The Consensus Regarding Tark al-Salah being Kufr Akbar & Defending The Righteous Scholars

Narrated `Abdullah:

 

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "The blood of a Muslim who confesses that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that I am His Apostle, cannot be shed except in three cases: In Qisas (retribution) for murder, a married person who commits illegal sexual intercourse and the one who reverts from Islam (apostate) and leaves the Muslims."

[Sahih al-Bukhari 6878]

 

The abandoner of prayer is neither a murderer nor a fornicator/adulterer therefore it leaves off that he apostated through this action if this hadith is taken on its apparent which is the most consistent.

Muḥammad b. Naṣr al-Marwazī said:

Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Ayyāsh narrated to us, from ‘Ubaydullāh ibn ‘Ubayd al-Kalā‘ī, who said:

 

“Makhḥūl took me by the hand and said: ‘O Abū Wahb, make the matter of faith great in your own heart: whoever deliberately abandons a prescribed prayer, the covenant of Allāh has been severed from him, and whoever the covenant of Allāh is severed from, has indeed disbelieved.’”

 

[Musanaf bin Abi Shaybah Vol 6 Pg 171 #30438]

 

Abū ‘Alī al-Ḥusayn ibn ‘Alī al-Biṣṭāmī narrated to us, who said: Abū Ghassān narrated to us, who said: Asbāt ibn Yūsuf narrated to us, from al-Suddī, from ‘Abd al-Khayr, who said:

 

‘Alī (may Allāh be pleased with him) said: “Whoever deliberately abandons a single prayer, the covenant of Allāh has been severed from him, and Allāh has severed Himself from him.”

 

[Ta’dhim Qadr al-Salah Vol 2 Pg 898 #934]

 

‘Alī ibn Muḥammad ibn ‘Īsā narrated to us, from ‘Alī ibn Muḥammad al-Wā‘iẓ, from Yūsuf ibn Yazīd, from Asad ibn Mūsā, from Zuhayr, from Abū al-Zubayr, from Jābir, who was asked: “Did you consider sin in yourselves to be disbelief?” He said: “No. And between a servant and disbelief, there is nothing except abandoning prayer.”

 

[Ta’dhim Qadr al-Salah Vol 4 Pg 909 #1537]

 

Shaykh ‘Ubaydullāh ibn Muḥammad said:

 

“These reports, narrations, and transmitted practices from the Prophet, the Companions, and the Followers all point— to people of reason and to anyone who has even the slightest modesty in his heart — to declaring the one who abandons the prayer a disbeliever, the one who rejects the obligatory duties, and to expelling him from the religion. And sufficient for you in this regard is what the Book has revealed.

 

Allah, Mighty and Exalted, said: ‘[Be] upright toward Allah, not associating anything with Him’ [al-Ḥajj: 31].

 

Then He described the upright ones — those who do not associate anything with Him — saying, Mighty and Exalted is He:

 

‘And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, being sincere to Him in religion, upright, and to establish the prayer and give the zakāh; and that is the upright religion’ [al-Bayyinah: 5].

 

Thus His Majesty — exalted be His praise and sanctified be His names — informed us that the upright Muslim is upon the upright religion, and that the upright religion consists of establishing the prayer and giving the zakāh.

 

And He, Mighty and Exalted, said:

 

‘So kill the polytheists wherever you find them, capture them, besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they repent, establish the prayer, and give the zakāh, then let them go their way’ [al-Tawbah: 5].

 

And He, Exalted, said:

 

‘But if they repent, establish the prayer, and give the zakāh, then they are your brothers in religion’ [al-Tawbah: 11].

 

So what clarification — may Allah have mercy on you — could be clearer than this? And what proof that faith is speech and action, and that prayer and zakāh are part of faith, could be more evident than the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and the consensus of the scholars of the Muslims and their jurists — those whose mention does not cause hearts to feel estranged, but rather reassures them to follow them and to trace their footsteps? May Allah’s mercy be upon them.”

 

[Kitab al-Ibanah al-Kubrah Vol 2 Pg 683]

 

Abū ‘Abdullāh narrated to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Ja‘far narrated to us, saying: ‘Awf narrated to us, from al-Ḥasan, who said:

 

“It has reached me that the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to say: ‘Between a servant and associating partners with Allah — which would make him a disbeliever — is abandoning the prayer without excuse.’”

 

[Kitab al-Sunnah by al-Khallal Vol 4 Pg 142 #1372]

 

Muhammed bin Nasr al-Marwazi said:

 

Indeed, Allah, Blessed and Exalted, has emphasized the warning against abandoning it and confirmed it on the tongue of His Prophet ﷺ by declaring that whoever abandons it is expelled from faith. No act of worship among the deeds of the servants has been made a clear sign between disbelief and faith except the prayer. He said: “There is nothing between a servant and disbelief from faith except abandoning the prayer.” He thus informed that it is the foundation of monotheism (tawḥīd), and abandoning it is a form of disbelief just as abandoning monotheism is. 

[Ta'dhim Qadr al-Salah Vol 1 Pg 131 #57]

 

Isḥāq said:

 

“The people of knowledge have been spared the burden of analogical reasoning in this matter, for what the Prophet ﷺ established for them, and what the caliphs after him legislated, was that the ruling on one who deliberately abandons the prayer is the ruling of a disbeliever.”

 

[Ta'dhim Qadr al-Salah Vol 2 Pg 929 #998]

 

ʾIsḥāq said:

 

Then the Murjiʾah became extreme until from one of their statements was that some people say: Whoever leaves the maktubat (5 Prayers), and fasting Ramaḍān, and Zakāt, and pilgrimage, and most of the other obligations without Juḥūd of it, we do not Takfīr him, his matter will be left to Allāh, after he has acknowledged them, so these are the Murjiʾah about whom there's no doubt.

