As for the penalty prescribed for neglecting an obligation, it applies to one who neglects a prayer until its prescribed time has elapsed; he is asked why he neglected it. If he says that he forgot, he is ordered to make it up as soon as he remembers it, without waiting for a period equal to its prescribed time. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Whoever sleeps through a prayer or forgets it, let him pray it when he remembers it, for that is its time; there is no expiation for it other than that.” If he neglected it because of illness, he performs it according to his ability, whether sitting or lying down.

If he neglects it while denying that it is obligatory, he is a disbeliever, and the ruling governing him is that of an apostate: he is executed for apostasy if he does not repent. If he neglects it because he finds performing it burdensome, while acknowledging that it is obligatory, there are two reports on the matter. According to one, by neglecting it he becomes a disbeliever and is executed as an apostate. According to the other, he does not become a disbeliever by neglecting it; rather, he is executed under a fixed legal penalty. He does not become an apostate, nor is he executed until after he has been called upon to repent. If he repents and undertakes to perform it, he is spared and ordered to do so. If he says, “I will pray it at home,” he is left to his own integrity and is not compelled to perform it publicly in the presence of people. If he refuses to repent and does not undertake to perform the prayer, he is not executed until after three days. He is killed with the sword; it was explicitly stated that his neck is to be struck in the reports transmitted by the group—Ṣāliḥ, Ḥanbal, and Abū al-Ḥārith.

As for prayers that he has missed, if he refuses to make them up, he is executed for them just as he is for failing to perform prayers within their appointed times. As for one who abandons fasting, he said in the report transmitted by al-Maymūnī: “Whoever says, ‘I know that fasting is obligatory, but I do not fast,’ is called upon to repent; if he repents, [that is well]; otherwise, his neck is struck.” Thus, he explicitly stated that one who abandons fasting is executed, just as one who abandons prayer. In the report transmitted by Abū Ṭālib, he said: “If he says, ‘Fasting is obligatory, but I do not fast,’ fasting is not like prayer and zakat; nothing has been reported concerning it.” Thus, he did not treat it like prayer and zakat.