What is the response of those who declare the abandonment of prayer to be disbelief to the Hadith of the slave girl in Sahih Muslim, in which the Messenger did not ask her about prayer, and affirmed her faith, knowing that they deem the abandonment of prayer to be disbelief outwardly and inwardly?

In summary: Shaykh al-Islam's statement that some people's reliance on the hadith of the slave girl, "Emancipate her, for she is a believer," is not a proof, because what is meant by it is the apparent faith upon which worldly rulings are based, not the inner faith that brings salvation in the afterlife. Whoever pronounces the two shahadas (testimonies of faith) is subject to the rulings of apparent Islam and is not immediately compelled to pray. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, accepted the Islam of some individuals even with their stipulation of not paying zakat or performing only two prayers, knowing that they would eventually commit themselves later. As for those who declare the ترك الصلاة (abandoner of prayer) to be a disbeliever, they say: he is killed as a disbeliever after being called to prayer and refusing.