What is your correct ruling regarding the one who abandons prayer out of laziness: Is it disbelief or not, especially with the contradiction between Fatwa No. 68656, which states that he does not disbelieve, and Fatwa No. 6061, which mentions the hadith, "Whoever does not pray is a disbeliever"?
Scholars have unanimously agreed on the disbelief (kufr) of whoever abandons prayer out of denial and rejection. Scholars have differed on the ruling concerning one who abandons prayer out of negligence:
The majority of scholars held that he is an evildoer (fasiq) but not a disbeliever.
Imam Ahmad and those who agreed with him held that he is a disbeliever. Narrations from him differed regarding the number of prayers one must miss for him to be judged a disbeliever:
One narration states: He is to be killed for missing a single prayer if the time for the next prayer becomes restricted.
The second narration states: He is not to be killed unless he misses three prayers and the time for the fourth becomes restricted.
Whoever prays sometimes and misses sometimes is subject to the threat (of punishment) but is not a disbeliever, as stated by Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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