in this world and the Hereafter, by agreement of the Muslims. He must perform the five daily prayers, by agreement of the scholars.

Most scholars say that he is to be ordered to pray; if he does not pray, he is to be put to death. If he persists in denying their obligation until he is put to death, he is an unbeliever by agreement of the imams. His body is not to be washed, no funeral prayer is to be offered over him, and he is not to be buried in Muslim cemeteries.

Whoever says, “Everyone who utters the two testimonies of faith, even without performing the obligatory duties or avoiding forbidden acts, will enter Paradise, and none of them will be punished in the Fire,” is an unbeliever and an apostate. He must be called upon to repent; if he does not repent, he is to be put to death. Rather, those who utter the two testimonies of faith fall into “different categories.” Among them are hypocrites who will be in the lowest depths of the Fire, as Allah Most High says:

“Indeed, the hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of the Fire, and you will never find anyone to help them—except those who repent, mend their ways, hold fast to Allah, and devote their religion sincerely to Allah; those will be with the believers,” to the end of the verse.

Allah Most High also says:

“Indeed, the hypocrites seek to deceive Allah, but He outwits them. When they stand for prayer, they stand lazily,” to the end of the verse.

In Sahīh Muslim, the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—is reported to have said:

“That is the hypocrite’s prayer! That is the hypocrite’s prayer! That is the hypocrite’s prayer! He watches the sun until, when it is between the two horns of a devil, he rises and rushes through four units of prayer, remembering Allah only a little during them.”

The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—thus explained that someone who delays the prayer and rushes through it is a hypocrite. What, then, of someone who does not pray at all? Allah Most High has said:

“So woe to those who pray, yet are heedless of their prayers—those who show off.”

The scholars said that those who are “heedless of their prayers” are those who delay them beyond their appointed times and those who neglect their obligatory elements. If these people who pray are threatened with woe, what, then, of someone who does not pray at all?