 

[Kitab al-Sunnah by Harb al-Kirmani #189] 

 

Section 4: Adressing the beliefs of al-Zuhri, Imam al-Shafi'i, Imam Malik, Abu Ubayd, Abu Thawr, al-Awza'i, and Makhul al-Dimashqi  رحمهم الله اجمعين 

 

Section 4A: The Belief of al-Zuhri رحمه الله

 

al-Zuhri is one of the major early scholars from the salaf al-Salih who has been attributed with the belief that abandoning the salah isn't kufr akbar. We will begin In sha Allah by addressing the arguments and "evidence" used and then clarifying al-Zuhri's actual position and this will be the format of this section for the rest (Shafi'i, Malik, Abu Ubayd, Abu Thawr, Awza'i, Makhul al-Dimashqi) if there is something of substance to address which hasn't already been addressed Bi'idhin'illahi Ta'ala.

 

The opposers normally bring the following narration from him:

 

From Ma‘mar, from al-Zuhrī, who said:

 

“Whoever drinks during Ramadan — if he has innovated a religion other than Islam, he is given a chance to repent. But if he is a sinful person among the sinners, he is to be flogged, punished, paraded, and made known to others. And whoever abandons the prayer is like that.”

 

[Musanaf Abdul Razaq Vol 9 Pg 232 #17045]

 

From Ma‘mar, from al-Zuhrī, regarding a man who broke his fast in the month of Ramadan, he said:

 

“If he is a sinful person among the sinners, he is to be punished severely and expiated. But if he does this as an imitation (intiḥāl) of a religion other than Islam, he is offered the chance to repent.”

 

[Musanaf Abdul Razzaq Vol 7 Pg 445 #13827]

 

What al-Zuhri means in this narration by "he is given a chance to repent" is that he is given a chance to repent otherwise he is executed as this is referring to istitabah (giving the chance to repent after leaving islam for a limited time). The evidence of this is another narration from al-Zuhri mentioning execution/killing:

 

Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā narrated to me, saying: ‘Abd al-‘Azīz ibn ‘Abdullāh al-Uwaysī narrated to us, saying: Ibrāhīm ibn Sa‘d narrated to us, from Ibn Shihāb (al-Zuhri), that he was asked about a man who abandons the prayer. He said:

 

“If he abandons it because he has innovated a religion other than Islam, he is to be killed. But its due to him being a fasiq (wrongdoer/sinner), he is to be severely beaten and imprisoned.”

 

[Ta'dhim Qadr al-Salah Vol 2 Pg 957 #1035]

 

Imam Ahmad رحمه الله also mentions this:

 

‘Iṣmah said: Ḥanbal narrated to us. He said: I heard Abū ‘Abdullāh say:

 

“As for the heretics (zanadiqa) who outwardly claim Islam while remaining upon that [other] religion, then if they repent [they are left], otherwise they are killed.”

[Kitab ahl al-Milal wal Ridah Pg 460 #1334]

 

And Shu'ayb bin Abi Hamzah reports something similar:

 

Narrated by Shu‘ayb ibn Abī Ḥamzah from him, he said:

 

“If a man abandons the prayer — if he does so because he has innovated a religion other than Islam, he is to be killed. But its due to him being a fasiq (wrongdoer/sinner), he is to be severely beaten and imprisoned until he repents. And the same applies to one who breaks the fast in Ramadan.”

 

[Kitab al-Tamhid by al-Bayhaqi Vol 4 Pg 240]

 

‘Abdullāh ibn Aḥmad said: He narrated to us Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā, who said: He narrated to us Ibrāhīm ibn Sa‘d, who said: I asked Ibn Shihāb (al-Zuhri) about a man who abandons the prayer. He said:

 

“If he abandons it because he follows a religion other than Islam, he is to be killed. But if he is merely a sinful person, he is to be severely beaten or imprisoned. And whoever breaks the fast in Ramadan without a valid excuse is treated in the same manner.”

 

[Kitab ahl al-Milal wal Ridah Pg 482 #1407]

 

al-Zuhri رحمه الله in these narrations and quotes is highlighting and expressing how to deal with the person who abandons praying based off the varying 'Illah (Cause/Reason) not establishing whether or not hes judged with being a muslim or a kaffir. Someone might ask, "Well then why did al-Zuhri make a clear distinction between the Zindeeq who's 'Illah is changing his religion or imitating another religion and the one who does it out of fisq (Doesn't pray due to desire or laziness, etc)?" The response and answer to this is that the scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah differed on whether or not the zindeeq is given a chance to repent and a lot of them such as Abdulrahman bin Mahdi رحمه الله and his like took this position (that he isn't given a chance & this can be found in the chapter named after him in Kitab al-Sunnah by Abdullah) due to the zindeeq most likely being a mu'anid (stubborn) since they affirm their bidah (innovation) is haqq (truth) in contrast to the fasiq who knows that his action isn't allowed and is punished until he repents for his kufr and apostasy.

 

Imam al-Shafi'i who affirms tark al-Salah to be kufr akbar (as will be shown in the next sub-section) also mentions this tafsil regarding the 'illah (reason/cause) for the individual leaving the salah and judging his punishment and his case based off of it (not in relation to him being a muslim or kaffir):

 

"And al-Shāfi‘ī said: The imam tells him, 'Pray!' If he says, 'I will not pray,' he is asked about the reason (ʿillah) for which he abandoned the prayer. If he claims a physical reason in his body that prevents him from standing, bowing, or prostrating, he is told: 'Pray in whatever way you are able.' If he still says, 'I will not pray,' and the time for the prayer arrives and he does not pray, refusing until its time passes, the imam kills him."

[al-Istidhkar Vol 1 Pg 235 & another variation in Kitab al-Umm Vol 1 Pg 291]

 

Isḥāq also said:

 

“In this is confirmation of what we described — that a person becomes a disbeliever by rejecting the Prophet ﷺ. However, anyone whose disbelief is due to ignorance and not due to contempt is treated with leniency until he returns to what he denied, just as the Prophet ﷺ was lenient with the Bedouin. And his statement to his Companions, ‘If I had killed him when he said what he said, he would have entered the Fire,’ indicates that his prophethood makes one’s statement an act of disbelief. Yet anyone who disbelieves can return to faith from that disbelief, and in returning, he is not said to have gone from disbelief to an explicit acknowledgment of faith, because they were not outright deniers.

