. I consider this unlikely, but my considering it unlikely is not a matter of belief; it is a suspicion. But now I am coming to ask you, you andThe Shaykh : Ibn Baz, and everyone who holds that opinion, there is no difference between this man you are asking about, who has not prayed to Allah, and a man who prays but is inconsistent. Is there a difference or not?
The student : A big difference.
The Shaykh : Okay, now we ask them: Is this inconsistent person a disbeliever? A disbeliever does not pray, so they do not distinguish between the higher example, which is the lower in sin and open sinfulness, and the one you asked about, and this example I am telling you about: a person who sometimes prays and sometimes does not. In their view, both are the same. Why didn't we take it step by step? If he has never prayed, we would say with you, "He is not a Muslim." But let's go down a degree to see, in the gradations, a Muslim who sometimes prays and sometimes does not. Do you understand this example?
The student : I understand, may Allah reward you with good, my Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Now I will give you an example. They do not have an answer for this: A man used to pray; he used to pray and did not miss a prayer. He missed one prayer alone, out of laziness, preoccupation with trade, or whatever. Did he become a disbeliever? They must say yes or no, right?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : They do not say it. They do not say he is a disbeliever. They must not set conditions and restrictions. The conditions and restrictions are ours. In other words, if we say to him, "Abandoning prayer," for example, a person like Zayd, who has been twenty or thirty years old and is not known except that he prays, but this Shaykh who is zealous for the Muslims, and out of his intense zeal declares them disbelievers if they abandon prayer, he saw this man.
The student : ... .
The Shaykh : This house, yes.
The student : May Allah have mercy on him.
Another student : Yes, my Shaykh.
The Shaykh : So the point is, he saw this zealous man. From the 'Asr prayer to Maghrib, he did not pray this prayer. Do they say he is a disbeliever? You can ask whomever you want from these people. Look at them. Hmm, hmm.
The student : They are hesitant.
The Shaykh : They are hesitant. So when does this person become a disbeliever? They must set conditions and restrictions. For example, they might say to you, "He missed two or three prayers," and so on. They say, "No, merely not praying a prayer like this 'Asr prayer is disbelief." We would say to them, this is not what is implied by his saying:
Whoever abandons prayer has committed disbelief
مَن تَرَكَ الصَّلاة فقد كفر
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.