The Ruling on the one who abandons Prayer

The early generations and their scholars used to discuss the issue of declaring someone who abandons prayer as an unbeliever within the topics of Tawheed (monotheism), faith, and Islam. Imam Abu Dawud (275 AH) may Allah have mercy on him said: "A chapter on refuting objections" [Sunan Abu Dawud (219/4)] And he mentioned in it a hadith narrated by Jabir from the Prophet, peace be upon him, "Between a person and disbelief is abandoning prayer." Imam Abu Isa Al-Tirmidhi (209-279 AH) may Allah have mercy on him said in the chapters of faith: "A chapter on what is mentioned about abandoning prayer" [Jami' at-Tirmidhi (13/5)] He narrated several hadiths about declaring someone who abandons prayer as an unbeliever, then he narrated from Abdullah ibn Shaqeeq al-Uqayli, may Allah have mercy on him, his saying, "The companions of Muhammad, peace be upon him, did not consider leaving anything from deeds as disbelief except for prayer." Abdullah bin Ahmad (290 AH) may Allah have mercy on him said: "He was asked about faith and refuting the Murjia" [As-Sunnah li-Abdullah (p. 173)] And he mentioned under this chapter the hadiths and narrations about declaring someone who abandons prayer as an unbeliever. [Refer to "Al-Jami' fi Kutub al-Iman" (p. 108)]

Al-Shafi'i said that the one who leaves the prayer until its time has passed without a valid excuse is considered a disbeliever. He said in his book "Al-Umm": "It is said to the one who abandons prayer without excuse until its time has passed: No one will pray for you except yourself. If you pray, that is good, otherwise, we will wait for you to repent, and if you don't, we will kill you, as is the case with a disbeliever." It is said that the person who leaves Islam should be given three chances to repent. If he prays, that's good; otherwise, he should be killed, according to the Prophet's saying: "Whoever changes his religion, kill him." Leaving the prayer without an excuse is considered the same as leaving faith without an excuse, and the ruling for it is the same as the ruling for leaving faith. This is because he has the same status as the one who leaves faith, and he is not given three chances to repent. It is mentioned in the book "Al-Umm": Al-Rabi' reported that Al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "If someone who entered Islam leaves the obligatory prayer, we ask him, 'Why don't you pray?' If he says he forgot, we tell him to pray when he remembers. If he says he is sick, we tell him to pray according to his ability, standing, sitting, lying down, or gesturing. If he says he can pray and do it well, but he doesn't pray even though it is obligatory upon him, we tell him that there is nothing that can substitute for prayer, and no one else can do it for him. We do not allow him to avoid prayer." The chapter on prayer, the ruling on deliberately abandoning prayer.

Imam Malik's chapter on declaring apostasy on one who abandons prayer Abu Muhammad bin Abi Zaid Al-Qayrawani said in the last section of his book "An-Nawadir wal Ziyadat" regarding the issue of declaring apostasy on one who abandons prayer (vol. 14, p. 537): "Ibn Habib said: 'As for one who abandons prayer when the Imam orders him to pray and he refuses, then he should be killed and not delayed until the time between the prayers, and he is considered an apostate for abandoning prayer, denying it, being excessive in delaying it, or being negligent of it, due to the Prophet's statement: "There is no separation between a person and disbelief except abandoning prayer." '" All of this was also stated by Mutarrif, Ibn Al-Majishun, Ibn Abdul Hakam, Asbagh, and Ibn Al-Qasim narrated it from Malik without any abridgement. It is also mentioned in Al-Muntaqa Sharh Al-Muwatta, vol. 3, p. 122: "The meat of a murtadd (an apostate who leaves Islam) should not be eaten, even if he turns to Judaism or Christianity. Ibn Habib narrated: 'The meat of one who claims to pray should not be eaten, nor should the meat of one who neglects prayer and is known to be negligent of it, as this leads to apostasy.' He also said: 'This was also stated to me by all of the companions of Imam Malik.'"

١ • قال الإمام #أبو_داود (٢٧٥هـ) رحمه الله تعالى: {باب في رد الإرجاء} [سنن أبي داود (٢١٩/٤)] وذكر فيه حديث جابر عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم (بين العبد وبين الكفر ترك الصلاة). ٢ • قال الإمام أبو عيسى #الترمذي (٢٠٩ - ٢٧٩هـ) رحمه الله في أبواب الإيمان: {باب ما جاء في ترك الصلاة} [جامع الترمذي (١٣/٥)] فروى جملة من الأحاديث في تكفير تارك الصلاة، ثم روى عن عبدالله بن شقيق العقيلي رحمه الله قوله: (كان أصحاب محمد لا يرون شياء من الأعمال تركه كفر غير الصلاة) ٣ • قال #عبدالله_بن_أحمد (٢٩٠هـ) رحمهما الله: {سئل عن الإيمان والرد على المرجئة} [#السنة_لعبدالله (ص ١٧٣)] وأورد تحت هذا الباب الأحاديث والآثر في تكفير تارك الصلاة. [انظر"الجامع في كتب الإيمان (ص١٠٨)]

