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And whoever imagines that, by calmly accepting execution, he can still remain a Muslim inwardly is plainly mistaken. It is firmly established in the Sahih that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Between a servant and idolatry and unbelief stands the abandonment of the prayer” (1); and he also said, “The covenant that lies between us and them is the prayer; whoever abandons it has committed unbelief” (2).
As for the one who executes the non-praying person while believing that he has killed a Muslim, many scholars have rejected this view and declared it to be contrary to the clear textual evidence (3).
…a well-known position in the Hanbali school and others. What has been transmitted from most of the early generations entails declaring him an unbeliever. This concerns the person who still acknowledges that the act is obligatory; as for the one who denies its obligatoriness altogether, he is unanimously deemed a disbeliever.
(1) Muslim, no. 82, narrated from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him).
(2) Al-Tirmidhi, no. 2623 (graded hasan sahih); al-Nasaʾi, 1 / 23; Ibn Majah, no. 1079; authenticated by al-Hakim, 1 / 6, with al-Dhahabi concurring, all on the authority of Buraydah (may Allah be pleased with him).
(3) Shaykh al-Islam, Sharh al-ʿUmda, 4 / 71–73: “According to one report he is executed for disbelief; according to another he is executed, purely as a hadd, like the adulterer and the highway robber, while his Islam is still acknowledged… The first opinion is preferred by most of the Hanbali authorities, such as Abu Bakr, Ibn Shaqla, and Ibn …”
وَمَنْ ظَنَّ أَنَّهُ مَعَ صَبْرِهِ عَلَى القَتْلِ يَكُونُ مُسْلِمًا في البَاطِنِ فَخَطَؤُهُ ظَاهِرٌ، وَقَدْ ثَبَتَ فِي الصَّحِيْحِ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ أَنَّهُ قَالَ: "بَيْنَ العَبْدِ وَبَيْنَ الشِّرْكِ وَالْكُفْرِ تَرْكُ الصَّلاةِ" (١)، وَقَالَ: "العَهْدُ الَّذِي بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَهُمْ الصَّلاة فَمَنْ ترَكَهَا فَقَدْ كَفَرَ" (٢).
وَأَمَّا مَنْ قَتَلَهُ لِتَرْكِ الصَّلَاةِ مَعَ اعْتِقَادِهِ أَنَّهُ قَتَلَ مُسْلِمًا: فَهَذَا مِمَّا أنكَرَهُ كَثِيْرٌ مِنَ العُلَمَاء، وَقَالُوا هُوَ خِلَافُ النُّصُوْصِ (٣).
= مشهورين في مذهب أحمد وغيره، والمنقول عن أكثر السلف يقتضي كفره، وهذا مع الإقرار بالوجوب، فأما من جحد الوجوب، فهو كافر بالاتفاق).
(١) أخرجه مسلم (ح/ ٨٢) من حديث جابر ﵁.
(٢) أخرجه الترمذي (ح/ ٢٦٢٣)، وقال: حسن صحيح، والنسائي (١/ ٢٣)، وابن ماجه (ح/ ١٠٧٩)، وصححه الحاكم (١/ ٦)، ووافقه الذهبي من حديث بريدة ﵁.
(٣) قال شيخ الإسلام في شرح العمدة (٤/ ٧١ - ٧٣) (: (ويقتل لكفره في إحدى الروايتين، وفي الأخرى يقتل كما يقتل الزاني والمحارب مع ثبوت إسلامه حدًّا محضًا ... والرواية الأولى اختيار أكثر الأصحاب مثل أبي بكر وابن شاقلا وابن =