ABANDONING THE OBLIGATORY PRAYERS.

ABANDONING THE OBLIGATORY PRAYERS.
____________________________________
____________________________________

All praise due to Allah (swt). We praise him for all the perfection and quality that He has and all the blessing that he bestows upon us, we seek His assistance and we ask for His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah (swt) from the evil within our selves and from our evil actions. Whoever Allah (swt) guides, none can misguide and whoever Allah (swt) leads to astray none can guide.

I testify that there is no one worthy of being worshipped followed or obeyed except Allah (swt) and I also testify that the Muhammad (sws) is His slave and His Messenger. Who was sent with the guidance and the religion of truth (i.e. Islam) to make it prevail over all the other ways of Life.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WHAT IS THE RULING REGARDING THE ONE WHO DOES NOT PRAY?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The strongest opinion is that the person who does not pray Salah ever in his life or he left the five daily prayers completely or the most of his life time he does not pray the Salah but sometimes he prays. This person is a Disbeliever and he has left the fold of Islam.

The reason for this is that the Qur’anic verses and the speech of the prophet Muhammad (sws) and as well as the statement of the Sahabah, they all indicates and points towards the fact that the person who does not pray his five daily obligatory prayers is not a believer.

And this is even if the person he believes that praying five daily prayers is obligatory but he does not pray them then it will still make him Disbeliever.

=============
Evidence from Qur’an
=============

Allah (swt) says in Surah Taubah:-
-------------------------------------------
But if they repent and perform As-Salah and give Az-Zakah, then leave their way free. Verily Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most-Merciful.

Also Allah (swt) said:-
=============

But if they repent and perform As-Salah, and give Zakat, then they are your brethren in religion.

i.e., Allah (swt) has restricted the brotherhood, He made a condition that if they repent and perform As-Salah and give Zakah, then they become your brethren in religion. And we understand that only a Muslim can be a brother of another Muslim and therefore the person who does not pray is neither our brother nor a Muslim.

So one may ask `` What about Zakat`` because Allah (swt) mentions the Zakat also in that verse {(9:5) (9:11)}.

The answer is that if you take these ayahs on its apparent meaning then you will see that the one who does not give zakah is a Disbeliever, However there are other evidences presents which reduces the sin of the person who does not give zakah from being kufr Akbar to kufr Asghar, that makes us say that the one who does no give his zakah is not a Disbeliever.

Rather he remains in the fold of Islam, due to the presence of other evidences relating to the subject matter.

So there are other evidences to prove or to change the abandoning the zakah from being greater disbelief to the lesser disbelief but there is nothing to prove or to change the abandoning the prayer from being greater disbelief to the lesser disbelief.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The evidence to prove that the one who abandons to give zakah is not a disbeliever, is the statement of the prophet (sws), recorded by Sahih Muslim, Where prophet (sws) said:-

There is not a single person of wealth who does not give its right to Allah (swt) (i.e. Zakah) except that Allah (swt) will put him in the Hereafter make him carry this money as if he is carrying the fire of jahannam and he will be burnt in his face, his back and his forehead will be burnt by the fire if jahannam And Allah (swt) will leave him in that state for fifty thousands years, in this state of carrying fire and burning his face, burning his back and burning his forehead because he did not give the Haqq of the Zakat what Allah ordered him to do. Then he will see his path to enter into jannah or to remain in the Hellfire.

We know that a disbeliever will never enter the jannah. So this hadith proves that he did not die as a disbeliever and not paying the zakah does not take you out of the fold of Islam.

Note: Anywhere in the text it is said that, they are left with the ``will of Allah`` then it is speaking about Sinful Muslim that He may punish them or He may forgive them, As He wish.

So these are evidences shows that the person who does not give Zakat is not a disbeliever. But as for Salah there is no evidence to say the same thing.

================================
Evidence from Sunnah about abandoning the prayer
================================

Prophet (sws) said: Bainar rajuli wa bainash Shirki wal Kufri, Tarkus Salah.``The difference between a man and falling into association and disbelief is the Abandonment of Salah.``

[ Sahih Muslim ]

Prophet (sws) said:Laisa bainal abdi wa bainal kufri, illa tarkus salah.
``There is no difference for a servant between himself and disbelief except by Abandoning the Salah. ``

[ Nisa’i ]

Prophet (sws) said: Bainal kufri wal Iman, tarkus Salah. `` The difference between disbelief and Iman is the Abandonment of Salah.``
[ Tirmidhi ]

Prophet (sws) said: Al Ahdalladhi bainana wa bainahum As-Salah. Faman tarakaha faqad kafar. `` The covenant between us (i,e. the prophet and the other Muslims) is As-Salah. Whoever leaves it, he has committed disbelief.