Likewise, the one who abandons the prayer is called to pray; and when he repents and returns, the state of disbelief is removed from him.”

[Ta'dhim Qadr al-Salah Vol 2 Pg 929 #993]

These two narrations from Ishaq bin Rahuwayh and al-Shafi'i رحمهما الله highlight the general methodology of ahl al-sunnah when it comes to someone who commits kufr such as tark al-Salah (abandoning the prayer) which is to question the individual and ask him regarding his reasons for being in the situation he is in before applying a prescribed punishment upon him.

 

Now, someone might object and say "Wouldn't the absence of killing or executing the individual who abandons Salah be a proof that he isn't a murtad since the murtad is to be executed?" The response is that this isn't always and necessarily the case when it comes to specific cases similar to this and there are narrations proving this as follows:

 

Ahmad ibn al-Azhar ibn Mani‘ narrated to us, saying: Marwan ibn Muhammad narrated to us, saying: Abu Muslim al-Fazari narrated to us, saying: I heard al-Awza‘i – and he was asked about a man who said, “I do not know that prayer is obligatory, and I do not pray” – he said:

 

“He should be presented to the sword; if he prays, well and good, otherwise he is to be killed.” He said: “And I heard Sa‘īd ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz – and he was asked about it – say: ‘He should be imprisoned and beaten until he prays.’”

[Masa'il Harb al-Kirmani Kitab al-Taharah wal Salah Pg 494]

In this part of the book it is presenting the belief that abandoning the prayer is kufr but they differed in the methodology of the istitabah (Request/chance to Repent).

 

Ibn Ḥabīb al-Maliki (who affirms kufr for the abandoner of the prayer) said:

 

“Whoever abandons it (i.e., the prayer) denying it, or out of negligence, or carelessness, or by willful neglect, then by that he is a disbeliever, due to the statement of the Prophet ﷺ: ‘There is nothing between the servant and disbelief except abandoning the prayer.’ If he is brought before the ruler and then resumes what he had abandoned, but afterward returns to abandoning it again, then he is to be detained. If he then says, ‘I pray,’ then the punishment is to be intensified against him until he manifests his repentance.”

 

[Kitab al-Nawadir wal Ziyadat Vol 1 Pg 150]

Al-Maimūnī informed me that he said to Abū ‘Abdullāh:

 

“A man acknowledges the obligation of prayer, fasting, and the other obligatory duties, but does not perform them.” He said: “This is more severe… nothing in any matter has been addressed as much as prayer has.” He said: “I see that he should be beaten, imprisoned, and threatened.” I asked him: “Is not abandoning it (prayer) disbelief?” The strongest impression I had was that he replied to me: “Yes.”

 

[Kitab Ahkam ahl al-Millal wal Riddah Pg 472 #1375]

From this we see that the absence of execution doesn't necessarily entail that the action isn't kufr or that the person isn't a kaffir. As for al-Zuhri's opinion on the istitabah of the zindeeq the narrations attributed to him (as was shown previously) have differed but the most correct and transmitted opinion is that of execution. والله اعلم.

 

Even Ishaq bin Rahuwayh who no one disagrees takfirs the one who abandons the prayer (as was shown multiple times already) affirms that if he repents he has to make up his prayers and he makes a distinction in the hukm of qadha (making up missed prayers) between the one who abandons the salah and then repents and returns to it and the murtad (apostate) yet he affirms both to be kuffar:

 

"Ishaq would declare a person a disbeliever (kafir) for abandoning prayer, according to what we have narrated from him, but he would allow them to make up (qada) the prayers if they repented.

 

He said: “Abdul Aziz, meaning Ibn Abi Rizmah, informed me that Ibn al-Mubarak was asked by a man about another man who had left prayer for several days. He asked: ‘What should he do?’ Ibn al-Mubarak said: ‘He should feel remorse for what he did.’ Then he added: ‘Let him make up the prayers he missed.’ Then he turned to me and said: ‘O Abu Muhammad, this does not align with the hadith.’” Ishaq said: “The analogy based on the general principle (al-asl) would indicate that one does not make up the prayers. But perhaps he relied on the general principle, yet in that matter there is an inherent conflict in applying the principle. Hence, Ibn al-Mubarak feared to apply analogy regarding a person who abandons prayer in making up missed prayers because it could be equated with the ruling for a disbeliever (mushrik). He saw the rulings for apostates (murtaddin) as different from the rulings for disbelievers (kuffar). Some people considered that apostates should inherit from Muslims, so he took precaution. Thus, he allowed making up prayers for someone who deliberately abandoned them if the time for prayer had passed, even if they had acknowledged the obligation of prayer. This was reported to me by Sufyan ibn Abdul Malik and al-Qasim ibn Muhammad from Ibn al-Mubarak.

[Ta'dhim Qadr al-Salah Vol 2 Pg 975]

 

Does this mean that since he doesn't apply the general hukm of the mushrik regarding qadha of salah (that the qadha of prayers is only for muslims allegedly and that the kaffir or mushrik doesn't require qadha because he disbelieved) that the one who abandons salah isn't a disbeliever in his eyes? Of course not. Therefore this just further shows that when the scholars such as al-Zuhri, Ahmad, Ishaq, etc apply ahkam regarding things like istitabah or qadha that are falsely thought to only be applied on muslims this doesn't mean they actually affirm islam for these individuals in reality.

