The ruling on abandoning the prayer while acknowledging that it is obligatory

Question

A man acknowledges that the prayer is obligatory, but he does not pray. Is it permissible to eat with him and to sit with him?

Answer

If he acknowledges that the prayer is obligatory but does not pray, the scholars have disputed over whether he is a disbeliever by major kufr or whether his kufr is minor kufr. There are two views.

What is known from the Companions, raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhum wa-arḍāhum, is that he is a disbeliever by major kufr, not minor, and that it is not permissible to marry him or to greet him with salām. Rather, he must be shunned and must be called to repent; if he repents, well and good, but if not, he is executed as a disbeliever.

Others said that it is kufr short of kufr. It is graver than zinā [fornication], graver than drinking wine, and the like, but it is not major kufr if he acknowledges that the prayer is obligatory upon him and has simply been overcome by his desires and abandoned it. Many of them said that it is minor kufr, but above zinā, above drinking wine, and above all other sins; yet he is washed when he dies and the funeral prayer is offered for him. That is what a group of the scholars said.

The correct view, and the weightier, is the first: that it is major kufr. As long as he does not pray, he is regarded as a disbeliever and must be called to repent; if he repents, well and good, but if not, he is executed as a disbeliever. He is to be separated from his family. He is not washed, he is not buried in the Muslims’ graveyards, and his Muslim relatives do not inherit from him; rather, his wealth, if he has any, goes to the public treasury.

The evidence for this is ḥadīths — indeed, āyāt. Allah, Majestic and High, speaks in His mighty Book of the prayer and its importance; He commands it and urges it in many places, as He, Mighty and Majestic, says: ﴿وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَارْكَعُوا مَعَ الرَّاكِعِينَ﴾ "Establish the prayer, give the zakāh, and bow with those who bow" [al-Baqarah: 43], and ﴿حَافِظُوا عَلَى الصَّلَوَاتِ وَالصَّلَاةِ الْوُسْطَى﴾ "Guard the prayers, and the middle prayer" [al-Baqarah: 238], among other āyāt. The Prophet ﷺ told us that it is the pillar of Islām. He said: “The head of the matter is Islām, and its pillar is the prayer.” He also said, ʿalayhi al-ṣalātu wa-l-salām: “The covenant between us and them is the prayer; whoever abandons it has disbelieved.” The compilers of the Sunan [ḥadīth collections arranged by legal topic] narrated it with a sound chain.

Muslim narrated it in the Ṣaḥīḥ from Jābir, raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu, that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Between a man and kufr and shirk is abandoning the prayer.” When the Prophet ﷺ was told about rulers in whom people would see some things they approved of and some they condemned — meaning their conduct was mixed — they said: “O Messenger of Allah, shall we not fight them?” He said: “No, not as long as they establish the prayer among you.” In another narration he said: “Not unless you see open kufr.” So he explained open kufr as failing to establish the prayer. Whoever does not establish the prayer and does not pray has committed open kufr. We seek refuge in Allah.

السؤال

رجل مقر بأن الصلاة واجبة، لكنه لا يصلي، هل تجوز مواكلته، ومجالسته؟

الجواب

إذا كان يقر بأن الصلاة واجبة، ولكنه لا يصلي؛ فقد تنازع العلماء في ذلك؛ هل يكون كافرًا كفرًا أكبر، أم يكون كفره كفرًا أصغر؟ على قولين.

المعروف عن الصحابة -رضي الله عنهم وأرضاهم- أنه كافر كفر أكبر، لا أصغر، وأنه لا تجوز مناكحته، ولا السلام عليه، بل يجب هجره، ويجب استتابته، فإن تاب؛ وإلا قتل كافرًا.

وقال آخرون: إنه كفر دون كفر، وأنه أعظم من الزنا، وأعظم من شرب الخمر، ونحو ذلك، لكنه ليس كفرًا أكبر إذا كان مقرًا بأنها واجبة عليه، ولكن غلب عليه الهوى، فتركها، قال كثير منهم: إنه كفر أصغر، ولكنه فوق الزنا، وفوق شرب الخمر، وفوق بقية المعاصي، ولكنه يغسل إذا مات، ويصلى عليه، هكذا قال جماعة من أهل العلم.

والصواب: القول الأول، والأرجح: القول الأول، وأنه كفر أكبر، وأنه ما دام لا يصلي؛ فإنه يعتبر كافرًا، ويجب أن يستتاب، فإن تاب، وإلا قتل كافرًا، ويفرق بينه، وبين أهله، وألا يغسل، ولا يدفن في مقابر المسلمين، ولا يرثه أولياؤه من المسلمين، بل يكون لبيت المال إذا كان له مال.

والدليل على هذا أحاديث، بل آيات الله -جل وعلا- أخبر في كتابه العظيم عن الصلاة، وشأنها، وأمر بها، وحث عليها في مواضع كثيرة، كما قال عز وجل: ﴿وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَارْكَعُوا مَعَ الرَّاكِعِينَ﴾ [البقرة:43] ﴿حَافِظُوا عَلَى الصَّلَوَاتِ وَالصَّلَاةِ الْوُسْطَى﴾ [البقرة:238] إلى غير ذلك، وأخبرنا النبي ﷺ أنها عمود الإسلام، قال: رأس الأمر الإسلام، وعموده الصلاة وقال -عليه الصلاة والسلام-: العهد الذي بيننا وبينهم الصلاة، فمن تركها؛ فقد كفر رواه أهل السنن بإسناد صحيح.

ورواه مسلم في الصحيح عن جابر رضي الله عنه عن النبي ﷺ أنه قال: بين الرجل، وبين الكفر، والشرك ترك الصلاة ولما قيل للنبي ﷺ في الأمراء الذين يعرف منهم، وينكر، يعني قد خلطوا قالوا: يا رسول الله، أفلا نقاتلهم؟ قال: لا ما أقاموا فيكم الصلاة وفي رواية أخرى قال: ما لم تروا كفرًا بواحًا ففسر الكفر البواح بعدم إقامة الصلاة، فمن لم يقم الصلاة، ولم يصل؛ فقد أتى كفرًا بواحًا، نعوذ بالله.