What is the Sharia ruling regarding the rights of one who abandons prayer, such as inheritance, burial in Muslim cemeteries, and offering prayers and salutations upon them, and what is the ruling on initiating or returning greetings to them, taking into consideration that authentic hadiths explicitly state the disbelief of one who abandons prayer, and that the percentage of those who pray is small?

Scholars differ concerning a Muslim who intentionally abandons prayer without denying its obligation: Some hold that he is an apostate whose apostasy expels him from the faith. He is asked to repent, and if he does not, he is executed for apostasy. He is not prayed over, nor is he buried in Muslim cemeteries. This is the sounder view, based on hadiths such as: "The covenant between us and them is prayer; whoever abandons it has disbelieved." The majority of scholars, however, hold that he has committed a grave sin but does not exit the fold of Islam, as long as he does not deny its obligation. He is asked to repent, and if he does not, he is executed as a legal punishment, not for disbelief. The rulings pertaining to Muslims apply to him, including ritual washing, prayer, supplication, and burial in Muslim cemeteries.