In the name of Allāh, Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy.
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All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all creation, may Allah extol the mention of our noble Prophet Muhammad in the highest company of Angels, bless him and give him peace and security―and his family, his Companions and all those who follow him correctly until the establishment of the Hour.
With additional notes from Abu Khadeejah Abdul-Wāhid. Read and share.
Part 23: Whoever Abandons the Prayer Has Disbelieved
Imām Ahmad bin Hanbal (rahimahullāh) continued:
وَمَنْ تَرَكَ الصَّلَاةَ فَقَدْ كَفَرَ، وَلَيْسَ مِنَ الْأَعْمَالِ شَيْءٌ تَرْكُهُ كُفْرٌ إِلَّا الصَّلَاةَ، مَنْ تَرَكَهَا فَهُوَ كَافِرٌ، وَقَدْ أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ قَتْلَهُ.
“And whoever (among the Muslims) abandons the prayer has disbelieved. There is nothing from among the actions, the abandonment of which constitutes disbelief except the prayer. Whoever abandons it is a disbeliever and Allah has made executing him permissible.”
Explanation
This is (in summary) the meaning of a hadeeth reported from the Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) from Buraydah ibn al-Husayb (radiyallahu ‘anhu) found in the four books of the Sunan; and also from the hadeeth of Jābir reported by Imām Muslim in his Saheeh.
Buraydah ibn al-Husayb al-Aslamī — بُرَيْدَةُ بْنُ الْحُصَيْبِ الْأَسْلَمِيُّ — (radiyallāhu ʿanhu), whose kunyah was Abū Sahl, accepted Islam before the Battle of Badr, although he did not participate in it. He died at Marw in Khurāsān in 63 AH, according to the commonly cited report. The six hadith compilers narrate from him. He narrated that the Messenger of Allāh (sallallāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) said:
الْعَهْدُ الَّذِي بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَهُمُ الصَّلَاةُ، فَمَنْ تَرَكَهَا فَقَدْ كَفَرَ.
“The covenant that distinguishes between us and them is the prayer; whoever abandons it has disbelieved.” (Sunan Ibn Mājah, 1079, Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī, 2618, Sunan Abī Dāwūd, 467 Sunan al-Nasāʾī, 463; graded sahīh by al-Albānī)
Jābir was a Companion of the Prophet (sallallāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam), from the Ansār of Madīnah, and a prolific narrator of hadith. He is commonly reported to have died in 78 AH. Jābir ibn ʿAbdillāh (radiyallāhu ʿanhumā) said: I heard the Messenger of Allāh (sallallāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) say:
بَيْنَ الرَّجُلِ وَبَيْنَ الشِّرْكِ وَالْكُفْرِ تَرْكُ الصَّلَاةِ.
“Between a man and shirk and disbelief is the abandonment of the prayer.” (Muslim, no. 82)
ʿAbdullāh ibn Shaqīq al-ʿUqaylī said:
كَانَ أَصْحَابُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ لَا يَرَوْنَ شَيْئًا مِنَ الْأَعْمَالِ تَرْكُهُ كُفْرٌ غَيْرَ الصَّلَاةِ.
“The Companions of Muhammad (sallallāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) did not regard the abandonment of any deed as disbelief, except for the prayer.” (Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī, no. 2622. Chapter concerning what has been reported regarding abandoning the prayer — graded sahīh by al-Albānī)
ʿAbdullāh ibn Shaqīq al-ʿUqaylī—Abū ʿAbdur-Raḥmān al-Basrī—was a Tābiʿī and a reliable narrator of hadith from Basrah, Iraq. He died in 108 AH.
Imam Ahmad said:
وَمَنْ تَرَكَ الصَّلَاةَ فَقَدْ كَفَرَ، وَلَيْسَ مِنَ الْأَعْمَالِ شَيْءٌ تَرْكُهُ كُفْرٌ إِلَّا الصَّلَاةَ، مَنْ تَرَكَهَا فَهُوَ كَافِرٌ، وَقَدْ أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ قَتْلَهُ.
“And whoever abandons the prayer has disbelieved. There is no deed whose abandonment constitutes disbelief except the prayer. Whoever abandons it is a disbeliever, and Allāh has made it permissible to execute him.”
Al-ʿAllāmah Ahmad an-Najmi stated that it is the State—the ruler and those who have authority, and the judges—who can rule for the execution of such a person. They firstly invite him to repent and rectify; and if of sound mind, he refuses, then he is executed in a Muslim country due to his abandonment of the prayer, even if he affirms the obligation of the prayer.
The Positions of the Scholars Regarding the One Who Abandons the Prayer out of Laziness
There is ijmā of the muslims that the one who denies the obligation of the prayer is a kāfir. There is no difference of opinion regarding this. They differ however regarding the one who abandons the prayer out of laziness (and desires). One group of scholars say that he is a Muslim, but a major sinner, and under the threat of Allah’s punishment. A second group of scholars, who are fewer in number but whose opinion seems stronger, say that he is a kāfir, outside the fold of Islām. This is based upon the above narrations where the Messenger (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) singled out the prayer as being the covenant between the Muslims and the kuffār, and that which is between a man and kufr.
Furthermore, the Tābi’een, from them ‘Abdullah bin Shaqeeq, report that the Sahābah did not consider the abandonment of any action to be kufr except the abandonment of the prayer. So, this does not refer to denying the obligation of the prayer, rather it refers to the one who leaves off the prayer out of laziness. This is the saying of Imām Ahmad; also Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-ʿUthaymeen, al-Fawzān, ʿAbdul ʿAzīz Ibn Bāz and many others.
Establishing the Proof Upon the One Who Abandons the Prayer
However, the Muslim not knowing its abandonment to be kufr, is from the barriers to takfeer. Most Muslims do not know that if they abandon the prayer it is disbelief that takes them out of the fold of Islām, because the majority view of the scholars is that the one who abandons the prayer out of laziness is a major sinner but not a kāfir. And this opinion is well known amongst the Muslims.
Therefore, if a muslim does not know that abandoning the prayer is major unbelief, then this absence of knowledge is clearly a barrier to takfir. However, if he continues to abandon the prayer after having the proof established upon him, then the scholars such as Ibn Bāz, Ibn ʿUthaymeen, al-Fawzān and the Lajnah ad-Dā’imah hold that janāzah is not prayed for him after his death, and no inheritance is taken from his wealth. If he is alive he is separated from his wife.
He is to be brought in front of a judge (qādī) and is commanded to repent. If he repents, his repentance is accepted and he may go back to his family. If he refuses to repent and establish the prayer, then the judge passes the judgement that he should be executed.
If he chooses execution over the prayer, then he is a kāfir according to both views of the scholars. This is because he would rather be executed than make a prostration to Allah in prayer. This is the position of Shaikh all-Albāni who held that the Muslim who abandons the prayer is a major sinner and weak in īmān, but not a kāfir. However, he says, quoting from Ibnul-Qayyim’s “Zād ul Maʿād” that if that person is brought before a judge who invites him to pray and informs him of its obligation, and that he will be executed if he does not pray, and he chooses death over the prayer, then such a person is a kāfir, no longer a Muslim—and Allah’s refuge is sought.
والحمد لله رب العالمين وصلى الله على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين.
سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك أشهد أن لا إله إلا أنت، أستغفرك وأتوب إليك
Abu Khadeejah Abdul-Wāhid.
Copyright 2026.
This article was transcribed by Umm Maryam (may Allah reward her) from the classes of Abu Khadeejah (SalafiSounds.com). Please share it with others.