Now let's see what al-Zuhri himself transmitted regarding tark al-Salah and Iman:

 

Narrated by Muhammad ibn Yahya, he said: Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us from Ma‘mar, from al-Zuhri, from Ubayd Allah, from Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) who said:

 

"When ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was stabbed, I, along with some of the Ansar, carried him until we brought him into his house. He remained unconscious in a single state of stupor until dawn. Then we said: 'Prayer, O Commander of the Believers!' He opened his eyes and said: 'Have the people prayed?' We said: 'Yes.' He said: 'Indeed, there is no share in Islam for anyone who abandons prayer.' Then he prayed while his wound was still bleeding.

 

[Ta'dhim Qadr al-Salah Vol 2 Pg 892 #923]

 

‘Abd al‑Razzaq informed us, from Ma‘mar, from al‑Zuhri, from ‘Ubayd Allah ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Utbah, who said:

 

When the people of apostasy apostatized during the time of Abu Bakr, ‘Umar said: “How can you fight the people, O Abu Bakr, when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘I have been commanded to fight the people until they say: Lā ilāha illa Allāh. If they say Lā ilāha illa Allāh, their blood and their wealth are protected from me, except by its right, and their reckoning is with Allah’?” Abu Bakr replied: “By Allah, I will surely fight those who differentiate between the prayer and the zakāh. Indeed, zakāh is the due right of wealth. By Allah, if they were to withhold from me even a young goat (‘ināq) which they used to give to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, I would fight them over it.”‘Umar said: “By Allah, it was only when I saw that Allah had expanded Abu Bakr’s chest for fighting that I knew it was the truth.”

 

[Musanaf Abdul Razaq Vol 10 Pg 172 #18718]

 

Abu Bakr informed us, he said: Abu ‘Abd Allah narrated to us, he said: ‘Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us, from Ma‘mar, from al-Zuhri, who said:

 

“So we hold that Islam is the statement (i.e., the verbal testimony), and that īmān is action.”

 

[Kitab al-Sunnah by Khallal Vol 4 Pg 44 #1133]

 

Al-Zuhri said :

 

"We think that Islam is the kalimah (shadatayn), and faith is an action."

 

[Sunan abi Dawud 4684]

 

Maʿmar reported from al-Zuhri that he said:

 

We used to say: Islam is by acknowledgment, and īmān is by action. Īmān is speech and action—paired together; neither of the two benefits without the other. There is no one except that his speech and his actions are weighed: if his actions outweigh his speech, he ascends to Allah; but if his speech outweighs his actions, he does not ascend to Allah. It was also narrated by Abū ʿAmr al-Ṭalmanakī with his well-known chain of transmission.

[Kitab al-Iman by Ibn Taymiyyah Pg 231]

 

We also have al-Zuhri himself condeming the murjiah for believing that Salah isn't essential to the deen:

 

"I (Ma'qal) said to him, 'We have a need to discuss with you,' so he gave us privacy. He did so, and I informed him that some people in our area had introduced innovations and begun to speak, saying: ‘Prayer and zakāh are not part of the religion.’ He said: 'Does not Allah say: {And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, making the religion sincerely His, inclining to truth, and to establish the prayer and to give the zakāh} [al-Bayyinah: 5]? So prayer and zakāh are part of the religion.'" 

[Kitab al-Sunnah by al-Khallal Vol 4 Pg 29 #1105]

We also have the ijma (of tark al-salah being kufr) from one of al-Zuhri's contemporaries who is Ayyub al-Sikhtiyyani whom he both heard and narrated from which we have already showed previously in section 3 where he explicitly said "لا يختلف فيه" (there is no disagreement in it) and he is the same one who said "I haven't seen someone more knowledge than al-Zuhri" so it wouldn't make sense for him to have knowledge regarding al-Zuhri's ilm & beliefs yet contradict that with his saying "there is no disagreement in it" if it was the case that al-Zuhri didn't takfir the one who abandons the prayer. So with this and the previous ijma'at we can conclude that al-Zuhri would be included in these ijma'at mentioned here and in section 3, and that the quotes used by the opposers are taken out of their rightful context and used in a way that only highlights the opposer's invalid foundation regarding entailments based off of ignorance. والله المستعان 

 

Section 4B: The Belief of Imam al-Shafi'i رحمه الله

As for what the opposers use to argue that al-Shafi'i didn't takfir the abandonder of prayer, they generally latch onto a specific quote found in al-Shafi'i's Kitab al-Umm which says the following:

 

"Attending the Friday prayer is an obligation. Whoever abandons an obligation out of negligence has exposed himself to evil, unless Allah pardons him—just as if a man were to leave a prayer until its time has passed, he has exposed himself to evil, unless Allah pardons him."

 

[Kitab al-Umm Vol 1 Pg 239]

They use this and say "al-Shafi'i placed him under Allah's mashy'iah (will) so if Allah wants to he can possibly forgive him and if he wasn't a muslim due to abandoning the salah Allah would not forgive him" We say: you're misreading the text and the language used is as clear as day. al-Shafi'i says كما ان رجلا ترك صلاة

The word al-Shafi'i uses for prayer is صلاة (Salah) without the harf al-Ta'rif or definite article therefore it is singular and means a single salah not more than one or all. So with this understanding al-Shafi'i's belief is clear especially with the following sayings transmitted from him from his contemporaries and early followers and others which will be shown next Bi'idhin'illah.

 

Beneficial Note: The term حتى يخرج وقتها or حتى يمضي وقتها [until its time (the prayer) has passed] is an issue of dispute regarding what exactly constitutes the time for a single salah. Ishaq who shares the same belief as al-Shafi'i in this matter says the following:

 

"It is not appropriate for anyone to declare another person a disbeliever for abandoning the prayer until the abandonment reaches what we have described—namely, from the setting of the sun until the rising of dawn—because anything less than that is a matter of scholarly disagreement. And declaring disbelief is not permissible except with the consensus of the people of knowledge that the time has fully elapsed."

