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What is the ruling on one who does not pray or fast and says, "My heart is clean, and I am not a hypocrite," and what is my duty towards him?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Prayer is the greatest pillar of Islam after the two Shahadas, and abandoning it is a sign of disbelief and hypocrisy; as Allah Almighty says: "So woe to those who pray, [but] who are heedless of their prayer." (Quran 107:4-5) and "What has landed you in Saqar (Hell)? They will say: We were not of those who prayed." (Quran 74:42-43). Whoever abandons it, denying its obligation, has exited Islam by the consensus of the Ummah. As for whoever abandons it out of laziness, he is in grave danger; for the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, called it the pillar of Islam and said: "The covenant between us and them is prayer; whoever abandons it has disbelieved." And: "Between a man and polytheism or disbelief is the abandonment of prayer." A group of precise interpreters of Hadith consider him a disbeliever. The Malikis and the majority are of the opinion that he should be killed as a legal punishment, not for disbelief. Whereas Abu Hanifa and others said: He does not disbelieve and is not killed, but rather he is disciplined and imprisoned until he prays. He should be advised, admonished, and warned, and if that does not work, he should be boycotted if boycotting helps bring him back to what is right. But if boycotting him increases his distance, then it is better to associate with him to invite him to good.

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

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