Question: Does a Muslim who abandons the prayer thereby leave the fold of Islam?

Answer: If a Muslim deliberately gives up the prayer while denying that it is obligatory, he does in fact exit the religion by the unanimous consensus of the scholars. Such a person is belied by Allah, His Messenger ﷺ, and the consensus of the Muslims, and he is rejecting something that is categorically known to be part of Islam.

If, however, he affirms that the prayer is obligatory yet still neglects it out of laziness, the scholars have differed on the ruling. The soundest opinion is that he, too, falls into disbelief, based on many proofs. Among them are the Prophet’s ﷺ statements:

“Between a servant and disbelief or associationism stands the abandonment of the prayer.”

and

“The covenant that lies between us and them is the prayer; so whoever abandons it has committed disbelief.”

Allah the Exalted also says:

“But if they repent, establish the prayer, and pay the zakah, then leave their way free.” (At-Tawbah 9:5)

and

“But if they repent, establish the prayer, and pay the zakah, then they are your brothers in religion.” (At-Tawbah 9:11)

These verses show that if they do not establish the prayer, their way is not to be left free and they are not considered our brothers in faith—an indication of disbelief.

Likewise, Allah says of the unbelievers that the people of Paradise will ask them on the Day of Resurrection:

“What led you into Saqar?” They will reply, “We were not among those who prayed, nor did we feed the poor…” (Al-Muddaththir 74:42-44, and subsequent verses)

This makes clear that the very first characteristic that doomed them to the Fire was their abandonment of the prayer.