Back to search

Does the hadith "No one will enter Hell who has in his heart an atom's weight of faith" include those who believe in the six pillars of faith, the existence of God, and the Hereafter, but do not pray, taking into account the status of prayer as a divider between faith and disbelief?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Scholars are unanimous that faith (iman) is both a statement and an action, and that faith increases with obedience and decreases with disobedience. Al-Tirmidhi narrated from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, that he said: "No one who has an atom's weight of faith in their heart will enter the Hellfire." The intent of this hadith is that a monotheist will not abide eternally in the Hellfire, even if they enter it due to their disobedience. Since it is established that only a believer enters Paradise, and that faith is both a statement and an action, and that whoever abandons prayer completely has their deeds annulled, then whoever abandons prayer completely does not possess the sound faith that would protect them from entering the Hellfire. Ibn Uthaymeen said: "No rational person who has even the slightest atom's weight of faith in their heart can consistently abandon prayer, for prayer is the pillar of Islam and the the link between the servant and their Lord." Ibn Jibreen said: "It is known from the hadiths of intercession that intercession is only for the people of monotheism, the people of 'there is no god but Allah.' This is proof that they pray, so whoever does not pray will not receive their intercession. The angels recognize those who prayed in the Hellfire by the marks of prostration, which the fire does not consume. So what will be the state of one who never prayed at all? And prayer is the greatest pillar of Islam after the two testimonies of faith."

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy