one of the Successors, reported that the Companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, generally held that one who abandons the prayer is to be declared a disbeliever. He said: “The Companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did not regard the abandonment of any deed as disbelief except the prayer.” (1) For this reason, the well-known imam Ishaq ibn Rahawayh related a consensus, saying: “People have continued, since the time of the Companions, to say that whoever abandons the prayer is a disbeliever.” (2)

As for rational consideration, it may be said: No sane person who has even the slightest atom’s weight of faith in his heart can persist in abandoning the prayer while knowing its immense importance: that it was prescribed in the highest place ever reached by mankind; that it was initially prescribed as fifty prayers, though it was then reduced; that purification for it is indispensable, without any disagreement; and that one must adorn oneself for it. How, then, can a person testify that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah while persistently abandoning the prayer? Such a testimony necessarily entails