قال المزني في مختصره لكتاب الام للشافعي ( قَالَ الشَّافِعِيُّ : يُقَالُ لِمَنْ تَرَكَ الصَّلَاةَ حَتَّى يَخْرُجَ وَقْتُهَا بِلَا عُذْرٍ : لَا يُصَلِّيهَا غَيْرُك ، فَإِنْ صَلَّيْت وَإِلَّا اسْتَتَبْنَاك ، فَإِنْ تُبْت وَإِلَّا قَتَلْنَاك كَمَا يُكَفَّرُ فَنَقُولُ إنْ آمَنْت وَإِلَّا قَتَلْنَاك وَقَدْ قِيلَ : يُسْتَتَابُ ثَلَاثًا فَإِنْ صَلَّى فِيهَا وَإِلَّا قُتِلَ وَذَلِكَ حَسَنٌ - إنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ - ( قَالَالْمُزَنِيّ ) : قَدْ قَالَ فِي الْمُرْتَدِّ إنْ لَمْ يَتُبْ قُتِلَ وَلَمْ يُنْتَظَرْ بِهِ ثَلَاثًا لِقَوْلِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ { : مَنْ تَرَكَ دِينَهُ فَاضْرِبُوا عُنُقَهُ } وَقَدْ جُعِلَ تَارِكُ الصَّلَاةِ بِلَا عُذْرٍ كَتَارِكِ الْإِيمَانِ فَلَهُ حُكْمُهُ فِي قِيَاسِ قَوْلِهِ ; لِأَنَّهُ عِنْدَهُ مِثْلُهُ وَلَا يُنْتَظَرُ بِهِ ثَلَاثًا ) كتاب الصلاة باب الحكم في تارك الصلاة متعمدا ‎جاء في كتاب الام أَخْبَرَنَا الرَّبِيعُ قَالَ قَالَ الشَّافِعِيُّ رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى : مَنْ تَرَكَ الصَّلَاةَ الْمَكْتُوبَةَ مِمَّنْ دَخَلَ فِي الْإِسْلَامِ قِيلَ لَهُ لِمَ لَا تُصَلِّي ؟ فَإِنْ ذَكَرَ نِسْيَانًا قُلْنَا فَصَلِّ إذَا ذَكَرْت ، وَإِنْ ذَكَرَ مَرَضًا قُلْنَا فَصَلِّ كَيْفَ أَطَقْت قَائِمًا أَوْ قَاعِدًا أَوْ مُضْطَجِعًا أَوْ مُومِيًا فَإِنْ قَالَ أَنَا أُطِيقُ الصَّلَاةَ ، وَأُحْسِنُهَا ، وَلَكِنْ لَا أُصَلِّي وَإِنْ كَانَتْ عَلَيَّ فَرْضًا قِيلَ لَهُ الصَّلَاةُ عَلَيْك شَيْءٌ لَا يَعْمَلُهُ عَنْك غَيْرُك ، وَلَا تَكُونُ إلَّا بِعَمَلِك فَإِنْ صَلَّيْت ، وَإِلَّا اسْتَتَبْنَاك فَإِنْ تُبْت ، وَإِلَّا قَتَلْنَاك ) كتاب الصلاة : الحكم في تارك الصلاة

باب الامام مالك يكفر تارك الصلاة قال أبو محمد بن أبي زيد القيرواني في آخر كتابه النوادر والزيادات - مسألة كفر تارك الصلاة ج14 ص 537 ( قال ابن حبيب: وأما تارك الصلاة إذا أمره الإمام بها فقال: لا أصلي فليقتل ولا يؤخر إلى ما بينه وبين آخر ووقتها وهو بتركها كافر؛ تركها جاحدًا أو مفرطًا أو مضيعًا أو متهاونًا لقول النبي عليه الصلاة والسلام: (ليس بين العبد وبين الكفر إلا ترك الصلاة )... )... وقاله كله مطرف وابن الماجشون وابن عبد الحكم وأصبغ ورواه ابن القاسم ومطرف عن مالك مجملاً بغير تلخيص جاء في المنتقى شرح الموطّا : ج 3 ص 122 ( وَلَا تُؤْكَلُ ذَبِيحَةُ الْمُرْتَدِّ وَإِنْ ارْتَدَّ إِلَى يَهُودِيَّةٍ أَوْ نَصْرَانِيَّةٍ رَوَاهُ ابْنُ حَبِيبٍ قَالَ : وَلَا تُؤْكَلُ ذَبِيحَةُ مَنْ يَدَّعِ الصَّلَاةَ وَلَا ذَبِيحَةُ مَنْ يُضَيِّعُهَا وَيُعْرَفُ بِالتَّهَاوُنِ بِهَا وَنَحَا بِذَلِكَ إِلَى أَنَّهُ ارْتِدَادٌ قَالَ : وَكَذَلِكَ قَالَ لِي مَنْ كَاشَفْتُ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ مَالِكٍ عَنْهُ فِي جَمِيعِهِ )