[ Musnad Imam Ahmad ]

In a famous hadith prophet (sws) said: Whoever prays our prayer, faces our qiblah, and eats our jabiha, then he is a Muslim and his blood is secure that we do not fight him.

And therefore the opposite of the hadith is that the one who does not pray our prayer, does not faces our qiblah, does not eat our meat is a Disbeliever.

Prophet (sws) said: Bainal Abdi Wa Bainal Kufri Wal Imani As-Salah. Fa Iza Tarakaha Faqad Ashrak. `` In relation to a servant, the difference between disbelief and Iman is the Salah. If he Abandons it then he has committed Shirk.

[ Sahih Targheeb hadith no- 574 ]

Prophet (sws) said: La Tatrukis Salata Muta’ammidah, Fa Innahu Man Tarakas Salata Muta’ammiadan. Faqad Bariat Minhuz Zimmatullahi Wa Rasoolihi.

``Do not leave the prayer intentionally because the one who leaves the prayer intentionally, he is free of the protection of Allah (swt) and His prophet.,,

[Musnad Imam Ahmad also in Sahih Targheeb hadith no- 569 ]

Reported by Tabari that the prophet (sws) said: Man Tarakaha Muta’ammidan Faqad Kharaja Minal Millah. `` Whoever leaves the prayer intentionally, he has left the fold of Islam

( Millah ).

Also Prophet (sws) said: Akaharu Ma Yufkhadu Minad Deen As-Salah. `` The last knot of the Deen, the last protection of the Deen, the last thing to be untied of the Deen is As-Salah. If it is gone then the whole deen is gone.

Imam Ahmad commented on this hadith by saying: With everything if its last of it is gone, meaning all of it is gone. And if the Salah of a person is gone then his whole Deen is gone.

==================================
What did the Sahabah say about abandoning the prayer?
==================================

►Omar Bin Al Khattab (Ra) said: There is no fortune for a persons Islam who abandons his Salat.

i.e. The person who does not pray for him there is no fortune, no benefit from his Islam, it will not help him at all.

►Ibn Mas’ud (Ra) said: Man Tarakas Salata Fala Deenalah. `` The person who abandons his prayer, he has no Deen. ``

►Abu Darrda (Ra) said: La Imana Liman La Slatalah, Wala Salata Liman La Wuduwalah. `` There is no belief (Iman) for the person who does not pray and there is no prayer for the person who does not have wudu. ``

►Ali (Ra) said: Ma-llam Yusalli Fahua Kaafir. `` The one who never prayed, he is a Kaafir (Disbeliever). ``

►Jabir Bin Abdullah (Ra) said: Ma-llam Yusalli Fahua Kaafir.
`` Whoever does not pray he is a Disbeliever. ``

►Hammaad Bin Jayd who reported from Ayyub who said: Tarkus Salata Kufrun, La Yukhtalafu Fih. `` The one who Abandons the Prayer is a Disbeliever and there is no disagreement about that.

So it is clear from the understanding of the Sahabah that the person who abandons his five daily prayers is not a Muslim. We should prefer their views over everyone else because they are the ones who accompanied prophet (sws) and we have to believe like they believed in order to become successful.

=================================
What did Ahlul Ilm say about Abandoning the prayers.
=================================

Ibn Taimiyyah in his Fatawa vol-28, page-308, he said:-
-------------------------------------------------------------------

The majority of the Salaf, they say that the one who abandons the Salah
(He should be killed as a disbeliever, this is even if he believes and admits that we must pray Salah).

Ibn Hazm in his book Muhalla, he said:-
--------------------------------------------------
It is reported from Omar Bin Al Khattab, from Abdur Rahman Bin Auf, Muaz Bin Zabal, Abu Huraira, from amongst others from the Sahabah (May Allah be pleased with them all) that the one who abandons one single obligatory prayer intentionally and he abandons it, leave it until its time is gone, he is a disbeliever and Murtadd (Apostate) and we have not found a single Sahabah who opposes this. The Sahabah had a Ijmah on that issue.

All of this evidences force us to say that the one who abandons the prayer is a Disbeliever.

Note:-
======
We need to remain within the evidences and we do not come out of evidences. We need to follow what the Sahabah, Tabiyin, and Tabi Tabiyin said about it rather then the later ones.