from the one who perpetrates major sins; and stripping him of the very name of Islam is even more justified than stripping it from someone whose tongue and hand do not leave the Muslims unharmed. Accordingly, the person who abandons the prayer is to be called neither “Muslim” nor “believer,” even though he still retains a share of Islam or of faith.)

(I say: The negation of these titles from one who leaves the prayer is open to question. Allah has called the transgressing faction “believers” in the well-known verse, “If two groups among the believers fight, then make peace between them…” while the Prophet ﷺ said in the ḥadith cited earlier, “…and fighting him is disbelief.” Just as describing the rebellious Muslim with disbelief did not necessitate removing from him the designation “believer,” much less “Muslim,” so too with the one who neglects the prayer—unless what is meant by the negation is that he is not a complete Muslim, which is rather unlikely.)

He went on to say:

“Yes, it may still be asked: Will the measure of faith he retains benefit him so that he is not consigned to eternal hellfire? The answer is: It will benefit him if the act he has abandoned is not a prerequisite for the validity and recognition of what remains. But if the abandoned act is itself a condition for the validity of what remains, it will not benefit him. Is the prayer, then, a condition for the soundness of faith? That is the crux of the matter.”

I add: He—may Allah have mercy on him—then alluded to the evidences he had already cited. ⦗40⦘