Has anyone ruled a living person who possesses the means for Hajj but does not perform it as a disbeliever, based on the premise that he does not deny its obligation, or is the disagreement limited to the issue of declaring him a disbeliever upon death?

The general view of the scholars is that whoever abandons Hajj while acknowledging its obligation does not commit disbelief, but rather dies as a sinner. The verse, "And whoever disbelieves - then indeed, Allah is free of need of the worlds," is understood as a form of strong warning or referring to the denial of the obligation. Ibn Habib and some of the early Muslims, such as Umar ibn al-Khattab and Al-Hasan (definition) al-Basri, dissented from this view, holding that whoever abandons Hajj while being able to perform it is a disbeliever. Hajj is obligatory to be performed immediately, and whoever delays it without a valid excuse is a sinner who has committed a major sin.