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Chapter 73 of 1482 min read
٢. تارك الصلاة كافر
Amir d-Mn'mineen 'Ali ihn Ahi T a b (&) was asked: "0 Arnir d-Mn'mineen, what do you think about a woman who does not pray?" He said: "The one who does not pray is a di~believer."~~ Abdullah ihn Shaqeeq said: "The Companions of the Messenger of Allah (g) did not think that refraining from any action constituted disbelief except prayer, because it is an act of worship by means of
'Ali ibn Abi Tiilib which one enters Islam, like the testimony of faith, so by not doing it one exits ~slarn."'~ This ruling is supported by the words of the Messenger of Allah (g): "Between a man and polytheism and disbelief there stands his giving up prayer."71 Imam Al-Nawawi said: "The one who does not pray, if he denies that it is obligatory, then he is a disbeliever according to the consensus of the Muslims, and he is beyond the pale of Islam, unless he is new in Islam and has not mixed with Muslims for long enough to have leamed that prayer is obligatory for him." If he does not pray because he is lazy, although he believes that it is obligatory - as is the case with many people - then the scholars differed concerning him. Milik and ash-ShZa'i (may Allah have mercy on them) and the majority of the earlier and later scholars were of the view that he is not a disbeliever; rather he is an evildoer who should be asked to repent. If he repents, all well and good; otherwise, he is to be executed as a hadd punishment, like the married adulterer, except that he should be kiUed by the sword. On the other hand, a number of the earlier generations were of the view that he is a disbeliever. This was narrated from 'Ali ibn Abi Titlib (&) and is mentioned in one of the two reports from Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him). It was also the view of AbduUah ibn alMubhk, Ishk ihn Raawayh and some of the followers of ashShZa'i. Abu Haneefah and a number of the people of Kufah, as well as al-Muzani, the companion of ashSh%aifa'i, were of the view that he is not a disbeliever and is not to he executed; rather he should he given a disciplinary punishment and imprisoned until he does pray.72