The Ruling on One Who Abandons Prayer Out of Laziness and Deliberateness

Question:
Our brother asks a question and says: Does one who abandons prayer commit disbelief that takes him out of the religion of Islam? Or does he not?

Answer:
The one who abandons prayer is in one of two states:
One of the two cases is: that he abandons prayer while denying its obligation, believing that it is not obligatory for him, and he is a person of legal age and sound mind. This makes him a disbeliever, may Allah protect us, because: whoever denies its obligation commits disbelief by the consensus of the Muslims. Likewise, whoever denies the obligation of zakah, or denies the obligation of fasting Ramadan for those who are legally accountable, or denies the obligation of Hajj when one has the ability, or denies the prohibition of zina and says that it is lawful, or denies the prohibition of intoxicants and says that it is lawful, or denies the prohibition of riba (usury or interest) and says that it is lawful; all of these commit disbelief, may Allah protect us, by the consensus of the Muslims.
As for the one who abandons it out of negligence and laziness while knowing that it is obligatory; there is a difference of opinion among the scholars regarding this. Some of them declared him a disbeliever with major shirk (associating partners with Allah), stating that he exits Islam and becomes an apostate, just like the one who denies its obligation. He is not washed, nor is the funeral prayer performed for him when he dies, nor is he buried with the Muslims, nor do the Muslim relatives inherit from him. This is based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the authentic hadith: , narrated by Muslim. This is explicit from him (peace and blessings be upon him) in declaring him a disbeliever, saying: , narrated by Muslim in his Sahih. And when disbelief and shirk are mentioned in their general definition, they refer to major disbelief and major shirk. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , recorded by Imam Ahmad and the people of the Sunan with a sound chain from Buraydah (may Allah be pleased with him), along with other hadiths that came in this chapter.
Others among the scholars said: He does not commit major disbelief by this, but rather minor shirk; because he is a monotheist who testifies that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and he believes that it is an obligation upon him. They likened it to zakah, fasting, and Hajj, stating that one who abandons them does not commit disbelief, but rather he is a sinner who has committed a great crime, but he does not become a disbeliever because of it.
The correct view is the first opinion; because prayer has a great status, different from the status of zakah, fasting, and Hajj. It is greater than fasting, greater than zakah, and greater than Hajj. It follows the two testimonies of faith, and it is the pillar of Islam, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . So it has a great status.
And among the evidence for this is what is established in the hadith from Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As (may Allah be pleased with them both), in Musnad Ahmad with a good chain, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): that he mentioned prayer one day among his Companions and said: .
They said: And this indicates that being gathered with these people constitutes disbelief in Allah, making the one who abandons it a disbeliever in Allah. For his being gathered with these disbelievers—indeed, the heads of the disbelievers—indicates that he has committed major disbelief. We ask Allah for safety and well-being. Yes.