[Ta'dhim Qadr al-Salah Vol 2 Pg 929 #996]

As for al-Shafi'i's belief regarding the explicit kufr of the abandoner of the prayer then the evidence will be presented below:

 

al-Shafi'i in Kitab al-Umm mentions the chapter:

 

(The ruling regarding one who abandons the prayer)

 

Al-Rabīʿ informed us, saying: al-Shāfiʿī (may Allah Most High have mercy on him) said: Whoever abandons the prescribed (obligatory) prayer among those who have entered Islam is asked: Why do you not pray? If he mentions forgetfulness, we say: Then pray when you remember. If he mentions illness, we say: Then pray according to what you are able—standing, or sitting, or lying down, or by gesturing. But if he says: I am able to pray and to perform it properly, yet I do not pray even though it is obligatory upon me, it is said to him: Prayer is an obligation upon you which no one else can perform on your behalf, and it is only fulfilled by your own action. So if you pray (then all is well); otherwise, we will call upon you to repent. If you repent, (that is accepted); and if not, we will execute you, for indeed prayer is greater than zakāh.

 

[Kitab al-Umm Vol 1 Pg 291]

 

al-Shafi'i's ruling of execution indicates towards the fact that it is riddah (apostasy) and this will be further expanded on In sha Allah.

 

Imam al-Muzani who is a contemporary of al-Shafi'i & learnt from him directly transmits his opinion on the one who abandons prayer:

 

(Chapter: One Who Abandons the Prayer)

 

Al-Shāfiʿī said:

 

It is said to the one who abandons the prayer until its time has passed without an excuse: No one else can perform it for you. If you pray, (then all is well); otherwise, we will call upon you to repent. If you repent, (that is accepted); otherwise, we will execute you—just as one disbelieves, and we say to him: If you believe, otherwise we will execute you. It has also been said: he is to be asked to repent for three days; if he prays during them, (he is spared), otherwise he is executed. And that, Allah willing, is good.

 

Al-Muzanī said: I say:

 

He has stated concerning the apostate: “If he does not repent, he is executed, and he is not to be waited upon for three days,” due to the saying of the Prophet ﷺ: “Whoever abandons his religion, strike his neck.” And he has made the one who abandons the prayer without excuse like the one who abandons faith, so he has its ruling by the implication (qiyās) of his statement—because, according to him, he is the same as him—and he is not to be waited upon for three days.

[Mukhtasar al-Muzani Vol 1 Pg 197 #451]

Al-Shāfiʿī رحمه الله said in Kitāb al-Umm, in the chapter on intention in prayer:

 

We argue that no prayer is valid except with an intention, due to the ḥadīth of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb from the Prophet ﷺ: “Actions are only by intentions.” Then he said: There was consensus (ijmāʿ) of the Companions and the Followers after them, among those whom we encountered, that faith (īmān) is statement, action, and intention; none of the three suffices in place of the others.

[Sharh Usool I'tiqad Vol 5 Pg 956 #1593]

 

al-Tahawi who was an ex-Shafi'i and was actually the nephew of Imam al-Muzani رحمه الله transmitted that al-Shafi'i رحمه الله takfired the one who abandons prayer:

 

al-Tahawi said:

 

"The people of knowledge have differed regarding the one who abandons the prayer, as we have mentioned. Some of them regarded him, by that act, as an apostate from Islam and gave him the ruling of one who is to be asked to repent for that; if he repents, (he is spared), otherwise he is executed. Among those who held this view is al-Shāfiʿī. Others did not regard him, by that act, as an apostate; rather, they considered him among the sinful Muslims and among those who commit major sins. Among those who said this are Abū Ḥanīfa and his companions." 

[Mushkil al-Athar Vol 8 Pg 205]

 

And it is not surprising that Abu Hanifa and the Ahnaf (who are murjia) didn't affirm this as they don't believe actions of the limbs are essential to iman in the first place so this makes sense and their opinion on tark al-Salah is rejected due to this.

 

al-Tahawi again, transmits Shafi'i's belief alongside Imam Malik's belief, He said:

 

"Some of the ḥadīth masters who transmitted Mālik’s view said:

Indeed, part of Mālik’s madhhab is that whoever deliberately abandons a prayer without an excuse until its time has passed is an apostate and is to be executed, unless he performs it. And this is the view of al-Shāfiʿī."

[Kitab Ikhtilaf al-Ulama Vol 4 Pg 393]

 

al-Lalakai also transmits the following:

 

It is reported from him that he was asked: “Which action, during the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, distinguished between disbelief (kufr) and faith (īmān) in your view?” He said: “Prayer (ṣalāh).”

 

And from al-Ḥasan: It reached me that the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to say: “Between a servant and committing shirk that causes disbelief is abandoning the prayer without an excuse.” And among the Tābiʿīn who held this view were: Mujāhid, Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, Jābir ibn Zayd, ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī, and al-Qāsim ibn Mukhaymirah. And among the jurists (fuqahāʾ) who held this view were: Mālik, al-Awzāʿī, al-Shāfiʿī, Sharīk ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Nakhaʿī, Aḥmad, Isḥāq, Abū Thawr, and Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Salām.

 

[Sharh Usool I'tiqad Ahl al-Sunnah Vol 4 Pg 896 #1502]

 

Ibn Kathir says in his tafsir:

 

"For this reason, many of the salaf, khalaf, and imams held this view, as is well-known from Imām Aḥmad, and it is also reported from al-Shāfiʿī regarding the takfīr of one who abandons the prayer. This is based on the ḥadīth: 'Between a servant and shirk is abandoning the prayer,' and the other ḥadīth: 'The covenant between us and them is prayer; whoever abandons it has disbelieved.'"

 

[Tafsir ibn Kathir Vol 5 Pg 216]

al-Shafi'i said:

 

Some people have disagreed with us regarding one who abandons the prayer after being commanded to perform it and says, “I will not pray it.” One of them said: “He is not to be killed.” Others said: “He should be beaten and imprisoned.” Others said: “He should be imprisoned but not beaten.” Others said: “He should neither be beaten nor imprisoned, for he is trustworthy regarding his prayer…” Do you not see that if someone were to say to you: “Whoever apostatizes from Islam—when it is presented to him and he says, ‘I recognize it, but I will not profess it’—should be imprisoned and beaten until he professes it,” you would say: “That is not for him (to decide), because he has changed his religion, and nothing is accepted from him except that he profess it”?

