He—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked:

“What do the esteemed scholars, the imams of the religion—may Allah be pleased with them all—say concerning a man who said, ‘I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger,’ yet did not pray or perform any of the obligatory duties, claiming that this would not harm him, that he would enter Paradise, and that his body was forbidden to the Fire?

“And concerning a man who says, ‘I ask Allah and you to fulfil my need’: is this statement false or not? Is it permissible to say this or not?”

He replied:

Praise be to Allah.

Whoever does not believe that the five daily prayers, the prescribed zakat, fasting the month of Ramadan, and pilgrimage to the Ancient House are obligatory, and does not regard as forbidden what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden of shameful deeds, injustice, associating partners with Allah, and falsehood, is an unbeliever and an apostate. He must be called upon to repent and, if he does not, is to be put to death, by agreement of the imams of the Muslims. Merely uttering the two testimonies of faith will not avail him.

If, however, he says, “I acknowledge that these duties are binding upon me, and I know that they are obligatory and that whoever neglects them deserves Allah’s condemnation and punishment, but I do not perform them,” then such a person, too, deserves punishment