What is the criterion by which a person who abandons prayer is judged, and does the ruling differ based on the number of prayers abandoned or the duration of their abandonment?

Scholars have differed on the ruling concerning one who abandons prayer out of laziness, not out of denial: whether he is considered a disbeliever or not.

Those who deem him a disbeliever have differed regarding one who prays some days and abandons it on others: some said he is not considered a disbeliever except by absolute abandonment, while others said he becomes a disbeliever by abandoning a single prayer.

The Fiqh Encyclopedia mentioned three opinions on the ruling concerning one who abandons prayer out of laziness and negligence: 1. He is imprisoned until he repents; otherwise, he is killed as a legal punishment, not due to disbelief (the opinion of Hammad ibn Zayd, Wakee’, Malik, and Al-Shafi’i). 2. He is imprisoned until he repents; otherwise, he is killed due to disbelief and apostasy (the opinion of Ali ibn Abi Talib, Al-Hasan Al-Basri, Al-Awza’i, Ibn Al-Mubarak, and Ahmad in the soundest of the two narrations). 3. He is imprisoned and beaten while imprisoned until he prays, but he is not killed (the opinion of Al-Zuhri, Abu Hanifa, and Al-Muzani).

Sheikh Ibn Uthaymeen holds that disbelief only occurs when one completely abandons prayer permanently, such that he resolves to abandon it entirely.

Sheikh Abu Al-Hasan Al-Ma’ribi is of the view that the criteria for deeming one who abandons prayer a disbeliever include: a. Denial. b. Non-adherence to its obligation. c. Complete abandonment of prayer while acknowledging its obligation. d. Persistence in abandonment after being called upon by the Imam, even to the point of execution. e. Explicitly stating no intention to make up missed prayers.