I assumed, when I saw that heading in the introduction to his book, that the hadith of intercession would be among the twelve proofs, for it silences all dispute in the eyes of any fair-minded person, as has already been shown. Regrettably, however, it escaped him—just as it escaped a number of later and earlier scholars, as mentioned before.

Even so, I must highlight one of the proofs he does present, because of its importance and because those who declare others unbelievers have been heedless of it. The Prophet ﷺ said:

“Islam has boundary markers and signposts like the markers that line a road….”
The report then lists monotheism, the prayer, and the other five well-known pillars and obligations, after which the Prophet ﷺ concludes:
“…Whoever neglects any of them has set aside a share of Islam, and whoever abandons them all has cast Islam behind his back.”

The author in question produced a solid analysis of this hadith: he traced its various chains, showed that some are sound, and explained its explicit indication that the one who abandons the prayer does not thereby leave the fold of Islam.

I had authenticated this hadith long ago in my book Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahihah, no. 333, more than thirty years ago, and he benefited from that—as is normally the case when the later draw on the work of the earlier—yet he did not so much as hint at it. It would have behooved him to do so, especially since he took issue with me over certain hadiths, which in no way harms me; indeed it… ⦗65⦘