Section One: Weak and non-explicit hadith reports; the person who cited them tried to build his case on them, yet they provide no real support.

Section Two: Passages that contain no evidence whatsoever for the question at hand. One example is the way some people cite Allah’s words: “Indeed, Allah does not forgive that partners be associated with Him, but He forgives anything less than that for whom He wills” (Qur’an 4:48). The phrase “less than that” (mā dūna dhālika) means “sins that are of a lower degree,” not “anything other than that.” The proof is that anyone who denies what Allah and His Messenger have conveyed is a disbeliever whose kufr will never be forgiven, even though his sin is not shirk. And even if we were to concede that “less than that” could mean “other than that,” the verse would still be a general text that must be qualified by the other evidences which affirm disbelief for matters besides shirk. Such disbelief expels one from the religion and is a sin that will never be forgiven, even though it is not polytheism.

Section Three: General texts that are specified by the hadiths stating that whoever abandons the prayer is a disbeliever. An example is the Prophet’s statement in the hadith of Muʿādh ibn Jabal: “Allah will forbid the Fire for any servant who bears witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.”1