Ruling on the expiation of an oath for one who abandons prayer

The first message in this episode is from the Eastern Province, Khobar, sent by one of the sisters there, identified as (A. M). Our sister says: My mother swore by Allah to do something, but she then returned and did it, so she paid the expiation of the oath, fifty riyals, and gave it to her brother because he is poor and unemployed. However, she does not pray. Is her expiation valid? If it is not valid, what should she do?
Answer: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon the Messenger of Allah, upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow his guidance.
As for what follows: Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) has made clear the expiation—meaning: the expiation for an oath—in His Noble Book, where He, the Exalted, said: [Al-Ma'idah: 89] ... the verse. Thus, the Exalted has made clear the expiation for an oath, which is feeding ten poor people from the mid-range of what a person feeds his family, , meaning: freeing a slave, that means: if he was poor and could not [afford it], he fasts for three days. Based on this, what the mother of the questioner paid out, which was fifty dirhams as expiation for the oath, is not sufficient; because it is contrary to what Allah has prescribed. Therefore, it is necessary to make expiation with what Allah has prescribed. So she must pay the expiation to ten poor Muslims, which is five sa' of rice, dates, or wheat, with each person receiving half a sa', meaning: approximately one and a half kilograms. If she feeds them something manufactured and cooked, or gives it to them, that suffices. And if she clothes them with a shirt, or an izar and a rida', that suffices.
As for the fact that she does not pray, this is a great abomination and a heinous disbelief. It is obligatory for her to repent to Allah, the Exalted, and to return to Him, the Glorious and Majestic, with regret for what has passed, cessation of that act, and hastening to repent to Allah while performing the prayer; because prayer is the pillar of Islam and its greatest pillar after the two testimonies. Whoever abandons it has abandoned the pillar of Islam, and whoever abandons that commits major disbelief in the most correct of the scholars' opinions. If she denies its obligation or mocks the prayer or its people, her disbelief is a consensus among all scholars. We ask Allah for safety.
It is authentically reported from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: . Imam Ahmad and the people of the Sunan narrated it with a sound chain from Buraydah (may Allah be pleased with him) . And in Sahih Muslim, from Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) , from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), that he said: . The intended meaning is the type of the accountable person, male or female; because the rulings of the Shari'ah encompass everyone. This indicates that whoever abandons prayer, even if he does not deny its obligation, is a disbeliever with major disbelief; because the Chosen One (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . This is known disbelief and known shirk; so it is major shirk and major disbelief. We ask Allah for well-being.
So it is obligatory for your mother—O questioner—that she repent to Allah with a sincere repentance, and that she hasten to do so. Sincere repentance includes three matters: regret for the past, and sorrow for the past.
And abandoning the sin and ceasing from it.
And the third: the sincere resolve not to return to it.
And if the sin involves the rights of people, it is necessary to give them their rights or seek their forgiveness, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , meaning before the Day of Resurrection, for on the Day of Resurrection there are no dirhams or dinars, only deeds; therefore he said: . This is his state on the Day of Resurrection: he is recompensed with one of two things: either taking from his good deeds for the wronged person, or if he has no good deeds or his good deeds are not sufficient because the injustice is great, then the bad deeds of the wronged person are taken and placed upon the wrongdoer. We ask Allah for well-being. So one must be cautious.
The matter of prayer is a great matter, and many people have been lax with it, and this is a great corruption and a great danger. Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) says: [Al-Baqarah: 238], and He, the Exalted, says: [Al-Baqarah: 43], and He, the Exalted, says: [Al-'Ankabut: 45], and He (Glorified and Exalted is He) says: [Al-Mu'minun: 1-2] until He, the Exalted, said: [Al-Mu'minun: 9-11]. Al-Firdaus is the highest, middle, and most noble part of Paradise. And He, the Majestic and Exalted, says: [Al-Ma'arij: 19-23] until He (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: [Al-Ma'arij: 34-35]. And He (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: [Maryam: 59]. Al-Ghayy, according to the people of tafsir, is loss and destruction, and a wretched end. It was also said that it is a valley in Hellfire, deep in its bottom and foul in its taste. So Allah threatened those who neglect prayer with this great threat. And He, the Exalted, said: [Al-Ma'un: 4-5], threatening them with negligence regarding it, so how about abandoning it? Abandoning it is greater. And He (Glorified and Exalted is He) said regarding the hypocrites: [Al-Nisa': 142], so He informed about the hypocrites that they are lazy about prayer, and He blamed them for this. So how about one who abandons it? He is worse than the action of the hypocrites.
So every Muslim, every accountable person who claims to be a Muslim, must be cautious. He must hasten to preserve the prayers in their times, in congregation if he is a man, and if she is a woman, in the house, she must preserve that and adhere to this prayer. She asks Allah for help with it, and what has passed of negligence requires the necessary repentance, sincere repentance. And Allah accepts the repentance of those who repent, (Glorified and Exalted is He). Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good. If you permit me, O Shaykh: Is there a difference between one who abandons prayer intentionally, out of negligence, or out of laziness?
The Shaykh: Yes, as mentioned before. The difference between them is: that one who abandons prayer intentionally, denying its obligation or mocking it, is a disbeliever according to all scholars, an apostate from Islam, and must be killed; because he has changed his religion; because he has lied to Allah and His Messenger by his belief that it is not obligatory or by his mocking of it. And Allah says: [At-Tawbah: 65-66].
As for the one who abandons it out of negligence, and says: I believe in it and I know that it is obligatory and a duty, he acknowledges this but is lax and does not pray, or prays Jumu'ah but not the others, or in Ramadan but not otherwise, this is the one regarding whom there is disagreement. A group of scholars held that he is a disbeliever with minor disbelief, or minor injustice, or minor open sinfulness, as long as he acknowledges the obligation, so his disbelief is not major disbelief. This is like what came in the other hadith: , and like his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: , and like his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: . They said: This is disbelief less than disbelief, so his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying regarding the one who abandons prayer: means minor disbelief. And they say similarly regarding the other hadith: . They said: The intended meaning by this disbelief and shirk is minor disbelief and minor shirk.
And others among the scholars held that it is major disbelief even if he does not deny its obligation; because it is the pillar of Islam; and because it is the greatest of the pillars—as mentioned before—after the two testimonies; and because whoever neglects it neglects his religion; therefore they said: It is major disbelief even if he does not deny its obligation. They said: And because the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) general statement: indicates major disbelief; and because his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: also indicates major disbelief, meaning known disbelief with the definite article (al), and known shirk with the definite article (al), and this refers to major disbelief. They said: And because the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) agreed on declaring the one who abandons prayer a disbeliever, and they did not agree on declaring the one who abandons zakah and fasting a disbeliever if he did not fight for it or mock it. This is due to what the noble Tabi'i Abdullah ibn Shaqiq al-Aqili narrated, saying: . He mentioned that all the Companions held that abandoning prayer is disbelief, meaning even if he does not deny the obligation. And Allah is the Helper. Yes.
The presenter: Allah is the Helper. May Allah reward you with good.