Accordingly, every unqualified report attributed to him must be interpreted in light of the qualified reports that clarify his intent—chief among them the narration we have already quoted from his son ʿAbd Allah.

Even if we were to suppose that an explicit report existed in which he declared a person to be a disbeliever merely for abandoning the prayer, such a report would have to be set aside and the other reports upheld, because they agree with the sound and unequivocal hadith affirming that the one who neglects the prayer will eventually leave the Fire on account of his faith, even if only the weight of a mustard seed.

Many exacting Hanbali scholars have stated this clearly, among them Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi, as was shown in the quotation relayed from him by Abuʾl-Faraj. Ibn Qudamah’s precise words are: “If someone neglects any of the five acts of worship out of indifference, he is not deemed a disbeliever.”

This appears in his al-Muqniʿ, and a similar passage is found in al-Mughni (2/298–302), where—after a lengthy discussion of the differing opinions and their proofs—he concludes with the same position found in al-Muqniʿ.

That, beyond doubt, is the correct view, and it is the position adopted by the authors of al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr and al-Insāf, as noted earlier.

Once you have understood the sound statement of Ahmad, any objection raised against it holds no weight.⦗58⦘