 

I (al-Shafi'i) said: “Then do you treat prayer differently, when it is part of his religion and cannot exist except with it, just as professing faith cannot exist except with it—so that one is either killed for abandoning it, or else considered trustworthy concerning it, as some of your companions have said: ‘So we neither imprison him nor beat him’?” He said: “He is not to be considered trustworthy concerning it if it becomes apparent to me that he does not perform it, for it is an obligation upon him.” I said: “So would you kill him, in your opinion, for refusing your judgment, yet leave him alive for refusing the prayer, which is the clearest of what Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has made obligatory after the oneness of Allah, the testimony that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and belief in what he brought from Allah, Blessed and Exalted?”

[Kitab al-Umm Vol 1 Pg 292]

 

Another shubha they bring is that al-Shafi'i distinguished between the abandoner of salah and the murtad. This has already been clarified in section 4A relating to al-Zuhri where we can see his saying. The confusion lies in the false pre-assumption that just because someone is labelled as something distinct from a murtad or is contrasted with the term/label "murtad" in fiqh like when they argue using al-Shafi'i's statement about the abandoner that he is "بمنزلة المرتد" that this necessarily entails that he isn't a kaffir in any sense. We have already presented in the previous section how this is not true and that just because someone who commits kufr doesn't receive the same general punishment or consequence as a murtad that this means he isn't a kaffir. The scholars distinguished between a murtad in the sense of one who's 'illah is pure zandaqa/choosing another deen and one who's 'illah was fisq such as laziness or desire although both weren't muslims in reality. With that being said we can also show additional proof once more from Imam Ahmad (who takfirs the abandoner of salah) when his son narrated the following from him:

 

"It was narrated to us; he said: I (Abdullah/Ahmad's Son) asked my father (Imam Ahmad)—may Allah have mercy on him—about deliberately abandoning the prayer. He said: It is narrated from the Prophet ﷺ: “Between a servant and disbelief is abandoning the prayer.”

 

My father said: As for the one who abandons it and does not pray it, and the one who prays it outside its proper time, I summon him three times. If he prays, then (it is accepted); otherwise, I strike his neck. In my view, he is in the position of an apostate (بمنزلة المرتد): he is asked to repent three times; if he repents, then (he is spared), otherwise he is killed, based on the report of ʿUmar.

 

So when the phrase بمنزلة المرتد (in the position of a murtad/apostate) is used they try to argue that he's (al-Shafi'i) essentially saying "he's like an apostate but isn't one" therefore making the distinction that they have falsely misinterpreted and built their whole argument off of and this isn't the case as people like ahmad who they even agree takfirs the abandoner of salah uses this language and terminology as well and I hope In Sha Allah that this has been addressed clearly.

 

As for the shubha (doubt) that the opposers use which is the alleged "debate" between Ahmad & Shafi'i then this has been narrated by the Jahmi al-Subki in Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyah without an Isnad and the story isn't even consistent with Ahmad's Madhab (school of thought) as it states that al-Shafi'i asked Ahmad what the abandoner of prayer returns to islam by and he replied to al-Shafi'i by saying "La Ilaha Ila Allah Muhammadun Rasul Allah" which isn't even what Ahmad considers tawbah for the abandoner of salah since the abandoner already affirms la ilaha Ila Allah generally.

 

Muhammad ibn ʿAlī informed us; he said:

 

Ṣāliḥ narrated to us that he said to his father (Imam Ahmad): “If he abandons it and does not pray it?” He replied: “If he does so deliberately, I ask him to repent three times; if he repents, otherwise he is killed.” His repentance is that he prays? He said “Yes.”

[Kitab Ahkam Ahl al-Millal wal Riddah Pg 476 #1393]

 

So Ahmad believes the person becomes muslim again via Salah not just the shahadah alone so even if the story wasn't a fabrication it still wouldn't be consistent with what's famously transmitted from Ahmad's madhab.

 

Section 4C: The Belief of Imam Malik رحمه الله

Similar accusations have been faslely made upon Malik's belief regarding this topic by later people/mutaqadimeen who are either blind following falsehood, think that they are doing right but are doing wrong in reality, or are just actively deceiving to push their madhab of irja upon the masses. As for Imam Malik's belief regarding the takfir of the abandoner of salah then this is clear and is also transmitted from him:

 

From al-ʿUtbiyyah: Ibn al-Qāsim said, narrating from Mālik:

 

“Whoever abandons the prayer is told: ‘Pray.’ If he prays, (that suffices); otherwise he is killed. And whoever says, ‘I will not pray,’ is asked to repent; if he prays, otherwise he is killed. Likewise is the one who says, ‘I will not perform ablution.’”

[Kitab al-Nawadir wal Ziyadat Vol 1 Pg 150]

 

Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Bajalī narrated; he said: Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā narrated to us; he said: I heard Ibn Wahb say:

 

Mālik said: “Whoever believes in Allah, affirms the messengers, yet refuses to pray, is to be killed.”

 

[al-Tamhid by Ibn Abdul Bar Vol 4 Pg 231)

 

Muhammed bin Rushd said:

 

"Mālik’s statement in this narration—that he is to be asked to repent in all of that, and if he refuses to do any of it he is killed—indicates that he is killed on account of disbelief. Accordingly, his property belongs to the community of the Muslims, just as is the case with an apostate"

 

[Kitab al-Bayan wal Tahsil Vol 16 Pg 394]

Ibn abi Zayd states:

 

And the slaughter of an apostate is not to be eaten, even if he apostasizes to Judaism or Christianity. Ibn Ḥabīb narrated: “And the slaughter of one who abandons the prayer, or of one who neglects it and is known for being negligent in it, is not to be eaten, and he extended this to the point that it amounts to apostasy.” He said: “And similarly, everyone among Mālik’s companions whom I consulted on this matter said the same regarding it in all cases.”

