What Is the Ruling on One Who Abandons Prayer?

Question

I wish to ask you about a particular matter. There are some people who pray only the Jumu‘a prayer, and there are also some who pray only the prayer of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, and throughout the year they pray neither the obligatory (fard) prayers nor even the Jumu‘a prayer. What is the ruling of the Shari‘a for them: do they remain Muslims or not? If they die in this state of abandoning prayer, will they be counted among the Muslims according to the Shari‘a or not?

Answer

Prayer is fard ‘ayn. The fuqaha’ have declared a kafir the one who deliberately abandons prayer without an excuse, having no intention even of making it up (qada’) and no fear of punishment, as is found in Majma‘ al-Anhur.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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