What is the authenticity of the hadith: "Whoever intentionally abandons a fard (obligatory) prayer has disbelieved"? Is it a disbelief that expels one from Islam and renders them eternally in the Hellfire? And does it include one who abandons a specific fard, such as the Fajr prayer?

The aforementioned hadith, "Whoever deliberately abandons prayer has disbelieved," is not authentic with this wording. A group of scholars, including Imam Al-Nawawi, Al-Hafiz Al-Iraqi, and Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar, have explicitly stated its weakness. Al-Bazzar narrated this hadith with a chain of transmission that contains an issue. However, there are authentic hadiths with a similar meaning, such as the hadith of Jabir: "Between a servant and disbelief is the abandonment of prayer," and the hadith of Buraydah: "The covenant between us and them is prayer; whoever abandons it has disbelieved." The Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, agreed that abandoning prayer is disbelief. As for the ruling on one who deliberately abandons an obligatory prayer without an excuse, scholars have differed on this matter, with the majority holding that it is not a disbelief that expels one from the fold of Islam.