The ruling on one who boycotts his mother

Question: A brother (M. Q. L) from Jizan asks: There is a man, a student of knowledge, who prays, fasts, and gives charity, but unfortunately, he has boycotted his mother. Does his prayer, charity, and fasting benefit him while he is boycotting his mother, not paying attention to her, even though she is a believer who prays and fasts, and we know her to be so?

Answer: Boycotting one’s mother by a Muslim is a great evil and a grave act of undutifulness. It is obligatory for him to repent to Allah for this, and he must return to being dutiful to her, treating her with kindness, taking her feelings into account, and seeking her forgiveness. This is what is obligatory for him. He has no right to remain in a state of boycott and undutifulness, because this is a great evil and a major sin. Therefore, he must abandon it, seek his mother’s forgiveness, ask for her pleasure, and repent to Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He.
As for his prayer, fasting, and other acts of worship, they are not invalidated. His acts of worship are valid and his deeds are valid if he performs them in the manner prescribed by the Shari'ah. However, his faith becomes weak, meaning his faith is deficient due to this sin. For the people of the Sunnah and the community hold that sins diminish faith and weaken faith, but they do not render the perpetrator a disbeliever. Only the Khawarij, who declare people disbelievers for committing sins, hold that view. They are unjust and sinful in this statement, and they have erred and are wrong according to the people of the Sunnah and the community.
As for the people of the Sunnah, they say: Sin diminishes faith, but the perpetrator does not become a disbeliever, nor does he remain in the Fire eternally. Rather, he is a sinner, and his sin diminishes his faith, weakens his faith, and causes the anger of Allah to be upon him. He is in danger of entering the Fire because of it, but he does not become a disbeliever. And even if he enters the Fire, he will not remain in it eternally. This is what the people of the Sunnah and the community say about them: sinners do not remain in the Fire eternally if they enter it because of their sins.
In conclusion, his boycotting of his mother is a sin and a major sin; indeed, it is undutifulness. However, this does not become a cause of his disbelief or the invalidation of his deeds, unless he considers it permissible and views undutifulness to his parents as lawful. In that case, he becomes a disbeliever. We seek refuge in Allah from considering undutifulness to parents permissible. Whoever does this and considers it lawful, or considers riba (usury or interest) lawful, or considers zina (unlawful sexual intercourse) lawful, becomes a disbeliever who has apostatized from Islam. Unless he is a polytheist and ignorant due to his distance from Islam, such as one who grew up in lands far from Islam. He must be taught the matters of Islam, and it must be made clear to him that undutifulness to parents is what Allah has forbidden for His servants, and that dutifulness to parents is what Allah has made obligatory for every Muslim, and that undutifulness to them is what Allah has forbidden. If the ignorant person is taught and the matter is clarified to one who has entered Islam, and then he persists, he becomes a disbeliever—may we seek refuge in Allah. And if he is a student of knowledge, his major sin is more severe. May we seek refuge in Allah from that.