remains a believer. At most, the texts that have been cited on this matter speak of the merit of tawḥīd (pure monotheism)—the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah—and the reward it brings. These texts are either:

1. Restricted by qualifiers within the very wording that make it impossible for their subject to abandon the prayer;
2. Connected to specific circumstances in which a person is excused for missing the prayer; or
3. General in wording, in which case they must be interpreted in light of the proofs that declare the one who abandons the prayer a disbeliever, for those proofs are specific, and the specific takes precedence over the general.

If someone were to say, “Could we not limit the texts that pronounce the abandoner of prayer a disbeliever to the person who gives it up while denying its obligation?” we reply: That is impermissible, because it involves two dangers.

First: It nullifies the attribute that the Lawgiver has considered and on which He has based the ruling. The Lawgiver attached the judgment of disbelief to the act of abandonment itself, not to the denial of obligation, and He made brotherhood in faith contingent on establishing the prayer, not on merely acknowledging that it is obligatory. Allah, exalted is He, did not say, “If they repent and acknowledge the obligation of prayer,” nor did the Prophet ﷺ say, “Between a man and polytheism and disbelief lies denying the obligation of prayer,” or, “The covenant between us and them is acknowledging the obligation of prayer; whoever denies its obligation has disbelieved.”

Had this been what Allah and His Messenger intended, departing from it would contradict the clarification brought by the Noble Qur’an, for Allah the Exalted has said: “And We have sent down …”