And although, in my judgment, this combined wording is not acceptable— as I clarified in my Takhrij al-Tahawiyyah (p. 367, 4th ed.)— it is nevertheless supported by the authentic hadith just cited, so pay close attention.

Once you understand what has preceded, dear Muslim brother, my astonishment is almost without limit at the way most writers who have gone to great lengths on this vital question—namely, does a person who abandons the prayer out of laziness fall into disbelief or not?—have ignored this sound hadith, even though the Two Shaykhs and others unanimously declared it authentic.

As far as I have been able to ascertain, every one of them failed to mention the hadith: those for whom it constitutes proof did not cite it, and those against whom it stands as proof did not attempt to answer it—especially Imam Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him. Despite the breadth with which he presents the evidence of the opposing sides in his valuable book As-Ṣalāh, and the way he records each side’s replies to its opponents, he only mentioned this hadith among the proofs of those who withhold takfir in such a brief and truncated fashion that its clear indication—that intercession also extends to the one who abandons the prayer—does not appear. He said, may Allah have mercy on him:

“(In the hadith of intercession) Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says: ‘By My might and majesty, I shall bring out of the Fire whoever has said: There is no deity but Allah.’ And in it….” ⦗35⦘