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Is one who abandons prayer eternally damned to Hell for all eternity if he believes he is not a disbeliever, based on the prevailing belief in Egypt?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The prevalent view among you is that one who abandons prayer does not commit an act of disbelief (kufr). Therefore, if someone abandons it believing this to be true, based on the well-known opinion in their country, they do not commit kufr. Sheikh Ibn Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about an ignorant person who does not know that abandoning prayer is an act of kufr. He replied that such a person is not excused if they know that their action contradicts the Sharia, and they would be considered a disbeliever. However, if they grew up in a country where abandoning prayer is not considered an act of kufr, and this was the prevailing opinion, then they do not commit kufr, because they are emulating the scholars of their country, as the duty of a layperson is to follow, based on Allah's saying: "So ask the people of the message if you do not know."

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

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