Question #5: \u201cWhat is the ruling on the one who abandons the prayer? And what is the difference between al-kufr ul-\u02bdamal\u012b[1] (the disbelief related to actions) and al-kufr ul-\u02bditiq\u0101d\u012b[2] (the disbelief related to faith)?\u201d<\/p>\n
Shaykh al-Alb\u0101n\u012b answers:
\n\u201cThe one who abandons the prayer has two states: either he believes in its legislation, or he denies its legislation. So regarding this second state, he is a disbeliever by the consensus of the Muslims. And likewise, whoever denies a matter from the religion that a Muslim cannot be ignorant about \u2013 for example, whoever denies (the legislation of) fasting, Hajj and whatever else there is of matters known by all the Muslims to be necessities of the religion \u2013 then he is a disbeliever. So there is no difference of opinion about this: whoever denies the legislation of the prayer is a disbeliever.<\/p>\n
But if there is a man who does not deny (the legislation) of the prayer and who acknowledges its legislation, but with respect to action, he does not perform it, he does not pray \u2013 maybe he does not pray at all and maybe he prays sometimes \u2013 so in this case, if we said that this man has disbelieved, this statement would not apply to him at all, because kufr (disbelief) is denial, and he is not denying the legislation of the prayer, as (All\u0101h), the Most High, said with regard to the disbelievers: {And they denied them (those \u0100y\u0101t)\u2026, though their ownselves were convinced thereof}.[3] So if we take as an example so-and-so from the people who does not pray, but when he is asked \u2018Why don\u2019t you pray O my brother?\u2019, he says to you, \u2018All\u0101h will forgive me, by All\u0101h the worldly life has kept me busy, these children have kept me busy,\u2019 and this type of talk. Of course, this talk is not an excuse for him at all, but he presents us a benefit which we didn\u2019t know because we can\u2019t know what is in his heart. He presents us a benefit that the man believes in the legislation of the prayer, as opposed to if the answer was, may All\u0101h forbid: \u2018O my brother, the time for this prayer is gone; this was during a time when the people were not educated, they were unclean, they were in need of a specific nature of cleanliness, purity and exercise, and now the time for this has gone; now there are new means that free us of prayer\u2019 \u2013 this (man) has disbelieved and thus (goes) to {Hell, and worst indeed is that destination}.[4] As for if the answer is the first (example): \u2018Why don\u2019t you pray?\u2019 (and he says,) \u2018All\u0101h will forgive us, may All\u0101h curse the shayt\u0101n,\u2019 and this type of talk that informs us that the man is not denying the legislation of the prayer, then if we said that this man is a disbeliever, we would be contradicting the reality, because this man is a believer, a believer in the legislation of the prayer and a believer in all of Isl\u0101m, so how can we declare him a disbeliever?<\/p>\n
Therefore, we say that there is no difference between the one who abandons the prayer and the one who abandons fasting and the one who abandons Hajj and the one who abandons anything from the acts of worship related to actions \u2013 (there is no difference) with regard to (judging whether) he is to be declared a disbeliever or not. When is he declared a disbeliever? If he denies. When is he not declared a disbeliever? If he believes. So it is not allowed \u2013 by consensus \u2013 to declare the believer to be a disbeliever. Also, many narrations have come\u2026: \u2018(All\u0101h will say:) Make whoever (sincerely) said l\u0101 il\u0101ha illAll\u0101h (none has the right to be worshiped but All\u0101h) enter Paradise,\u2019 while he does not have a (good) deed equal to the weight of an atom, but he has the weight of an atom of \u012bm\u0101n (faith), so this \u012bm\u0101n is what prevents him from dwelling in the Fire forever, and he enters Paradise even if it is after he becomes a black coal.[5] However, this is the one who bears witness that none has the right to be worshiped but All\u0101h and that Muhammad (\u0635\u0644\u0649 \u0627\u0644\u0644\u0647 \u0639\u0644\u064a\u0647 \u0648\u0633\u0644\u0645) is the Messenger of All\u0101h, and he believes in all that has come from All\u0101h and His Messenger; but he does not pray, or does not fast or does not perform Hajj or the like, or he steals or fornicates \u2013 there is no difference with regard to all these affairs when placed on the scales of disbelief related to actions and disbelief related to faith [because since he has faith, these impermissible actions do not fall under disbelief related to faith \/ major kufr].<\/p>\n
For instance, a man commits fornication; do we declare him a disbeliever? You will say, no. I say, no. Don\u2019t be hasty. We have to see, does he say that zin\u0101 (fornication) is prohibited? Does he say as some of the ignorant ones say: \u2018there is no har\u0101m and there is no hal\u0101l\u2019? If he says to me (such a) statement, he has disbelieved. Likewise, the one who steals and any (other) sin \u2013 for example, the man who backbites people, and we say to him: \u2018Fear All\u0101h, the Messenger (of All\u0101h) said: \u2018Backbiting is you mentioning about your brother that which he dislikes,\u2019[6] and he says: \u2018There is no \u2018the Messenger said\u2019 and such-and-such,\u2019 (then) he has disbelieved. In this manner, (the same applies to) all the Islamically legislated rulings, whether it is a positive ruling, i.e., one of the obligatory duties, or a negative ruling, i.e., the prohibitions that he must keep away from. So, if he regards any of these prohibitions to be permissible in his heart, he has disbelieved. But if he falls into it by way of action while believing that he is disobeying (All\u0101h), he has not disbelieved.<\/p>\n
So there is no difference with regard to this between all the Islamically legislated rulings, whether they are from the obligatory duties or prohibitions. The obligatory duties must be carried out and it is not permissible to leave them off, but whoever leaves them out of laziness, it is not allowed to declare him a disbeliever. Whoever leaves them out of denial has disbelieved; whoever regards any of the forbidden things to be permissible has likewise disbelieved. There is no difference with regard to this at all between the obligations and prohibitions.\u201d
\n~ asaheeha translations ~<\/p>\n
[1] i.e., minor kufr
\n[2] i.e., major kufr
\n[3] S\u016brat un-Naml, 27:14
\n[4] S\u016brah \u0100l \u02bdImr\u0101n, 3:162
\n[5] Sah\u012bh al-Bukh\u0101r\u012b #7439, #7510, #6560; Sah\u012bh at-Targh\u012bb #3639, #3641
\n[6] Sah\u012bh Muslim #2589<\/p>\n
Source: https:\/\/www.islamland.com\/eng\/articles\/the-rulling-on-the-one-who-abandons-prayer-part-1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"