 

[Kitab al-Muntaqa Sharh al-Muwata Vol 3 Pg 111]

 

al-Tahawi & al-Lalakai'i also transmit this from Malik when they transmitted al-Shafi'i's belief as previously established:

 

"Some of the ḥadīth masters who transmitted Mālik’s view said:

Indeed, part of Mālik’s madhhab is that whoever deliberately abandons a prayer without an excuse until its time has passed is an apostate and is to be executed, unless he performs it. And this is the view of al-Shāfiʿī."

[Kitab Ikhtilaf al-Ulama Vol 4 Pg 393]

 

al-Lalakai also transmits the following:

 

It is reported from him that he was asked: “Which action, during the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, distinguished between disbelief (kufr) and faith (īmān) in your view?” He said: “Prayer (ṣalāh).”

 

And from al-Ḥasan: It reached me that the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to say: “Between a servant and committing shirk that causes disbelief is abandoning the prayer without an excuse.” And among the Tābiʿīn who held this view were: Mujāhid, Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, Jābir ibn Zayd, ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī, and al-Qāsim ibn Mukhaymirah. And among the jurists (fuqahāʾ) who held this view were: Mālik, al-Awzāʿī, al-Shāfiʿī, Sharīk ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Nakhaʿī, Aḥmad, Isḥāq, Abū Thawr, and Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Salām.

 

[Sharh Usool I'tiqad Ahl al-Sunnah Vol 4 Pg 896 #1502]

 

Now we will even see what the companions of al-Shafi'i who were around him believed:

 

Ibn al-Mājishūn and Aṣbagh said: If someone says, “I do not deny it, but I will not pray,” he is to be killed.

 

Ibn Shihāb said: If the time has passed and he does not pray, he is to be killed.

 

Muhammad said: If he abandons even one prayer, his blood is permissible (to be shed).

Ibn abu Zayd states again:

 

Ibn Ḥabīb said: Whoever abandons it—whether out of denial, negligence, carelessness, or neglect—is thereby a disbeliever, according to the Prophet ﷺ: “There is nothing between a servant and disbelief except abandoning the prayer.” If it is brought before the Imam, and he repeats what he had abandoned, then if he persists in abandoning it, he is punished. If he says, “I will pray,” he should be made to undergo punishment sufficiently until he shows repentance. If he says: “It is obligatory, but I will not pray,” he is killed; he is not asked to repent three times—he has denied or admitted it by saying, “I will not pray.” He should not be delayed beyond the time of that prayer.... Ibn Ḥabīb held that whoever abandons prayer deliberately or carelessly is a disbeliever, and that if one deliberately abandons its “sisters”—i.e., zakāh, fasting, and Hajj—he has also committed disbelief. He said this, and so did al-Ḥakam ibn ʿUtaybah.

 

[Kitab al-Nawadir wal Ziyadat Vol 1 Pg 151]

 

Muhammed bin Rushd transmits that:

 

Ibn Ḥabīb said: Whoever abandons the prayer is not given anything from zakāh. This is based on its original ruling, because the one who abandons prayer is a disbeliever according to the apparent meaning of the Prophet ﷺ’s words: “Whoever abandons the prayer has disbelieved”—whether he abandons it by neglecting it or being negligent in it.

 

[Kitab al-Bayan wal Tahsil Vol 2 Pg 393]

 

Section 4C: The Belief of Abu Ubayd al-Qasim bin Salam رحمه الله

 

Abu Ubayd said:

 

"When they responded to Allah and His Messenger by accepting the prayer, just as they had responded by professing faith, both together on that day became inseparable. Their faith was complete, as the prayer was added to their acknowledgment of belief."

 

[Kitab al-Iman by Abu Ubayd Pg 14]

 

This shows that Abu Ubayd affirmed that the salah is essential to the religion and that one's religion cannot be complete or valid without it after Allah had commanded it.

 

He also said:

 

"And what confirms this is the jihad of Abū Bakr al‑Ṣiddīq—may Allah have mercy on him—against the muhājirīn and anṣār who withheld zakāh, just as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ waged jihad against the people of shirk. There is no difference between them regarding the shedding of blood, taking of captives, or seizure of wealth, for they were merely withholding it, not denying it."

 

[Kitab al-Iman by Abu Ubayd Pg 17]

 

He also refutes the murjiah who believe leaving off an action such as salah isn't kufr until juhood is present when he speaks on the story of iblis refusing to prostrate and says:

 

"So Allah has made him, out of arrogance, a disbeliever, even though he acknowledges it and is not one who denies it (Does Juhood of it)"

 

[Kitab al-Iman Pg 57 #20]

He also refutes them again 4 pages earlier regarding their belief that iman is speech without action which is exactly the entailment if you affirm that no actions of the limbs can constitute kufr akbar if abandonded (if salah is abandonded). He says:

 

"Faith, according to this understanding, is entirely based on action—from its beginning to its end—although it differs in degrees according to what we have described. Those who disagree with us claim that verbal declaration alone suffices without action; this, in our view, is contradictory."

[Kitab al-Iman Pg 53]

 

and we have shown the narration of al-Lalaka'i which includes Abu Ubayd from among the fuqaha who takfir the abandoneder of salah and we will show it again:

It is reported from him that he was asked: “Which action, during the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, distinguished between disbelief (kufr) and faith (īmān) in your view?” He said: “Prayer (ṣalāh).”

 

And from al-Ḥasan: It reached me that the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to say: “Between a servant and committing shirk that causes disbelief is abandoning the prayer without an excuse.” And among the Tābiʿīn who held this view were: Mujāhid, Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, Jābir ibn Zayd, ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī, and al-Qāsim ibn Mukhaymirah. And among the jurists (fuqahāʾ) who held this view were: Mālik, al-Awzāʿī, al-Shāfiʿī, Sharīk ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Nakhaʿī, Aḥmad, Isḥāq, Abū Thawr, and Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Salām.

