How can I advise a friend who does not pray, and who believes that he cannot combine prayer with abhorrent acts such as smoking and watching television?

Scholars have differed concerning the ruling on one who abandons prayer but does not deny its obligation. Some are of the view that he is a disbeliever, based on Prophetic hadiths such as: "The covenant between us and them is prayer; whoever abandons it has disbelieved." Others are of the view that he should be executed as a punishment, not for disbelief. There is no disagreement regarding the disbelief of one who denies its obligation. One who abandons prayer turns away from the remembrance of Allah, and Allah has warned him of a constricted life and being raised blind on the Day of Resurrection. Allah, Exalted be He, says: "And whoever turns away from My remembrance – indeed, he will have a constricted life, and We will gather him on the Day of Resurrection blind." And if he persists in committing evil deeds along with abandoning prayer, how will he meet his Lord on the Day of Resurrection, when Allah will speak to him directly? Furthermore, the fire of this world is unbearable, so how about the fire of the Hereafter, which the Prophet described by saying that the person with the lightest punishment among its inhabitants will have two embers placed under the arches of his feet, causing his brain to boil.