 

[Sharh Usool I'tiqad Ahl al-Sunnah Vol 4 Pg 896 #1502]

 

Section 4D: The Belief of Abu Thawr رحمه الله

 

Abu Thawr's takfir has also been included with other imams as is in the previous narration reported by al-Lalakai' at the end of the last section and there is nothing strong or valid in assuming he didn't takfir the abandoner or believed that they weren't kuffar. Abu Thawr رحمه الله affirmed that actions of the limbs are essential to iman which contradicts saying abandoning the prayer isn't kufr until juhood is present. The following encounter is narrated by al-Lalakai':

 

Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Basir told us, saying: Ahmad ibn Ja’far told us, saying: Idris ibn ‘Abd al-Karim al-Muqri’ told us:

 

A man from Khorasan asked Abu Thawr about faith: “What is faith? Does it increase and decrease? Is it a matter of speech only, or speech and action? Or is it belief and action?”

 

Abu Thawr replied:

 

“May Allah have mercy on you. I will inform you of the sayings of the groups and their differences. Know, may Allah have mercy on us and you, that faith is: belief in the heart, speech by the tongue, and action by the limbs. There is no disagreement among the people of knowledge regarding a man who says: ‘I bear witness that Allah is One, and that what the messengers brought is true, and I acknowledge all the divine laws,’ but then says: ‘I do not firmly believe in my heart in any of this, nor do I affirm it with conviction.’ He is not considered a Muslim. And if someone says: ‘Christ is Allah’ and rejects Islam, he is a disbeliever by his outward declaration, not a believer. Hence, mere verbal acknowledgment without inner belief is not sufficient for faith, and mere inner belief without acknowledgment is also not sufficient. True faith requires belief in the heart and acknowledgment by the tongue. Some scholars add that action is also required, so faith consists of these three elements. The reason for this is that if people denied that faith is a single entity, some said it consists of two elements, and others said three elements. No one is considered a believer except by what all agree upon of these three: belief in the heart, acknowledgment by the tongue, and action by the limbs. For the group that claimed action is not part of faith, it is asked: What did Allah intend for His servants when He said: ‘Establish prayer and give zakah’—does this not imply acknowledgment and/or action? If someone says Allah intended only acknowledgment and not action, he has gone against the scholars..."

[Sharh Usool I'itqad Ahl al-Sunnah Vol 4 Pg 931 #1590]

 

Section 4E: The Belief of Makhul al-Dimashqi & al-Awza'i رحمهما الله

al-Khallal reports the following:

Hurb informed me, he said: Ishaq narrated to us, he said: Baqiyyah ibn al-Walid informed me, from Ziyad, and Abu Humayd, from Makhul, concerning the one who says: “Prayer is from Allah, yet I will not perform it.” He said: He is to be called to repentance; if he refuses, he is to be killed.

 

[Kitab Ahkam Ahl al-Millal wal Riddah Pg 475 #1387]

al-Awzai also reiterates the same belief as is reported in Harb al-Kirmani's Masai'l:

 

Ahmad ibn al-Azhar ibn Maniʿ narrated to us, he said: Marwān ibn Muḥammad narrated to us, he said: Abū Muslim al-Fazārī narrated to us, he said: I heard al-Awzāʿī—when he was asked about a man who said: “I do not know that prayer is a truth, and I do not pray”—he said:

“He is presented to the sword; if he prays, [he is spared], otherwise he is killed.”

 

[Masai'l Harb al-Kirmani Kitab al-Taharah wal Salah Pg 494 #1061]

 

It's also narrated from both of them in Khallal's Kitab which we have quoted multiple times in this JPT:

 

Muhammad ibn ʿAlī informed me, he said: al-Athram narrated to us, he said:

 

I heard Abu ʿAbd Allah say to al-Haytham ibn Khārijah: “Do you preserve [the report] from Makḥūl regarding the one who abandons prayer?” He said: “No.” It was asked of Abu ʿAbd Allah: “What did Makḥūl say?” He said: “He was strict regarding this matter.” Then al-Haytham said: “Al-Awzāʿī used to say: If someone abandons the Ẓuhr prayer…” I said to him: “What if the time for ʿAṣr comes, and he says: ‘I will not pray’?” He said: “If he says: ‘It is upon me,’ I would strike off his neck.” Abu ʿAbd Allah said: “Makḥūl was strict in a manner similar to this statement.”

[Kitab Ahkam Ahl al-Millal wal Riddah Pg 478 #1399]

 

And al-Awza'i رحمه الله alongside the previous imams we have went over were included in the ijma'at presented in section 3 and in the narration transmitted by al-Lalakai'i which has been quoted often across all of section 4.

 

Makhul also is found in many reports such as the following affirming that abandoning the salah is kufr:

 

Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Ayyāsh narrated to us, from ‘Ubaydullāh ibn ‘Ubayd al-Kalā‘ī, who said:

 

“Makhḥūl took me by the hand and said: ‘O Abū Wahb, make the matter of faith great in your own heart: whoever deliberately abandons a prescribed prayer, the covenant of Allāh has been severed from him, and whoever the covenant of Allāh is severed from, has indeed disbelieved.’”

 

[Musanaf bin Abi Shaybah Vol 6 Pg 171 #30438]

 

Section 5: Ending & Conclusion

 

I ask Allah سبحانه وتعالى to make this small work beneficial to others and that he makes it of benefit for me in this dunya and a light for me in the grave and that he protects me from shirk, kufr, both minor and major and that he protects me and the muslims from abandoning the salah for it is the connection between the creation & creator and is the refuge & domain of protection and tranquility from the corruption & evil of this temporary world and severing that connection is the ultimate disrespect and blasphemy (excluding shirk of course). Anything that I have said which is correct and right is from Allah and anything I have said which is incorrect and wrong is from myself and the shaytan.

 

سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك أشهد أن لا إله إلا أنت أستغفرك وأتوب إليك